Best 4 Budgeting Apps! (Ranked By The Money Guy Team)

[@BrennanSedivy]

I started YNAB in January of 2024. It was an awkward adjustment at first and I needed several pay cycles to acclimate. I still have some improvements to make (e.g. overspent categories) but so far the paradigm shift in how I see money is already giving me confidence and sense of security. I’m almost a month ahead on my budget for the first time in my life and making small advances towards saving for an auto loan down payment (which was previously inconceivable). My credit card is paid off and taking the back seat.

[@KingEdwardA]

Thanks for this my man

[@diegolbasilio]

Happy to see this! Migrating to YNAB had a huge positive impact on our financial journey.

[@seannacarter9189]

We use RocketMoney to the same effect. I really love how (after initial set up) it is so effortless. I don't think everyone needs to budget all the time but these easy budget tools can be a game changer.

[@ThePpglover2]

I use an Excel sheet to set up my monthly budget. And then for the paycheck budgets and expense tracking I use The Budget Mom's Budget Workbook. You can get a printable version for 20$ and then just reprint as needed. And I find having to write down all expenses physically does make me actually think about the cost of things. "Oh wow, I spent 38$ on the craft store today. I probably shouldn't buy more craft supplies until I use up some of my others."

[@jessemeier3447]

I strict budgeted for 3 years and stopped maybe 3 years ago, and am excited to hear your takes. I've never carried a credit card balance, however, I have come to realize recently that I am spending more than I think I normally would by swiping that dang thing. Probably no matter where you are in the financial journey, it can't hurt to see where you've gained some "financial fat" in certain areas and to be more mindful.

[@riunikii]

Oh my goodness, I am going through th3 same thing. It has been creeping up slowly, but this month, I spent THREE times my monthly apend for reasons I can not explain. Getting back on the wagon

[@danayarbrough1494]

I’m old school pen and paper. I know my take home and every bill, subtract the total of those bills and what’s left over I break into categories for sinking funds. From there I either transfer to my hysa or take cash. Easy peasy 9:49

[@JayDailyTV]

Joined Monarch instead of Co-pilot because they support PC browser. Thank you for researching and covering this topic.

[@demondragon24]

monarch was the best transition from mint for us

[@oakfan52]

Yes, they offered a 50% discount on the annual subscription for the 1st year and have a module to import all your transaction history from Mint.

[@Alexandra11090]

I agree and now have been using it for 8 months now. I wish they would make some upgrades and hope they do coming into 2025, specifically with being able to use sinking funds.

[@Brucefulness]

Two things on Every dollar. 1. After a while it learns your purchases and starts auto categorizing them seamlessly. 2. Gotta shout out paycheck planning. If you have odd income it really helps you layout your monthly budget to to see where you can make adjustments on payments or where you'll be light on cash at any time of the month. Super helpful.

[@FlyKaleb]

Empower aka personal capital. Great spending monitoring, see investments and allocation in one place. Been a great resource.

[@blessonsamuel3906]

I moved to this, and am more in Cash Management phase rather than detailed budgeting. Only bummer is not being able to log manual cash transactions, whixh is important for me, so I track a Google sheet for those transactions.

[@jmagicd9831]

Disappointed this app was not covered tbh, especially when they didn’t have any free recommendations.

[@ddier333]

I've been using this for years. It's one of my favorite apps.

[@jefftimmermeyer8553]

It’s gone downhill if you ask me with the bank connections and hasn’t evolved.

[@jmagicd9831]

@@jefftimmermeyer8553 Still free for most of the benefits of the stuff covered in the show, and unless you bank with Amex, it should work with any major institution.

[@KenDawgProduction]

Monarch is really good.

[@marksimmons7906]

I tried to use both YNAB and Monarch in parallel and after 2 months I ditched YNAB, the choice was clear. Been using Monarch for 6 months and it's definitely a keeper.

[@dragoncat5836]

$17/month for a budgeting app would be my first place to cut LOL. Been using the same Google docs spreadsheet for 15 years, it's free and easy and I don't have to worry about a spreadsheet shutting down on me suddenly.

[@LawrenceTimme]

Same! Open office is free.

[@deb5392]

I started out in a spreadsheet and I won't knock it, but it's a lot more work than using an app like YNAB. I need that time in my life more than I need to save less than $100 a year.

[@dbdb4962]

Depends how much you make. I make over $500/hour, wasting my time with a spreadsheet would be non productive

[@dragoncat5836]

@dbdb4962 apps aren't any faster. Some of them try to categorize things for you but most get it wrong at least half the time. Especially places like Amazon where they have no idea if you just bought groceries, DIY supplies, or clothing. You're going to have to put in some work, it may as well be in a format you control. You can use an aggregator to help get all the charges in one place but those can be replaced without losing years of history.

