How Hearth thinks about money

In short: give every dollar a home before the month starts, keep the envelope list small, and start manual. The ten seconds it takes to log a purchase is the thing that changes your spending.

Hearth is opinionated. Here are the opinions, so the app makes sense from day one.

Money in envelopes

Every dollar of spending money gets a home before the month starts. Groceries has a number. Dining out has a number.

When an envelope runs low, that's your signal to slow down, while you can still act on it. Not a report you read after the money is gone.

Built for two

Money stress between partners is usually a visibility problem, not a discipline problem. One of you knows the card is near the limit. The other is guessing.

Hearth's fix: one shared budget, both names on it, same envelopes in real time. Conversations shift from "why did you spend that" to "here's where we are."

Start manual. Seriously.

If you're trying to get spending under control, don't turn on bank sync yet. Type purchases in yourself. Here's why:

• Tap-to-pay takes half a second. Spending becomes invisible, and transactions pile up without you noticing.
• Logging a purchase takes ten seconds. That small bit of friction turns a reflex into a decision.
• You see the envelope drop the moment you spend. The noticing is what changes behavior.

When to graduate: once budgeting feels like maintenance instead of triage, turn on bank sync. Even then, every synced transaction waits in an inbox until you place it in an envelope. You keep the moment of awareness.

Budget the big rocks, skip the pebbles

Most budgets die from having too many envelopes. Build yours in three moves:

1. Income. Your monthly take-home.
2. Fixed expenses. Rent, utilities, insurance, the subscriptions you actually keep.
3. A few variable envelopes. Groceries, dining out, fun money. The places where choices actually happen.

Skip envelopes for the phone bill, a trip you might take, or five separate savings goals. Each one adds mental drag, and enough drag is how budgets end up abandoned.

The part people forget: if fixed and variable are handled, savings take care of themselves. Whatever's left over is savings. No envelope needed.

Reviewing is a feature, not a chore

Apps that budget "for you" produce budgets nobody looks at. Hearth asks for a little attention on purpose, because attention is what changes behavior.

Ready? Start with Getting started in 10 minutes.