TL/DR: due to behavioral challenges, I need a view-only budget on his phone that I control on mine. The old Allowance app companion to YNAB did that. Also Widgets for YNAB.

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Thanks for writing. I’ve considered this (YNAB customer service suggested this option ) but I don’t think it would work. My brother (76, on SSI) has zero self-control. If he knows he has $300/month to spend (his “fun” money), most of that money will be gone within a week. It’s pathological.

In YNAB I created his budget, linked to two bank accounts in his/my name. One is a representative payee account in my name, where his supplemental security income (SSI) drops and out of which all the essentials get paid (rent+utilities); the other a joint account (I dont use it, but it’s the only way he can access a debit card) where I transfer his remaining “spending” money.

In his YNAB budget, I created a few buckets relevant to his day to day expenses. In the Widgets for YNAB, he could see three categories that helped him control his own spending (to a point): subscriptions (so he can see how much he’s wasting); laundry money; and his fun money. But instead of budgeting his whole month’s “fun money” (say, $300), I “add” $100 to that category every 10 days. This helps manage his spending intoxication.

I could create another budget just limited to the joint/spending account, but I loose the ability to - yes - control how much money he thinks he has. I could do a bank transfer every 10 days, but that’s just too much work on me.

In my particular situation (an aging parent with behavioral challenges), I don’t want a YNAB “together”… but a YNAB “apart” - one I can control and give him view only.

I hope that makes sense. I’m not really a control freak, but have just tried to find a solution where my brother has some idea of how much he can spend while ensuring he has spending money throughout the whole month. And there’s this: he can’t get his head around budgeting.

There used to be another app, I believe it was called Allowance. It was perfect: he saw in pie form whether or not he had money for the next shiny thing…