123 | Is Your Budgeting App Really Serving You? 3 Reasons to Try Monarch Money

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Frustrated by budgeting apps that feel rigid or never seem to capture all your transactions? In this episode, I’m sharing why Monarch Money has become one of my favorite financial tools — both for my own money management and with my clients. 

In this episode I discuss:

• Amazon integration: Monarch automatically pulls detailed information from your Amazon account, so you don't have to.
• Partner transaction assignments: You can tag a transaction for your partner to review and categorize. 
• Flexible budgeting styles: Whether you’re a detailed line-by-line budgeter or prefer broader cash flow tracking, Monarch adapts. 

Monarch isn’t just another tracking tool. It’s a customizable, intuitive platform that empowers you to create a money system aligned with your values.

You can receive 50% off your first year by using this code

Want to learn more or connect with me?

Step 1: Join my FREE Facebook Community.

Connect, share, and learn how to master your money with other women just like you.

➡️ Join here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/941450038160915

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Curious what your Human Design chart reveals about how you're uniquely designed to make aligned financial decisions?

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Step 3: Ready to transform your relationship with money and build true financial confidence?

Let’s create a plan that feels aligned, intentional, and empowering—just for you.

➡️ Schedule your free clarity call here (https://tidycal.com/eringray/45-min-call-with-erin)

Money doesn't have to feel overwhelming. Let's create a plan that feels nurturing and custom to you.

From my soul to yours,

Erin

Episode Transcript

Erin Gray (00:00):
If you've tried budgeting apps before and felt
like they were a little bit toorigid or just didn't fit your
life or didn't pull in all ofthe transactions which is
actually what I have recentlyexperienced with my other app
that I was using you're going towant to hear this episode.
Today, I am sharing threereasons why I love Monarch Money

(00:20):
and why it's, hands down,probably my favorite tool for
clients who want to build afinancial system that actually
works for them.
Welcome to your Money yourRoles podcast.
I'm Erin and I'm so glad you'rehere.
Let's get into the nitty grittyof Monarch Money.
I have used Mint and Empowerand what I have found over time

(00:42):
is that they weren't as robust.
And what I have found over timeis that they weren't as robust
as I wanted.
And actually Empower was thelast app that I was using and it
started to skip transactionsand not actually pull them in
and the transactions were notupdating, which was super

(01:03):
frustrating because I couldn'treally see a clear picture.
Because I couldn't really see aclear picture.
So Monarch money it feels superrobust, probably more than what
I actually use, really clearlythought out, like someone
actually sat down and took thetime to ask, kind of almost it
feels like they ran a betaprogram which I'm probably sure
they did but to really sit downand take the time to figure out
what is it that people actuallywant.

(01:25):
So it's really clearly thoughtout and it's customizable, it's
very intuitive and it's actuallyfun to use.
My husband actually made thatcomment when we were working
with it a couple of weekends ago.
It was really interestingbecause, you know, I have had my
relationship with money.
He's obviously had hisrelationship with money, which
has probably been more cleanenergy than it has been for me,

(01:48):
but it was really interesting tohear him say wow, this is
actually fun.
This is really easy to use.
So, above the normal budgetingtools and software that we're
used to, I'm going to share thethree things that I love about
Monarch that I think that youmight as well.
So, first and foremost I don'tknow if you are like me, most of

(02:08):
my clients a lot of ourspending happens on Amazon and
when you're in your budgetingapp, it can feel time consuming
to go into Amazon to see whateach order was and you know,
come back and then bring it intoyour budgeting software.
But what Monarch does is itpulls it from your Amazon

(02:33):
account so that you can seeexactly what each purchase was,
with even the link, so you couldclick on the link and actually
paste it in your web browser andsee exactly what it is, if you
don't recognize what was writtenin your notes, and you could
set up rules so that, if youlike, are on subscribe and save,

(02:55):
like how we are, then it willautomatically start to allocate.
It learns your behaviors so youcan start to allocate.
You know, per category, likeper transaction, to what
categories you want, which forme I don't know if you feel this
way, but, like the Amazon isprobably the most time consuming
.
When I sit down and I look atour money, because there are a

(03:17):
lot of transactions that we useit's so vastly different.
It's not like it's always, youknow, toothpaste that we order,
and so it really.
It sped things up so quicklyfor us when I learned about how
to use and integrate the Monarchwith the Amazon.

