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Comment by t0mbstone | Hacker News Reader

I find it interesting that "Honeydue" is in the list, when there are multiple free apps already in existence such as Buxfer and Splitwise that have already been available for years.

Both Buxfer and Splitwise serve the exact same functions as Honeydue (splitting bills/expenses with room mates and/or partners), and both of them are free to use. Sadly, neither app has found a way to be all that profitable after all these years.

Maybe Honeydue will do something to solve the marketing problem that apparently both Buxfer and Splitwise have?

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My partner and I merged our finances when we moved to London as we both essentially started at zero here. We use pocketsmith[0] to manage and keep track of everything. It's fantastic and has completely changed the way I look at money. It has a great cashflow view and good forecasting. I now never look at our account balances, as I know, from the cashflow view, that we're definitely earning more than we spend. So now I optimise for that. I highly recommend people check it out, it's a revelation once you get it all setup.

Looking at honeydue it looks like a sub-optimal alternative to pocketsmith.

I will say as well, the necessity of apps like venmo and these splitting apps to exist at all blows my mind having always lived in countries with functioning banking systems and fast, free electronic transfers.

[1] https://www.pocketsmith.com/

I live in Denmark where we have had phonebased money transfers for years now (since around 2013 I believe). I've used splitwise for tracking purchases at a festival where whoever had money on them would buy beer or food and we would just track it in a group budget.

Since you didn't have cash transactions when adding you don't need too much security so there's lower friction. Further you reduce the amounts of transactions going on, while still retaining decently detailed logs. It also gave the option of solving things with cash when splitting with people from abroad who may not have the same access to easy money transfer.

Just to add some perspective.

I'll check out pocketsmith - it does sound kind of cool and I'm looking at the possibility of merging my finances with my partner soon-ish.

Thanks for this. Looks really promising.

My frustration with most these budgeting apps is that they're usually designed around the idea of split finances, which is something I fundamentally have a problem with. My wife and I keep nothing but joint accounts. There is no "splitting". I don't need to "control what my partner sees". I just need a place where I can keep track of _our_ budget.

Splitwise user who absolutely loves it here. I wouldn't think to do budgeting on it at all. Its purpose is splitting expenses, nothing more. It does it great and the single function is a part of why I use it. Hooking up with Venmo, big plus. People here are talking modularity, and those two services are great examples.

Honeydue looks to be budgeting and larger finance management targeted at couples. I don't know Buxfer well, but it looks like the couples targeting is the variation it has over it.

As someone in a long term relationship who expects to be sharing finances relatively soon, Honeydue looks like a very interesting option. Currently we are separate but discuss and keep tabs on spending together, and have one giant splitwise going. The majority of that budgeting is done on Excel / Sheets - good for customizability, but a bit of a pain. Once we merge accounts and the like, that Splitwise goes away and Honeydue may just come in now that I know about it. It if was just me, I would have no need for Buxfer.

Yeah, long term relationship here, we split our expenses using Google Sheets. I have to say I don't feel any pain doing it this way, and it's super simple - just sum two columns and show the outstanding difference.

I certainly appreciate how often applications can grow out of spreadsheets, but I don't see why I need an application to do this kind of thing...

Some questions that add complications, particularly when finances merge:

What are the individual budgets by activity for each person and how is the budget reflecting reality?

What about any shared bank accounts?

Do you separate investments by person? How do you handle diversification?

Those questions are not all current problems or by any means all possible problems, but hopefully you can see how a spreadsheet could grow too big for its bridges there. If Honeydue were able to provide an easy method that addresses many of those questions, it would be impressive. TBD of course, and color me a bit doubtful. I've thought of making a personalized app for myself given the level of detail I'd probably require for me to use it.

HoneyDue seems to be more like "Mint for couples" than a straight up splitting service. The goal is transparency.

YNAB is another option (although it's not free)

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