[@abdirizak7766]

@@dbdb4962what the. What do you do

[@lukasclark884]

You should invite Jesse Meacham from YNAB to come talk on the podcast.

[@ikewashere]

Transitioned to Monarch from Mint, love it!

[@tylerstrausbaugh4868]

Hey Money Guys, I’m hearing a low frequency buzz in the audio. That’s happened to me before when I’ve crossed audio cables over power cables. I think it could be removed by using a high pass filter set to 100mhz to remove the low frequency hum or buzz. Thanks for the great content!

[@MoneyGuyShow]

It was more likely the air compressors as they worked above us to replace the roof on our pAsSiVe real estate investment. The show must go on! Surprised there were not more comments during the live stream 👍

[@hnt3817]

That high pass filter should get rid of that regardless of where it’s coming from though. Solid advice.

[@dylantaylor4822]

Ruby stepped up and did an amazing job on this one! Also I’ve always wondered what the number counter is for in the background?

[@knowen87]

The counter is their subscriber count. I've been here since since 18k. It has been fun to watch it grow

[@INVESTony]

Big miss not discussion Empower (Previously Personal Capital).

[@juswise78]

I just use a very detailed spreadsheet. I like to be very hands on with tracking

[@chubstuf]

OMG, This episode was so funny! I love you two sleep deprived and entirely unfiltered! And speaking of Brian cutting his face with the FOO, I also very much enjoyed the "FOO SIGHTING" annimation and sound effects. Keep it up, you are bringing smiles (and successful retirements) to millions of people just by existing!

[@lukasclark884]

Can you review Empower and similar products too?

[@michaeldew7904]

I'm glad Brian was still able to get the laminated shake sound for the FOO despite binding it in a book.

[@angelachapman4415]

I have a question relating to something you touched on. If you don't like your employer's 401k provider due to excessive fees (mine is actually a Simple IRA), where they charge statement fees and service fees and every kind of fee, would you still recommend investing there beyond the employer match? Basically is the pre-tax benefit still worth it? I'm already maxing my employer match and my Roth. I don't have a ton to save beyond that and I'm more inclined to keep it in a taxable account vs feeding more into this account with what I see as agregious fees.

[@607AAG]

For me keeping a budget is essential. While we have all our bases covered (emergency fund, 25% retirement savings, and other savings) but…. We are in the messy middle (young 30, one two year old and wife is pregnant ). I know we could move to a cash management model, but….we don't want life style creep to sneak in. Maybe some day!

[@joshuaharbman147]

Nobody:... Brian: I'VE NEVER EVEN HEARD OF A MICRODOSE

[@BradMcquaidd]

I use it every month. I'm gonna signup for YNAB yearly next month

[@SkatingwithAaron]

Great episode! Now do one on the best free budgeting apps. I recently developed my financial mutancy and refuse to pay money for a budgeting app. 😅

[@n00182085]

This. Mint was free. All of these are paid or if free option available it’s too basic and doesn’t track and separate checking, investment, credit debt, etc. I know Mint had some issues but it worked great for the price.

[@SkatingwithAaron]

@@n00182085 I’m definitely sad to see Mint go! I’ve used it for the last 6-7 years.

[@ramblingGuy]

I actively budgeted for 15 years with mint. With Mint shutting down I'm attempting a passive budgeting system for the first half of the year.

[@CaedenV]

For the variable income question; Ours isn't quite that extreme, but my job has a higher than typical chance of getting cut, and my wife is self employed and seasonal. While our income is good, it is definately variable throughout the year, and with high chances of a lapse in payment if I am between jobs. 1) Keep your minimum budget below your minimum income, and then turn your other items into 'projects'. Avoiding required monthly or yearly expenses is key to not getting stuck in a rough spot when the chashflow slows down. 2) Instead of doing a normal budget where you pay the same thing month-to-month, have projects, prioritize them, and then pay them down through out the year sequentially. More like a debt snowball... but for things you actually want. As an example, $580/mo every month would max out your roth. But if your income is variable, if you are having a tough year then you might have to cut your savings part way through the year. So instead, we put our $7k in as soon as possible, and then move on to the next thing. So years like last year where my wife's income wasn't as high, and we had a series of unfortunate and expensive things come up through the year, we didn't even make it to the roth contribution. But this year has been much better, so we knocked out last year's roth contributions already, and are now working on this year's contributions, and we will likely make it though a bunch of small projects that have been on the back-burner for the past few years. 3) When saving your emergency fund, focus on the minimum/typical budget, not the ideal budget. Because so much of our budget is a wishlist of prioritized projects, we technically have $200k of items on the list, but we have never made more than $100k in a year. We aren't going to save a whole year's worth of income in order to fill a 6 months of an overly idealized list of budgeted projects. Our minimum required budget is $50k, so our emergency fund is based on maintaining that for 3-6 months. When we are in emergency mode, the projects are going to be ignored, savings goals go out the window, and we only need to fund the $50k part of the budget.

