BudgetBucks

Terms of Service

Effective October 17, 2026 · Version v12

Please read these Terms carefully. Section 16 requires most disputes to be resolved by binding individual arbitration and waives class actions and jury trials. You can opt out of arbitration within 30 days (Section 16.6).

1. Agreement

These Terms of Service (“Terms”) are a binding agreement between you and Tarpley Tech LLC, doing business as BudgetBucks (“BudgetBucks,” “we,” “us,” or “our”). They govern your use of the website at budgetbucks.app, the BudgetBucks iPhone app, and related services, including email forwarding addresses, real-time features, and notifications (together, the “Service”). By checking the box to agree, creating an account, or using the Service, you accept these Terms and our Privacy Policy. If you do not agree, do not use the Service.

2. Eligibility; invite codes

You must be at least 18 years old and live in the United States, which for these Terms includes Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana Islands. New accounts can only be created from a connection in one of those places: we check the country of your connection when you sign up, and a VPN or similar service may cause a signup to be refused. You can sign in to an existing account while traveling.

Creating an account may require an invite code. From time to time we may open a limited number of founding spots that don't need a code. A spot is claimed only when you confirm your email; if the spots fill before you confirm, you'll need an invite code. We may change the number of spots or close a round at any time. Invite codes may be limited in how many times they can be used, may be revoked or expire at any time, and may not be sold or traded. Access to the Service is at our discretion.

3. Subscriptions, billing, and free trial

Price and renewal. Unless you are a Founding Member (below), using the Service after your free trial requires a paid subscription: a monthly plan, currently $7.99 per month, or a yearly plan, currently $79 per year. Prices do not include sales tax, which is calculated at checkout and added on top. Subscriptions renew automatically at the end of each billing period (each month or each year, depending on your plan) until you cancel. By subscribing, you authorize Stripe, as described below, to charge your payment method at the start of each billing period.

Free trial. New accounts get a 30-day free trial that starts when you sign up, and no payment method is needed to start it. If you subscribe during the trial, your first charge is when the trial ends, except that if you subscribe in the last two days of the trial, you may be charged when you subscribe. If the trial ends without a subscription, your account becomes read-only: your data is kept, purchase alerts you forward are still received, and you can subscribe at any time to resume editing. We may change or end trial offers for new accounts.

Cancellation. You can cancel anytime from Account → Billing (Manage billing). Cancellation takes effect at the end of your current billing period, and you keep access until then. We do not provide refunds or credits for partial billing periods, except where required by law and except as described in Section 10 (if we delete your paid account).

Failed payments. If a payment fails, we and Stripe may retry it. Your account stays available for a grace period (currently 7 days); if payment still has not succeeded, the account becomes read-only until payment is made, and the subscription may be canceled.

Price changes. We may change the subscription price. We will notify you in the Service or by email at least 30 days before a new price applies to you, and it takes effect at your next billing period after that notice. If you don't agree, you can cancel before the change takes effect.

Free months. We may occasionally give you a free month, either as a credit toward a future charge or as an extension of your trial. Credits have no cash value and are not transferable.

Founding Members. Some accounts are Founding Members: for example, accounts that existed before paid subscriptions launched, that signed up with an invite code that grants founding membership, or that claimed a spot in a founding round. We intend the Service to be free for Founding Members for the foreseeable future, but we do not promise or guarantee that it will stay free. We may end or change Founding Member status at any time, at our discretion. If we do, we will tell you in the Service or by email at least 30 days before the change takes effect. After that date you get a new 30-day free trial, and you can then subscribe or stop using the Service and delete your account. You will never be charged unless you add a payment method and subscribe.

Payments and merchant of record. Subscriptions are sold and processed by Stripe (through its Link checkout) as merchant of record, including when you subscribe from the iPhone app, where Stripe's checkout page opens inside the app. Purchases are not made through Apple, and Apple is not responsible for billing, refunds, or subscription support. Stripe collects applicable sales tax, issues receipts, and may handle payment-related support. BudgetBucks provides the Service and sets the prices and the refund policy in these Terms. We do not receive or store your full card number. Your purchase is also subject to Stripe's and Link's terms and privacy policies.

4. Your account and forwarding setup

You are responsible for providing accurate information, keeping your password confidential, keeping any device you use to sign in secure, and all activity under your account. If you turn on Face ID in the iPhone app, anyone who can unlock that iPhone with Face ID or its passcode can open BudgetBucks on it. Notify us promptly at [email protected] of any unauthorized use.

