Most of the budgeting tools out there, including Quicken Online do a great job of tracking your money. They supply colorful charts and graphs to help you see where you’re spending your money each month. And while tracking is a crucial part of any approach to budget management, most people need something more if they want to change how they look at and spend money.

Mvelopes is unique in their approach to money management. Their strategy involves the concept of “pre-spending” your income, or planning what to spend your money on before it’s even spent. It’s based on the proven method of envelope budgeting. The concept of envelope budgeting has been around for many years, with the most basic example being the physical cash allocation method. Mvelopes has taken the envelope budgeting concept a step further and modernized it. With their help, envelope budgeting can be applied to your complex financial life, allowing you to accomplish your personal and family goals.

Quicken’s after-the-fact approach focuses on comparing actual spending to budgeted amounts at the end of the month, which is very reactive. This is because Quicken does not treat spending categories like accounts. Income is not allocated to spending categories in advance of spending but instead is tracked in a single account – the checking account!

Mvelopes’ modern take on envelope budgeting links all your financial accounts (checking, savings, credit cards, etc.), so you always have real-time information to make informed spending decisions. Plus, the anytime, anywhere access means you can be at the grocery store and know exactly how much you have available to spend via your mobile phone. It’s all about having the right information and the right budgeting tools to make smart spending decisions.

Thousands of families and individuals have been able to change their spending habits by using the forward-thinking approach Mvelopes offers. Changing how you think about money isn’t easy, but after a few months of applying their principles (and sticking to it!) you’ll be able to get your spending under control and start setting aside money for the future. For the many who’ve had success with Mvelopes, this means gaining complete control of their money, getting out of debt, and reducing financial stress.

Quicken is anywhere/anytime as well, because it is a web-based (FREE) program. I’ve looked into the MVelopes system and for a budget program, it’s cost prohibitive simply because of their monthly fee. If I’m not mistaken, the $7.40/month is if you pay up front for “X” timeframe, when in reality, if you go month-to-month it’s going to cost (alot) more.

- Spot on. Something many people seem to have forgotten.