Meet Budgey - your accountability companion that charges you when you stay home for no good reason. Grounded in behavioral science. Designed to actually work.
Budge tracks time away from home, distinct stops, and when you first left. We never display where you went.
Drop a pin. Budge learns your routine in 7 days.
You get a check-in asking what happened.
$2 per miss. $6/week cap. Most people never pay.
Budge is built on two of the strongest findings in behavioral science: we do more to avoid losing $2 than to earn $5, and simply getting out of the house changes how you feel.
The largest GPS study found that more time at home predicts worse wellbeing - and the effect persists for up to 3 weeks.
The gold-standard Cochrane review found that behavioral activation - making a plan and getting out - is one of the most effective behavior-change strategies ever studied.
Americans spend 99 more minutes at home per day than in 2003. The rise spans every age group. More home time was associated with lower happiness and less meaning.
People are 2–3x more motivated to avoid a loss than to earn an equivalent gain. That's why Budge charges fees - small stakes outperform reminders, streaks, and rewards.
Other apps track steps, workouts, calories. Budge tracks something more fundamental: whether you left home at all.
Across 31 peer-reviewed studies, time at home is the most reliable GPS signal for wellbeing. It predicts mood weeks into the future.
We don't care what you do once you're out. Walk the dog. Get coffee. Sit on a bench. The act of leaving is what matters.
Additional references: Dimidjian et al. 2006, Jacobson et al. 2001, Saeb et al. 2015, Shin & Bae 2023, Chow et al. 2017. All peer-reviewed and publicly accessible.
After 7 days of calibration, Budge knows your baseline. Fall below it without a valid reason? A small fee kicks in. No subscription. Always a cap.
Fees only apply when you stay home without a valid reason. You get 24 hours to respond to each check-in. Sick, resting, or severe weather? Always free.
We ask, you answer. If you say you had a reason to stay in, we believe you. No tricks, no gotchas. The only person you'd be fooling is yourself.
☕ $6 a week max - less than a single latte.
Budge is still in beta, but the concept is resonating. Here's what early testers have said.
"I thought I'd hate it. Turns out I just needed something small enough to feel fair but real enough to actually get me off the couch."
"The honesty system is genius. I could lie, but I know I'd only be cheating myself. That realization alone changed my behavior."
"I've tried habit trackers, reminders, accountability partners. This is the first thing that actually moved the needle."
Budge uses GPS to calculate three activity metrics: time away from home, number of distinct places you stopped at (5+ minutes at a location), and when you first left. We don't display where you went, and raw GPS data is automatically deleted after 90 days. Your data is never sold or shared with anyone.
Add the Budge widget to your lock screen to see your streak at a glance. Haven't left home yet? It'll remind you. No need to open the app.
Join the waitlist for early access. No spam, no pressure - just a nudge when we're ready for you.