Top 5 Productivity Apps for Couples
Contents
- Best Shared Calendar App for Couples: Google Calendar
- Best Password Sharing App for Couples: Bitwarden
- Best Budgeting Software for Couples: Monarch Money
- Best ToDo List App for Couples: Todoist
- Best Browser Extensions for Couples: Multi-Account Containers
- The Bottom Line
Best Shared Calendar App for Couples: Google Calendar
While there are many productivity-specific calendar apps out there, we’ve found that Google Calendar is simply the best calendar app for couples. And of course, it’s free.
Not only is it deeply integrated into our Android phones, but it’s the most commonly-used calendar across what our friends and family use, as well as our employers.
How to Share Your Google Calendar with Your Spouse
The way we set it up is like this: I have a personal calendar associated with my Google account, and Esther has a personal calendar associated with hers. We’ve shared our calendars with each other and can quickly toggle on/off views as needed.
To share your calendar, simply open your calendar, select the ... button next to the calendar you want to share, and select “Settings and sharing.”
Find “Share with specific people or groups” and click “Add people and groups.” I like giving Esther permission to view event details and make changes to events. I have the same permissions for her calendar.
And that’s it! Now you’ll have the option to view and manage another calendar both on your PC and your phone.
TIPConsider how you want to manage mutual events.
Esther and I generally use my calendar as the master one, and we just know if we’re both going to the event or not. However, you more options here. You could either:
- Invite your spouse to events where you’re both participating or
- Create a third “family” calendar of events where everyone is involved. This can be helpful if you have children or extended family that want family events synchronized.
We’ll probably use method 2 in the future as our family grows.
Best Password Sharing App for Couples: Bitwarden
While I’ve been a LastPass advocate in the past, unfortunately they’ve radically limited functionality in its free plan to only one device - meaning you can only have it on your phone or your PC, not both.
The move to Bitwarden has been phenomenal. The initial importing phase of passwords and identities was seamless and everything works great. You can have as many devices synced/connected as you’d like.
Using the Organizations Feature
Within the context of securely sharing passwords amongst couples, there’s an underutilized feature of Bitwarden that works perfectly for this.
Bitwarden organizations allow you to store your passwords, logins, secure notes, identities, and more in one centralized place. I have an organization called “Shared” where we keep our shared info.
Free accounts can create one organization, and add one additional user to it - which is just perfect for a married couple!
So just add your new password or other item as normal:
And then, make sure to scroll to the very bottom and select your new shared organization!
Now when you visit a website that matches the URI of your shared item, it will show up automatically for both you and your spouse with the little organization symbol.
As an aside - it looks like Bitwarden’s Secrets Manager would also work (it’s free for 2 users), but I haven’t tried it myself yet.
No more excuses for insecurely texting passwords to each other. 😃
Best Budgeting Software for Couples: Monarch Money
I was a prolific Mint user before it shutdown. In a panic, I looked at all kinds of alternatives: YNAB, Simplifi, EveryDollar, and even Kredit Karma (which Intuit claims is a replacement for Mint… It’s definitely not).
But after I tried all of these, the clear winner was Monarch Money. Apparently Monarch was founded by an early Mint team member, and it shows.
The import process was fantastic. I was worried that when I left Mint, I would be losing nearly 10 years of historical income, net worth, and spend data - but all if it was able to be captured and preserved. 🎉
Setting Up Our Budget
I found the key features to be perfect for my wife and me. Our process was to sync our payment accounts and bank institutions, set our spending categories, label our income sources, define a budget based on our income forecast, and make sure we were updating transactions as they came in. We did a lot of this before with Mint, but we had to share a single account.
Unlike Mint, Monarch Money actually has a feature to add a household member with their own account and access.
It’s also got a handy AI assistant where I can ask questions like “how much have we spent on groceries on average per month in the last 3 years?” and it will give me an answer.
The main downside (if you could call it that) with Monarch Money is it is not free. Pricing is about $100 a year, but I feel it is worth it. It’s also nice not to be constantly sold to through advertising - one of the main headaches of Mint.
If you’re interested in signing up or even just trying out using my referral program link will get you an extended 30-day trial, and I will be financially compensated in return.
When combined with Bitwarden and Privacy.com virtual cards, making secure online transactions is extremely convenient and easily measurable, and no one needs a physical payment card or use a banking website to make and track purchases.
Best ToDo List App for Couples: Todoist
This is probably the recommendation about which I feel the least strongly. Todoist is a good app - solid UX on desktop and mobile, syncs with your account, you can share it - it’s just a straightforward ToDo list app that does everything you’d expect. But honestly most to do list apps will do something similar.
Thankfully I happen to be grandfathered in to more than just 5 projects - the normal limit for free users.
ToDo List App Must-Haves
If you are looking for a ToDo list app that works for you and your spouse, here’s what I’d consider:
- Can you create multiple lists?
- Can you create subtasks underneath tasks?
- Can you easily share lists with your spouse?
- Can you add due dates?
- Does it have both a mobile app and a desktop app / proper web app?
In truth, there are a whole host of great to do apps from which to choose.
I sometimes use Google Calendar’s Tasks feature, but those are more for one-off reminders for myself than a shareable list of ToDos for my wife and me.
Use what works best for you!
Best Browser Extensions for Couples: Multi-Account Containers
This option is more of a specific use case for Firefox users, and won’t be relevant to anyone who uses Chrome. So I understand if you pass this suggestion by - but it is really helpful for Esther and me.
If you have a shared PC, chances are you’ll want the option of being logged in with different accounts on the same website simultaneously. Some websites allow account switching, but it can be annoying if you want to be able to switch between tabs and both be logged in at the same time.
If you’ve had to solve for this in the past, you maybe either setup multiple profiles in your browser, used multiple different browsers, or opened a private window to create a separate session - but each of those solutions can be cumbersome to manage.
Firefox’s Multi-Account Containers extension is the smartest way of handling it. You can create containers which represents an independent instance and then login to whatever sites you need and it stays separate from your regular tabs.
Our most frequently use case for this is YouTube. In our living room, we can have one set of recommendations on one tab, and another set of recommendations on another tab.
It’s also useful to separate work accounts and personal accounts and keep things organized. But that’s for a blog post to be written in the future.
Update: the latest versions of Firefox actually have the multi-account containers feature built into the browser natively. You just have to enable it in settings.
The Bottom Line
Ultimately the best productivity apps for couples are what work for you and your spouse. What works for Esther and me are Google Calendar for a shared calendar, Bitwarden for secure password sharing, Monarch Money for budgeting and financial tracking, Todoist for keeping track of tasks, and Firefox’s Multi-Account Containers for web browsing on shared PCs.
I have no doubt someone’s figured this out in their own way - if you’ve discovered a system or set of tools that works for you and your spouse, please let me know! I’d love to learn from you.