Your forwarding filters. You decide which emails reach your BudgetBucks address, and you are solely responsible for configuring your card alerts, email filters, and forwarding rules, for what they send to us, and for keeping your BudgetBucks address private. Forward only card and bank alert emails, check that your filter or rule matches only those senders, and never forward your whole inbox. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we are not liable for any harm arising from mail forwarded because a filter or rule was too broad, misconfigured, or changed, including personal, confidential, or third-party mail, and including missed, extra, duplicate, or incorrect transactions. We may automatically discard, without storing it or having a person read it, any forwarded email that does not appear to be a card or bank alert, and we have no obligation to keep, return, or act on it.

5. Not financial, tax, or legal advice

The Service is a personal budgeting tool. Nothing in the Service is financial, investment, tax, accounting, or legal advice, and you should not rely on it as such. You are solely responsible for verifying all amounts, balances, and transactions against your own records and statements, and for your financial decisions.

6. Transactions, alerts, and third parties

Real-time features depend on emails from card issuers and on email providers that we do not control. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we are not responsible for missed, delayed, duplicate, incomplete, or incorrect transactions or alerts; for parsing errors; for loss or corruption of data; or for the acts, omissions, services, or policies of card issuers, banks, email providers, or other third parties. We are not affiliated with or endorsed by any card issuer.

AI-read purchases. For cards we can't read yet, the Service may use an AI model to read the alert. These purchases are tagged “AI-read” and may be wrong; please review the amount, merchant, and date before you rely on them.

No bank access. We never ask for your bank or card login, never connect to your bank or card accounts, and cannot initiate payments, transfers, or any other movement of money.

Notifications. Purchase notifications are optional and off until you turn them on for a browser or iPhone. They are delivered on a best-effort basis through your browser's push service or Apple's, and may be delayed, duplicated, or not delivered. You can turn them off at any time in Account → Real-time.

7. Changes to the Service

The Service is in early access. Features may change, and you may encounter bugs, downtime, or data errors; you acknowledged this when you signed up. The Service, including real-time features, may change, be suspended, or be discontinued at any time, with or without notice, and without liability to you. Support for particular cards may be added or removed.

8. Your content, our property, and feedback

You keep ownership of the budgets, transactions, and emails you provide (“Your Content”). You grant us a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to host, store, copy, process, and display Your Content only as needed to operate, maintain, secure, and improve the Service. This includes reviewing alert emails you forward so we can add support for your card. We do not sell Your Content. You represent that you have the right to provide Your Content.

Our property. The Service, including its software, design, text, and the BudgetBucks name and logo, belongs to us and our licensors. Subject to these Terms, we give you a limited, personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable license to use the Service for your own household budgeting. No other rights are granted.

Feedback. If you send us ideas or suggestions, we may use them freely without any obligation to you.

9. Acceptable use

You agree not to:

  • use the Service for any unlawful purpose or in violation of these Terms;
  • access another person's account or data, or forward emails you are not authorized to share;
  • send spam, malware, or harmful content to any BudgetBucks address;
  • probe, scan, or test the vulnerability of the Service, or bypass security, rate limits, or the signup country check;
  • scrape, reverse engineer, or interfere with or disrupt the Service or its infrastructure;
  • resell, sublicense, or provide the Service to others, or share invite codes for payment.

10. Deleting your account; suspension and termination

Deleting your account yourself. You may stop using the Service at any time. You can delete your account and its data yourself in Account → Sign-in and security → Delete account, on the website or in the iPhone app, or ask us to by emailing [email protected]; we complete emailed requests within 30 days. Deleting your account takes effect right away: any subscription is canceled immediately, and you lose access to the rest of the current billing period without a refund (if you want to use the time you have paid for, cancel in Account → Billing first and delete your account later). What we keep after deletion is described in the Privacy Policy.

Our rights. BudgetBucks may suspend or delete any account, or suspend or terminate access to all or part of the Service, at any time, for any reason or no reason, with or without notice, and without liability to you except as stated in this Section.

Refund if we delete a paid account. If BudgetBucks deletes an account that has a paid subscription before the end of the current billing period, we will cancel the subscription and refund that billing period's payment in full (that month's, or that year's on a yearly plan). We do not refund earlier billing periods. This refund does not apply when you cancel or delete your own account.

