Budgeting for Beginners Using Monarch Money

So, you've tried spreadsheets, notebooks, maybe even a budgeting app that felt more like a pseudoku puzzle. Let's fix that. Today, I'm showing you how to use Monarch Money, a budgeting app that makes adulting feel more organized and perhaps even kind of fun. I'll walk you through setting it up, plus share some pros and cons so you can decide if it's your budget match. This is part of my budgeting for beginners series aimed to help you create better budget behavior. So, today we're getting fancy with Monarch Money. Monarch Money is a personal finance app that helps you create a budget, track your financial growth. You can even collaborate with partners all on one secure, super customizable platform. And if you're a newbie to budgeting apps or budgeting in general, no sweat. I'm going to show you this easy walkrough. Okay, so when you get inside of Monarch Money, when you open up the dashboard for the very first time, it's like walking into a very clean, minimalist living room. It's uh got this calm, cozy, zen vibe. I feel like there should be like flickering candles in the background. Yes. So peaceful. So right away you're going to see this dashboard. Super clean. But step one is you are going to link your accounts. So you can head over to the accounts tab and then you can click add account. You're going to connect your checking, savings, credit cards, loans, basically everything in your financial world that feels chaotic. And what makes this really easy with Monarch is that you can connect 13,000 different institutions. Once those are connected, Monarch is automatically going to download those transactions and categorize them for you. And yes, you can edit the categories because Starbucks is not groceries. Thank you very much. Also, what I love about Monarch is so fun is it's got these little emojis that instantly draws your eye in so you can see exactly which category it's categorized it to. I think that's really smart. It's visual. It's just so cute and I think it calls out your spending in the best way possible. Okay, number two is to set up your budget. You're gonna head over to the budgets tab and then create fixed expenses for things like mortgage, your utilities, a phone bill, maybe child care, like myself. Okay, so you can set monthly limits inside of Monarch by clicking into the cell. And you can see when that progress bar goes from green to red, signaling that you've overspent. It's like a very gentle digital slap on the wrist. And if you don't know what dollar amount to set for a specific category, Monarch can actually tell you what your average spending is. So you can update your budget accordingly, which saves so much time. So if I click into my gas and electric bill, I can actually see the spending history over the last several months and then set that as my target amount for next month's budget. This saves you so much time. Also, you have the option of turning on flex budgeting. Flex budgeting keeps things more high level so that you feel like you don't have to micromanage every single category. So all you have to do is head over to settings, click flex budget, and then save. Or you can keep it more micro categoryesque by clicking the category budget. I'm going to exit out of that. And then next, you'll want to take a look at your non-monthly section of your budget. Non-monthly is any spending that happens maybe on an annual basis or less frequently than monthly. Think about by annual payments to your car insurance premiums or anything that feels irregular typically belongs in the non-monthly category. Step three is to track your goals. One of my favorite features about Monarch is the goals section. So, you can create goals for a variety of things. Want to save $1,000 for a vacation? No problem. You can set that up inside of Monarch and then it's going to tell you exactly how much cash you need to stash in order to hit that goal. Plus, you can see here like I'm saving up for another vehicle. It shows your progress visually, so it helps you stay accountable and motivated to continue saving monthly. Step four, view your cash flow and net worth. You're going to head over to the reports section and then it's going to give you this beautiful sand key that you can take a look at how the cash moves throughout your different expenses and throughout your life. This is basically the adult report card, if you will. So, Monarch basically tracks all of your assets minus your debt to show you your real financial picture. In fact, I did not realize this and how this is all shaping up. That uh we're spending about 25% on housing with the bulk of that being towards a mortgage payment and then a big chunk of that towards home improvement and repairs. That's pretty. Oh. Oh, and a teensy bit towards cleaning. We do occasionally like a clean house. Okay, so the pros are it's a gorgeous interface. I mean, it's like the Apple of budgeting apps. Also, easy automation. There's no manual entry nightmares to speak of. And goal tracking feels motivating, not overwhelming. And you can invite your partner to join your household budget. And speaking of, we love a budget that is a yours, mine, and ours. because sometimes your partner is spending from a completely different account than you. So now inside of Monarch, you can actually see accounts, transactions, and even net worth per partner. I'd call that a major pro. Now, the cons are it's not free. It's about the equivalent of two cups of coffee per month. And if you love spreadsheets and total control, Monarch might feel too automated. And smaller banks actually might take a couple of times to sync up properly. Monarch Money is perfect for busy couples or families or anyone who wants to organize their finances without micromanaging every transaction. All aimed at creating better budget behavior. So, if you want to set it, check it once a week, and let the app do the heavy lifting for you, then this one just might be the one for you. And since I'm partnering with Monarch Money on this video, they are giving away two year-long subscriptions to the DFM fam. All you have to do is like this video and comment below with why you would like to use Monarch Money. In the next 3 days since this video has been published, so whatever this publish date is down here, 3 days from now is the deadline to like this video and give it a comment and I will comment back if you're a winner. Now, if the giveaway is closed, don't sweat. You can still get 50% off your annual subscription by heading to monarch.com/defreemillennials and using code debtfree or using the link in the description box below. Budgeting isn't about restriction. It's about direction. And if you're still trying to figure out what budget works for you, subscribe. I've got videos aimed at the beginner budgeter. The goal is the same regardless of what you choose. Control your money before it controls