Hi everyone,

I’m currently on the lookout for a self-hosted budgeting tool that utilizes the envelope method, similar to what YNAB offers. I’ve been using Firefly III for a while, and it’s great, but I’m seeking something that brings the budgeting aspect more to the forefront, rather than something I refer to in hindsight.

Ideally, I’d like a tool that allows for proactive budget management, where I can allocate funds to specific categories or ‘envelopes’ ahead of time. This way, I can track my expenses against my budget as they happen, rather than just reviewing them after the fact.

Additionally, having an iOS app for easy access and management on the go would be a huge plus.

Does anyone have recommendations for tools that fit this description? Any suggestions or insights from personal experiences would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

  • bolaparaEnglish
    4·
    7 months ago

    Not sure if you’re into command line tools but I’m using hledger and have emulated pretty well the YNAB envelope method and I’m liking it quite a bit. Using plain text for transaction journals is amazing and has solved some of the ambiguity I felt when using YNAB. Tons of information here for this type of accounting method. And look here specifically for implementing the envelope method with these sorts of tools.

    No phone apps are available as far as I know but depending on your technical expertise you could provide reports from a webpage pretty easily.