11. Disclaimer of warranties

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE,” WITH ALL FAULTS AND WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS, IMPLIED, OR STATUTORY. WE DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, INCLUDING ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT, AND ANY WARRANTIES THAT THE SERVICE OR ANY DATA WILL BE ACCURATE, COMPLETE, RELIABLE, SECURE, TIMELY, AVAILABLE, UNINTERRUPTED, OR ERROR-FREE, OR THAT DEFECTS WILL BE CORRECTED. YOU USE THE SERVICE AT YOUR OWN RISK.

12. Limitation of liability

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, IN NO EVENT WILL BUDGETBUCKS OR ITS MEMBERS, MANAGERS, OFFICERS, OR ANY AGENT, CONTRACTOR, OR SERVICE PROVIDER, BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR FOR ANY LOSS OF PROFITS, REVENUE, SAVINGS, DATA, OR GOODWILL, OR COSTS OF SUBSTITUTE SERVICES, ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THE SERVICE OR THESE TERMS, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE), STRICT LIABILITY, OR ANY OTHER THEORY, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. OUR TOTAL AGGREGATE LIABILITY FOR ALL CLAIMS ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THE SERVICE OR THESE TERMS WILL NOT EXCEED THE GREATER OF (A) THE AMOUNTS YOU PAID US FOR THE SERVICE IN THE 12 MONTHS BEFORE THE EVENT GIVING RISE TO THE CLAIM OR (B) US$10. THESE LIMITATIONS APPLY EVEN IF A REMEDY FAILS OF ITS ESSENTIAL PURPOSE. SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW CERTAIN LIMITATIONS, SO SOME OF THEM MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.

13. Indemnification

To the fullest extent permitted by law, you will defend, indemnify, and hold harmless BudgetBucks and its members, managers, officers, agents, contractors, and service providers, from and against any claims, liabilities, damages, losses, judgments, settlements, costs, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising out of or relating to your use or misuse of the Service, Your Content, your violation of these Terms, or your violation of any law or the rights of any third party. We may assume control of the defense of any matter, and you will cooperate with us.

14. Release

To the fullest extent permitted by law, you release BudgetBucks and its members, managers, and officers from claims, demands, and damages of every kind, known and unknown, arising out of or connected with disputes between you and any third party (including card issuers and email providers) relating to the Service. If you are a California resident, you waive California Civil Code section 1542, which says: “A general release does not extend to claims that the creditor or releasing party does not know or suspect to exist in his or her favor at the time of executing the release and that, if known by him or her, would have materially affected his or her settlement with the debtor or released party.”

15. Governing law

These Terms and any dispute arising out of or relating to them or the Service are governed by the laws of the State of Tennessee, without regard to its conflict-of-laws rules, and, where applicable, the Federal Arbitration Act. Subject to Section 16, the state and federal courts located in Tennessee have exclusive jurisdiction, and you consent to personal jurisdiction there.

16. Dispute resolution: binding arbitration and class action waiver

16.1 Informal resolution. Before filing any claim, you agree to email [email protected] with a description of the dispute and try in good faith to resolve it informally for at least 30 days.

16.2 Arbitration. Except as provided in 16.4, any dispute, claim, or controversy arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Service, including their formation, scope, or enforceability, will be resolved by final and binding arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association (“AAA”) under its Consumer Arbitration Rules then in effect, before a single arbitrator. The arbitration will be seated in Tennessee; hearings may be held by video or telephone, or in your county of residence if you request it. Fees are governed by the AAA rules. Judgment on the award may be entered in any court of competent jurisdiction.

16.3 Class action and jury trial waiver. YOU AND WE AGREE THAT EACH MAY BRING CLAIMS AGAINST THE OTHER ONLY IN AN INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY, AND NOT AS A PLAINTIFF OR CLASS MEMBER IN ANY PURPORTED CLASS, COLLECTIVE, CONSOLIDATED, OR REPRESENTATIVE PROCEEDING. THE ARBITRATOR MAY NOT CONSOLIDATE CLAIMS OF MORE THAN ONE PERSON. YOU AND WE WAIVE ANY RIGHT TO A JURY TRIAL.

16.4 Exceptions. Either party may bring an individual claim in small claims court if it qualifies, and either party may seek injunctive or other equitable relief in court to protect its intellectual property or to stop unauthorized access to or misuse of the Service.

16.5 Time limit. To the fullest extent permitted by law, any claim arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Service must be filed within one (1) year after the claim arose; otherwise it is permanently barred.

16.6 30-day opt-out. You may opt out of this arbitration agreement by emailing [email protected] within 30 days after you first accept these Terms, with your name, account email, and a clear statement that you opt out of arbitration. Opting out does not affect any other part of these Terms.