[@ThePennyDropsYNAB]

YNAB stan here 🙋‍♀️

[@BrandonBusby-u2b]

Woohoo! My savings account is larger than ever but I still feel poor and I love it.

[@Balisage]

Needed this over the weekend! I just moved everything over to simplifi but i like it so far!

[@607AAG]

Monarch for days!!! Such a good app!

[@chaseeby100]

Lunch money is good. Tons of features and it’s a small team that built it.

[@dereksiroin]

Simplifi by Quicken is my favorite for sure!!! Although… so disappointed Mint went away 😭😭😭

[@MKK-wg7fz]

I just started the Simplifi paid app 1/1/24 as a replacement for Mint. I slice & dice & use reports more than budgeting. Simplifi is doing the job but I have to manually input all Apple Card transactions which was my 2% pos cash back card of choice when I couldn’t use 3% to 6% cards. I like how Apple Cash back can get transferred straight into any savings account. It’s definitely working but I liked mint’s interface better. I HATED the “Every Dollar” app, it wasn’t efficient or motivating for me at all.

[@vaklosinski]

Is it the most like Mint?

[@MKK-wg7fz]

@@vaklosinski it is for me because of how I used mint. I need to import transactions, have the app get the categories right most of the time, track cash flow & net worth. Im always using reports and trends to slice & dice & look back at custom periods of time for income & expenses. The pleasant surprise when connecting to my accounts is Simplifi didn’t just pull from that day forward, it got a lot of historical data. I use a lot of rewards cards so when I need to look up an old transaction quickly I used to use mint. It’s nice to have it pre baked into Simplifi. It’s not perfect, it won’t connect to my credit union but does great with my bank. No dice with Apple Card either. Mint tracked those just fine.

[@dereksiroin]

@@vaklosinski In my opinion, it is the closest to Mint but again, still not as great. I did get a free full year because I switched from Mint!

[@rich8393]

I think we should always restrict Brian’s sleeping before the show this was electric 😂

[@Austin-fc5gs]

Loving the microdosing conversation

[@mattn-mn]

This really went another direction in the second half 😂

[@TheVistastube]

4 hour Brian for the Win!

[@larasutton1483]

Why is Bo always “So excited about this”? Just once, I would like to hear him say “I think this one is stupid but I got out voted.” Or “This one really ticks me off.”

[@debbietampasheher3682]

😂

[@charissaanneduston]

I love Monarch!

[@jaker3821]

We have our emergency fund in a money market mutual fund. Is this close enough to access to cash for y’all?

[@Squirrelled]

Yes.

[@ruckus1713]

I’m constantly amazed by how many people don’t understand the importance of a cash emergency fund. Some of these peoples’ logic is equivalent to not having a fire extinguisher in their kitchen because they can go out and buy one after the grease fire starts.

[@davidandrews9914]

Prepare to be amazed again! I and wife work for an electric utility, live on one salary, invest the other and don't have a cash emergency fund. Our jobs are stable and secure and odds of both losing them at the same time is extremely unlikely. We can easily live on one. We also have a brokerage account, invested, with value above 5 years expenses. In addition, another 4 years in Roth contributions. So we need to live in a world where people don't use electricity anymore so we both lose our jobs and also market collapse. In that scenario, I have plenty of ammo.

[@alexpietsch7997]

@@davidandrews9914 What's your plan to replace an HVAC? How about a car breakdown?

[@ruckus1713]

@@davidandrews9914 The historical average cash allocation for millionaires is >10%. Even people who are financially secure still recognize that they aren't invincible.

[@ludwigvonsowell5347]

@@alexpietsch7997likely eat it on the fees/taxes in the brokerage accounts. The gambit is you’ll make more than enough to cover the fees through growth.

[@ButchWhitehouse]

@@alexpietsch7997his brokerage account is his emergency fund. One high limit credit card with no balance paid off each month will hold him over with no interest until they can move some money around at least that's my guess.

