A Buxfer Review: Is It Actually Useful?

Life tends to keep us busy, and managing our finances can sometimes be a part-time job. While we would love to have everything perfectly filed in color-coded binders and totes as Pinterest shows us we can, it just is not always realistic. Luckily, the internet is full of web-based money management tools, such as Buxfer. But, how does Buxfer work, and is it actually useful? Find out in this Buxfer review.

What is Buxfer?

Buxfer is an online money management tool that, according to its website, “helps you see all your accounts at one place, understand where your money goes, reduce unwanted spending, and save for future goals.”

In addition to being an all-in-one finance management tool, it also helps you track money owed to you from friends and relatives.  Features include but are not limited to:

• Syncing all your bank accounts (without storing your online banking password on their server)
• Adding transactions manually and reconciling on the go
• Visual tools such as reporting on spending trends and personalized tags for your transactions
• Real-time alerts and reminders when you’re about to go over budget

Another helpful financial planning feature is a forecast section, which helps you see future expenses and see predictions based on your previous spending patterns.

How it works:

To get started with Buxfer, you create a free account. With a free account, you get unlimited transactions, automatic bank sync, shared bills and IOUs (perfect for roommate situations), up to five accounts, five budgets, and five bill reminders. Once you’ve created your free account and verified your email address, you simply start setting up your account.

The web-based tool has you track your spending through syncing with your banks, uploading bank statements, or manually adding in your transactions. If you need to switch from a different software, like Mint or Quicken, Buxfer walks you through the process on how to do so.

While it is free to sign up, you do have the option to upgrade to a paid membership package for more features. With the highest membership choice at $4.99 per month (when paid annually), you can actually also perform online payments. This could come in handy when the roommates owe you money (if they are also on Buxfer).

A Buxfer review: Is it worth using?

We all know how much time can easily be wasted online, and sometimes, tools like this actually distract us more than they help. But, what about Buxfer? Is it actually useful?

Buxfer has a very clean dashboard and is simple to set up. You are walked through what you need to with simple instructions. The ability to track your budget with your bank information is also very useful in financial planning, eliminating the need to bounce back and forth from one screen to another.

The problem with Buxfer lies in the fact that there are quite a few limitations in the free version, even if it does not seem that way upon initial inspection. Most of us have more than five bills, and only creating five different budgets, although a good start, may not be as effective for financial planning. Certain reporting aspects, as well as the forecasting tool, are only available in the pro memberships. Even though you can opt to pay to receive these features, the program seems to be notorious for having limited and poor support. Thus, if you do have an issue with your account, such as your bank not syncing correctly, it can be difficult to get it resolved.

Conclusion:

Buxfer may be good for a starting point for managing your finances with a free account, particularly if you have a general idea of your existing budget, but if you really want to use it for its full capabilities, you will need to pay. It will also only be worth it if you do actually plan on using it. Otherwise, it can easily become another way to waste money.

With our Buxfer review, we hope you get a good idea of whether or not this program is a good fit for you. Have you used it for yourself? What are your thoughts?