16.7 Severability of this section. If the class action waiver in 16.3 is found unenforceable as to any claim, that claim must be severed and heard in court, and the rest of this Section 16 still applies to all other claims. If any other part of this Section 16 is found unenforceable, the rest of this Section remains in effect.

17. Changes to these Terms

We may modify these Terms. If we make material changes, we will update the version and effective date and notify you in the Service or by email at least 30 days before the changes take effect for you, unless you accept them sooner (for example, when the Service asks you to review and accept the updated Terms). To the fullest extent permitted by law, your continued use of the Service after changes take effect constitutes acceptance of the modified Terms. Changes to Section 16 do not apply to any dispute that is pending, or that we have been notified of, before the change takes effect.

18. General

  • Entire agreement. These Terms and the Privacy Policy are the entire agreement between you and us about the Service and supersede any prior agreements.
  • Severability. If any provision is held unenforceable, it will be enforced to the maximum extent permissible and the remaining provisions remain in full force and effect.
  • No waiver. Our failure to enforce any provision is not a waiver of our right to do so later.
  • Assignment. You may not assign or transfer these Terms without our prior written consent. We may assign or transfer them freely, including in connection with a sale of the Service.
  • No third-party beneficiaries. These Terms do not create any third-party beneficiary rights, except for Apple and its subsidiaries as described in Section 19.
  • Force majeure. We are not liable for any delay or failure caused by events beyond our reasonable control, including outages of internet, hosting, email, or card-issuer systems, natural disasters, and acts of government.
  • Survival. Sections 4, 5, 8 (as to Your Content already provided), 10 through 17, and 19 survive any termination of these Terms or deletion of your account.
  • Notices and support. We may send notices to the email address on your account or post them in the Service. You can reach us at [email protected] or through Account → Support.

19. Apple App Store

This section applies if you downloaded the BudgetBucks iPhone app from Apple's App Store. If it conflicts with anything else in these Terms, this section controls for the iPhone app.

  • Agreement with us, not Apple. These Terms are between you and Tarpley Tech LLC only, not Apple. We, not Apple, are solely responsible for the app and its content.
  • License. Your license to the app is non-transferable and lets you use it only on Apple-branded devices that you own or control, as permitted by the Usage Rules in Apple's Media Services Terms and Conditions. The app may also be used by other accounts linked to the purchaser through Family Sharing or volume purchasing.
  • Maintenance and support. We are solely responsible for any maintenance and support for the app, as described in these Terms or as required by law. Apple has no obligation at all to provide maintenance or support for the app.
  • Warranty. We are solely responsible for any product warranties, whether express or implied by law, to the extent they are not effectively disclaimed (see Section 11). If the app fails to conform to any applicable warranty, you may notify Apple, and Apple will refund the purchase price you paid Apple for the app, if any. Subscriptions are sold by Stripe, not Apple (see Section 3), so they are not a purchase price paid to Apple. To the maximum extent permitted by law, Apple has no other warranty obligation for the app, and any other claims, losses, liabilities, damages, costs, or expenses caused by a failure to conform to a warranty are our responsibility, not Apple's.
  • Product claims. We, not Apple, are responsible for addressing any claims by you or any third party relating to the app or your possession or use of it, including (a) product liability claims; (b) any claim that the app fails to meet an applicable legal or regulatory requirement; and (c) claims under consumer protection, privacy, or similar laws. Nothing in these Terms limits our liability to you beyond what the law permits.
  • Intellectual property claims. If a third party claims that the app, or your possession and use of it, infringes their intellectual property rights, we, not Apple, are solely responsible for investigating, defending, settling, and discharging that claim.
  • Legal compliance. You represent and warrant that (a) you are not located in a country that is subject to a U.S. Government embargo or that the U.S. Government has designated as a “terrorist supporting” country; and (b) you are not listed on any U.S. Government list of prohibited or restricted parties.
  • Third-party terms. When using the app, you must comply with any third-party terms that apply to you, such as your wireless carrier's data plan agreement and your email provider's terms.
  • Questions and complaints. Send any questions, complaints, or claims about the app to Tarpley Tech LLC at [email protected] or through Account → Support in the app.
  • Apple as third-party beneficiary. You and we agree that Apple and its subsidiaries are third-party beneficiaries of these Terms, and that once you accept these Terms, Apple will have the right (and will be deemed to have accepted the right) to enforce them against you as a third-party beneficiary.