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

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.

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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

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction to Monarch Money
• 1:05 Amazon Integration Feature
• 3:40 Partner Transaction Assignment
• 5:20 Flexible Budgeting Options
• 6:25 Pricing and Key Takeaways

Transcript

Erin Gray: 0:00

If you've tried budgeting apps before and felt like they were a little bit too rigid or just didn't fit your life or didn't pull in all of the transactions which is actually what I have recently experienced with my other app that I was using you're going to want to hear this episode. Today, I am sharing three reasons why I love Monarch Money and why it's, hands down, probably my favorite tool for clients who want to build a financial system that actually works for them. Welcome to your Money your Roles podcast. I'm Erin and I'm so glad you're here.

Erin Gray: 0:33

Let's get into the nitty gritty of Monarch Money. I have used Mint and Empower and what I have found over time is that they weren't as robust. And what I have found over time is that they weren't as robust as I wanted. And actually Empower was the last app that I was using and it started to skip transactions and not actually pull them in and the transactions were not updating, which was super frustrating because I couldn't really see a clear picture. Because I couldn't really see a clear picture. So Monarch money it feels super robust, probably more than what I actually use, really clearly thought out, like someone actually sat down and took the time to ask, kind of almost it feels like they ran a beta program which I'm probably sure they did but to really sit down and take the time to figure out what is it that people actually want. So it's really clearly thought out and it's customizable, it's very intuitive and it's actually fun to use. My husband actually made that comment when we were working with it a couple of weekends ago. It was really interesting because, you know, I have had my relationship with money. He's obviously had his relationship with money, which has probably been more clean energy than it has been for me, but it was really interesting to hear him say wow, this is actually fun. This is really easy to use. So, above the normal budgeting tools and software that we're used to, I'm going to share the three things that I love about Monarch that I think that you might as well.

Erin Gray: 2:04

So, first and foremost I don't know if you are like me, most of my clients a lot of our spending happens on Amazon and when you're in your budgeting app, it can feel time consuming to go into Amazon to see what each order was and you know, come back and then bring it into your budgeting software. But what Monarch does is it pulls it from your Amazon account so that you can see exactly what each purchase was, with even the link, so you could click on the link and actually paste it in your web browser and see exactly what it is, if you don't recognize what was written in your notes, and you could set up rules so that, if you like, are on subscribe and save, like how we are, then it will automatically start to allocate. It learns your behaviors so you can start to allocate. You know, per category, like per transaction, to what categories you want, which for me I don't know if you feel this way, but, like the Amazon is probably the most time consuming. When I sit down and I look at our money, because there are a lot of transactions that we use it's so vastly different. It's not like it's always, you know, toothpaste that we order, and so it really. It sped things up so quickly for us when I learned about how to use and integrate the Monarch with the Amazon.

Erin Gray: 3:39

Assign spending I don't want to say spending to your partner, but you can assign. Yeah, I mean you can assign spending to your partner and this, I think, is a game changer for couples, because you can literally tag a transaction for your partner and then they can log in to review it or categorize it themselves. So before, what I would have to do before using Monarch, I would have a note card and I would write down all of the transactions that I didn't recognize or didn't know where they needed to go. And then I would go and ask my husband, jason, so he could then go back and, you know, look at what his transactions were and then I can know how to categorize them. But now, since he's doing the money in a more active way, what he does is he just assigns it to me and it shows up on my phone. It's, you know, the app is also on your phone, shows up on your phone and you're able to just click on the link and categorize it, put your notes in it. If you download the app on your phone, it's so easy. It feels so much more time efficient 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 client and her husband does it and then he leaves the credit card statement on her desk for like okay, highlights, like what is this for? What is that for? So it's a much more efficient way, I feel to ask your spouse what were these transactions so that you can categorize them appropriately, and it really I feel like it really takes like the mental load off of one person. It's just really really nice. And then the third one is it's just really flexible.

Erin Gray: 5:20

They offer flexible or specific budgeting options. So some of my clients they want a super detailed allocation or, if you may call it, budgeting a budget. But some of my clients actually want more of a flexible, just kind of like a couple of buckets, right, like what are your fixed expenses, what are your flexible expenses? And that adjusts from month to month. And so Monarch allows you to do both. You can allow for the flexible spending or, if you wanted more detailed, you can definitely set that up when you sign up and you know you can set up a specific line item budget or, like I said, use a flexible approach that adapts based on your overall cash flow. Either way, I mean, and the other option too, is if you decide you wanted to set it up as flexible and then you decided down the road you wanted to change it to a more specific budget, you definitely have. They allow you that option to do 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 for seven days and then after that I think they advertise it at $99 a year, but I know they are running some promos. So just make sure that you pay attention to the coupon codes, because they do offer some promos on that first year.

Erin Gray: 6:42

So the key takeaways that I would highlight for you is that Monarch Money for me, it doesn't feel like just another budgeting app. It's truly dynamic. It is very user-friendly. Their platform is very user-friendly. That really makes managing your money simpler and, I think, more collaborative.

Erin Gray: 7:04

If you're doing money with your spouse, you know the Amazon integration, the partner features and then the flexible budgeting options make it really supportive to you, no matter how your brain works or even you know your relationship works, and I want you to take away also that. Remember that what the way I use it is, allocating your money isn't just about which many of us feel like right, it's about restriction. I truly believe it's about creating a system that helps you feel empowered, helps you feel and gain clarity, to know where you have allocated and circulated your money and to feel more in control, so you can take a look and see what are your patterns, what do you like to invest your money on or in, and is it aligned with your values? Okay, that's what I have for you. I will see you in the next episode.