Before they started using EveryDollar, Rachel and Shawn G. didn’t really budget. They sort of planned what they were going to spend for the month, but they didn’t stick to it. And they definitely didn’t pay more than the minimum on their $26,000 worth of car debt.

All that changed when this Charleston, West Virginia, couple discovered the free budget app. For the first time, they began planning and tracking their spending together. And they soon realized how much money they were wasting each month.

They found enough “extra” cash to bump up their debt payment from $670 to $1,400 a month! That’s more than double their original payment! And after 14 months of hard work and smart spending, they are now completely debt-free (and heading to Disney World with cash in their pockets!).

Jessica I. from Seattle was able to trim $600 from her budget each month using EveryDollar—and it was all coming from groceries!

“We spent so much on groceries without even realizing it. So when we first started with EveryDollar, I plugged in what we had spent on everything the previous month to see how much we actually spent on groceries. We were spending $600 more than we do now! All because we got on a plan and became more intentional.”

When Joel was deployed to Iraq in January 2015, he and his wife Nargis (both U.S. Army captains) were two months away from becoming parents and had more than $100,000 in total debt. Being able to talk about money was difficult but important. But EveryDollar made it easy for them to communicate without saying a word.

“While I was deployed, it helped to streamline our conversations about finances,” Joel says of the budgeting tool. “When we actually talked online or on the phone, we didn't have to spend any time talking about money. We communicated about money through the EveryDollar iPhone app. It is formatted in a way that makes budgeting really easy.”

Making an EveryDollar budget helps Jody S. and her husband, Stephen, breathe easier. Like, $700-a-month easier.

That’s how much money they figured out they were overspending when they signed up in January and saw the numbers.

“We didn’t realize how much we spent on eating out and grocery trips,” Jody says. She adds they would spend $100 a month on little trips to Target and Walmart.

“We weren’t telling our money where to go, so we were just spending it! I remember looking back, saying ‘What did we buy this month? Where did it all go? We have no money!’” she says.

EveryDollar just passed the one-million-budgeters mark! One! Million!

We’re a little excited. Can you tell? This milestone means more to us than a number. It means more debts paid off, more savings accounts funded, and more lives changed. And it means way less stress for a lot more people.

For those of you who joined us in this budgeting movement, thank you! And for those of you who are ready to take control of your money for the first time, welcome!