Introducing Basefund

Why another budgeting app?

Fair question. There are hundreds of them. I've tried a lot of them. YNAB, Emma, Monzo's built-in budgets, Lunch Money, that one with a sarky AI assistant. I set them up with good intentions, connected my accounts, watched transactions roll in — and then quietly stopped opening them two weeks later.

I'm not alone. Studies consistently show that the majority of people who start a budget stop sticking to it within a few months. A 2024 Morning Consult survey found that only 36% of adults actively maintain any kind of budget. Not because they're bad with money — because the tools demand too much of them.

The problem isn't motivation. It's that every budgeting app wants to be your financial operating system. They want to categorise your transactions, analyse your spending patterns, send you alerts when you buy too much coffee. They solve a problem most people never actually asked to solve.

That's the insight that started Basefund. The question people actually ask themselves isn't "where did my money go?" — it's "how much do I actually have?" One is archaeology. The other is a number that lets you start your month without guessing.

One number. That's it.

Basefund gives you one number: your base fund. Take your income, subtract everything that leaves your account whether you like it or not — rent, bills, subscriptions — and what's left is your foundation. The money you actually get to live on.

No bank connections that need refreshing every 90 days. No AI trying to figure out if your IKEA trip was 'furniture' or 'food'. No photographing receipts. No spending diaries. You tell Basefund what leaves your account each month, and it tells you what's left. That's the whole app.

When you know your base, every spending decision gets easier. Not because an app is judging you, but because you've got the clarity to judge for yourself.

How it works

Setting up takes about three minutes. You tell Basefund three things:

1. Your monthly income — salary, freelance, benefits, whatever actually lands in your account.
2. Your committed costs — rent, mortgage, council tax, insurance, broadband. The non-negotiables that leave whether you think about them or not.
3. Your subscriptions — Netflix, Spotify, gym, £2.99 at iCloud. Monthly and annual.

From those three inputs, Basefund calculates your net remaining. It updates as you add or remove costs. It reminds you when annual bills are coming up so you're never blindsided. Set it up once, then check in when something changes.

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Built for real households

I built Basefund for the way I actually manage money — and the way most people I know do too. You're not an accountant. You don't want a ledger. You want to open something, see a number, and get on with your day.

Whether you're a couple splitting bills, housemates managing a shared pot, or you're just trying to keep your own finances straight — the need is the same. Know what's committed. Know what's left. Move on.

The interface is deliberately stripped back. No charts you'll never interpret. No "insights" telling you things you already know. No gamification badges rewarding you for opening the app five days in a row. You open Basefund, you see your number, you close it. That's a budgeting app that respects your time.

Why I built this alone

Basefund isn't backed by a fintech startup. There's no team of twelve. It's just me — Dan — building the thing I wanted to exist. That means it moves at one person's pace, but it also means every decision is made by someone who actually uses the product every single day.

There's no incentive to bloat it with features to justify a Series A. No pressure to add complexity for the sake of a price tag. The core app — everything you need to know your base — is free, and always will be. If I add paid features down the line, they'll be genuinely useful extras, not locked-away basics.

What's next

Basefund is available today on iOS and Android. The core experience is completely free — no trials, no time limits.

If you've ever downloaded a budgeting app, felt overwhelmed by the setup process, and quietly deleted it a week later — Basefund is my answer to that moment. Three minutes. One number. That's the promise.