(03:39):
Assign spending I don't want tosay spending to your partner,
but you can assign.
Yeah, I mean you can assignspending to your partner and
this, I think, is a game changerfor couples, because you can
literally tag a transaction foryour partner and then they can
log in to review it orcategorize it themselves.

(04:00):
So before, what I would have todo before using Monarch, I
would have a note card and Iwould write down all of the
transactions that I didn'trecognize or didn't know where
they needed to go.
And then I would go and ask myhusband, jason, so he could then
go back and, you know, look atwhat his transactions were and
then I can know how tocategorize them.

(04:21):
But now, since he's doing themoney in a more active way, what
he does is he just assigns itto me and it shows up on my
phone.
It's, you know, the app is alsoon your phone, shows up on your
phone and you're able to justclick on the link and categorize
it, put your notes in it.
If you download the app on yourphone, it's so easy.

(04:44):
It feels so much more timeefficient than the back and
forth with you know.
What did you use this for?
What category does this go Like?
I know I have another clientand her husband does it and then
he leaves the credit cardstatement on her desk for like
okay, highlights, like what isthis for?
What is that for?
So it's a much more efficientway, I feel to ask your spouse

(05:07):
what were these transactions sothat you can categorize them
appropriately, and it really Ifeel like it really takes like
the mental load off of oneperson.
It's just really really nice.
And then the third one is it'sjust really flexible.
They offer flexible or specificbudgeting options.
So some of my clients they wanta super detailed allocation or,

(05:29):
if you may call it, budgeting abudget.
But some of my clients actuallywant more of a flexible, just
kind of like a couple of buckets, right, like what are your
fixed expenses, what are yourflexible expenses?
And that adjusts from month tomonth.
And so Monarch allows you to doboth.
You can allow for the flexiblespending or, if you wanted more

(05:49):
detailed, you can definitely setthat up when you sign up and
you know you can set up aspecific line item budget or,
like I said, use a flexibleapproach that adapts based on
your overall cash flow.
Either way, I mean, and theother option too, is if you
decide you wanted to set it upas flexible and then you decided
down the road you wanted tochange it to a more specific

(06:13):
budget, you definitely have.
They allow you that option todo that, so it's not like you're
stuck in one way or the other.
It allows you that flexibility.
So they offer a trial.
I think it's a free trial forseven days and then after that I
think they advertise it at $99a year, but I know they are
running some promos.

(06:34):
So just make sure that you payattention to the coupon codes,
because they do offer somepromos on that first year.
So the key takeaways that Iwould highlight for you is that
Monarch Money for me, it doesn'tfeel like just another
budgeting app.
It's truly dynamic.
It is very user-friendly.

(06:55):
Their platform is veryuser-friendly.
That really makes managing yourmoney simpler and, I think,
more collaborative.
If you're doing money with yourspouse, you know the Amazon
integration, the partnerfeatures and then the flexible
budgeting options make it reallysupportive to you, no matter

(07:16):
how your brain works or even youknow your relationship works,
and I want you to take away alsothat.
Remember that what the way Iuse it is, allocating your money
isn't just about which many ofus feel like right, it's about
restriction.
I truly believe it's aboutcreating a system that helps you
feel empowered, helps you feeland gain clarity, to know where

(07:40):
you have allocated andcirculated your money and to
feel more in control, so you cantake a look and see what are
your patterns, what do you liketo invest your money on or in,
and is it aligned with yourvalues?
Okay, that's what I have foryou.
I will see you in the nextepisode.