Budgeting is a necessary component of everyday life, even though many people don’t find the activity too enjoyable and would rather be doing something else. This is something the creators behind Ivy Wallet are looking to change, so they’ve created a unique open-source app designed to help users of all ages get their personal finances under control. The Ivy Wallet app is currently available in early access for Android, and we had a chance to test it for this review.
This is a sponsored article and was made possible by Ivy Wallet. The actual contents and opinions are the sole views of the author who maintains editorial independence, even when a post is sponsored.
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Overview of Features
The Ivy Wallet app is built to help you better keep track of your monthly income. Depending on your individual needs, the service can help you curb your spending, set financial goals or plan for fixed expenses.
To do all of this, Ivy Wallet keeps track of multiple accounts, including banking, Revolut, and any cash reserves you might be drawing from. The free version lets you add three accounts, but there’s also a premium tier where you can add unlimited accounts. The app supports over 180 currencies, including USD, EUR, GBP and more, as well as the top 20 cryptocurrencies – so you won’t need a separate app for that.
Users can organize their expenses based on categories, a system which will provide better insight into how your funds are spent each month.
To truly understand your spending habits, Ivy Wallet generates graphs and pie charts, allowing you to view your monthly expenses at a glance. In addition, the app offers a powerful reporting function that allows users to generate concise financial reports. You can export these to CSV, Google Sheets and Excel (although that’s another premium feature).
Ivy Wallet syncs all your data to the cloud, so you can easily restore it if you change devices. However, if you’re worried about privacy, you can always opt for an offline account. The information would be stored locally on your phone. You can also opt to have your Ivy Wallet locked to ensure that no one except you has access to the data inside.
Given that the app is open source, its users have access to complete transparency when using the service. Moreover, those with an understanding of code can even contribute to Ivy Wallet’s growth if they are willing to review the code and provide suggestions for improvement.
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Using the Ivy Wallet App
Budgeting has a reputation for being a tedious affair, but Ivy Wallet shows us it doesn’t have to be this way. The app features a visually pleasing and modern interface that allows users to find their way fairly easily.
Once inside the app, you’ll be able to see your monthly income and expenses at the top. Below, you’ll notice a series of cards, with each detailing your expenses.
Adding an expense is super easy. Just press the “+” button at the bottom of the display and select “Add Expense.” You’ll be asked to input the account you used to pay for the item / service and the amount you spent.
Make sure you put a name on every purchase, to make it easier to identify them later on. I like how easy it was to input my expenses and how the app color codes (a wider palette is available in premium) them for a more intuitive understanding of my spending habits.
From the same menu hiding under the “+” are options for “Adding income” and making cash transfers via the “Account transfer” button.
You can also create planned payments and set them as recurring. Whether we’re talking rent, Internet bill or your Spotify subscription, we all have monthly payments we need to take care of.
Budgeting Won’t Ever Be the Same
I like to keep an eye on the status of all my accounts (especially my credit card) to make sure I don’t overspend, but before Ivy Wallet, I used to do that mentally. Now with the app installed on my phone, it’s super easy to see how much money I have left in each. I simply open the app and tap the “Accounts” button in the lower part of the display to view them at a glance.
Another cool feature, if like me, you want to have an idea on what most of your money is spent on, is the Categories view. You can access it by tapping on the hamburger menu in the upper-right corner and pressing on the Categories option. Here you’ll be able to see what you’re spending the most money on. The Piechart option is also particularly useful, as it offers an intuitive view of your expenses, funds, and more.
What I struggle with mostly is saving money each month. With Ivy Wallet I quickly set a spending goal and did my best to stick to it. The app showed me a progress bar letting me know how much I have left to spend based on the budget I set.
Ivy Wallet also offers a cute little widget you can place on your phone’s screen with three options: “Add income,” “Add expense” and “Account transfer.” This makes it easier to log in any financial activity as soon as it happens, which is a great plus, for those like myself who tend to be forgetful.
Get the Ivy Wallet Promotion
Ivy Wallet is free to use for the most part. However, some features such as exporting reports are locked behind a paywall, and so you’ll need to pay a subscription of $0.99/month to be able to access them.
But just to get the feel of Ivy Wallet and getting familiarized with its core features, the free version of Ivy Wallet offers more than enough. Keep in mind that the app is still in beta, so more features may be coming to the app.
Until October 31, 2022, however, you can try Ivy Wallet’s premium features for 60 days with this promotional code: TRY1VYFREE. Don’t hesitate to take advantage of the promotion!
Closing Thoughts
Ivy Wallet truly made my budgeting sessions a breeze. If you can create a habit of logging in your expenses daily, the app can do wonders for your finances. It comes with a satisfactory feature package, but given that the app is pretty new, some more advanced options are yet to be included.
For instance, it’s only possible to log in with a Google account to create a new account in Ivy Wallet (unless you’re willing to opt for the offline option). On top of that, it’s not possible to attach bills to your expenses or get personalized insights. But those may be coming in the future. Despite these limitations, we found Ivy Wallet to be an easy-to-use budgeting app that does its job with ease and efficiency. It’s great for less advanced users like myself who aren’t looking to do anything too complex.
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