[@swaltner1234]

ESPP/HSA - It's not an either/or decision. Participate in the ESPP to get your discounted shares, sell those shares as soon as the shares are purchased locking in the gains of the discount that you receive, use the proceeds to deposit to your HSA account. HSA funds do not have to be just from payroll withholding. You can write a check or do an ACH transfer to your HSA account to deposit money once you've sold your ESPP shares. Edit: which is exactly what Bo said after I resumed the video

[@Alan-jk1yi]

It is worth noting though that HSA contributions done through payroll may be exempt from FICCA taxes (which equates to about $275 for maxing the account), while those made after payroll are not. "Both" is still the right answer, I'm my opinion, but it's often best to fund your HSA through payroll if at all possible.

[@akshaysalvi-it-is]

Dave has bribed Brian to say EVERYDOLLAR repeatedly 😅 Love you guys!

[@camcommute]

co-pilot dont support android or Windows or the web

[@jpunditreviewsandtutorials6878]

Can’t beat Microsoft Excel

[@mydachshundlife]

The one thing I’ll say about sharing a bedroom, especially if it’s a small bedroom, it does hit a point when it’s hard. When my sister and I hit our teenage years we detested sharing a room. We were constantly in each other’s space, throwing elbows, etc. But, on the flip side, it also kinda forced us to get along and figure it out. Sometimes we didn’t want to figure it out, we just wanted the other to go away, but ultimately we knew we were going to have to deal with whatever the issue was, because eventually we had to go to bed.

[@spdog3344]

Great show!

[@pennyj7694]

Did you try any of the free apps? Are there any good ones? Or, are there any with a one-time price?

[@LowInformation]

I pay for YNAB, love it. The budget mom has printable free worksheets. Other people have excell spreadsheets with formula built in for a few bucks.

[@goodolmaurice1856]

Empower is a nice, completely free one. The monthly spending isn’t nearly as thorough as the ones mentioned, but the net worth feature is on par or better than what they discussed. It links with almost every account including Fidelity, Paypal, Venmo, etc

[@Mactakun]

I use empower/personal capital. It’s free. It works for me. But the budgeting capabilities aren’t that great. It’s more of a net worth tracker.

[@pennyj7694]

@@Mactakun Thank you!

[@kebha6308]

Honestly, just make a google sheet and save a shortcut to it on your phone home screen. Do it yourself for more control and for free.

[@seth1208]

Tiller! Switched from YNAB and never looking back.

[@stevensalter9697]

Thanks for this content as Mint closes in 3 weeks. :)

[@vaklosinski]

Which is the most like Mint?

[@justinyoung8234]

I tried a few after mint and settled on Monarch.

[@whitneysommers3963]

We love YNAB

[@jacob13smith]

Y'all should look into AI audio tools (or other noise cancelling) that can remove the humming from construction in the background. It seems like you lowered the level on the microphones to avoid too much humming but it makes the podcast tough to listen to. Just giving some unsolicited feedback - keep rocking and spreading the good word

[@debbietampasheher3682]

Ynab all the way

[@thebestthingthatneverhappe6729]

Ive loved every dollar premium version

[@NipItInTheBud100]

Is this really Dave Ramsey?…LOL

[@thebestthingthatneverhappe6729]

@@NipItInTheBud100 if I can have his networth then sure

[@lonz0_0]

I just use Excel lol

[@SHWF-411]

YNAB 🎉 for the win. 🤑

[@NBAyyy]

Brian is a national treasure 😅

[@sheilaflory2541]

How does something like Walmart get automated? I buy various categories there - food, hygiene, transportation, hobby, etc

[@gregorylee1395]

For me its one of the transactions I just have to do manually every month. Same with Amazon and target

[@JKRBW]

The USAA budget tool has options for "you labeled Walmart groceries. Do this every time?" If my budget needed to be really granular I could place separate orders for household vs groceries vs school supplies, etc. to be able to categorize the purchases. I do wish I could split the purchases in the tool, it would be most helpful for things like Costco.

[@jessem4659]

Copilot lets you split one transaction to categorize into multiple categories. Or can go in after and recategorize if they are separate.

[@garlandofbooks4494]

@59:24 the fun takes over 😂🔬🍄🧚‍♂️

[@alexpietsch7997]

I'll admit, I'm no financial mutant. I like everydollar because it keeps easy track of our expenses and the transaction bubbles help our ADHD butts actually sit down and log each week. It doesn't do well for later investments, but for us its honestly better to not typically know. Because if we know when money is low, we will cash out retirement early. So we agreed to lump sum our 15% in February using her seasonal income and then not look at it again for 364 days. So in February Everydollar says the money is out, and no longer exists. This should work for the next 30 years.

[@blackphillygal]

I love YNAB !

[@zac1483]

where is rocket money???

[@christianrollman3006]

Thank you! I was looking for this! It’s what I use and I love it! And I only have to pay $4 a month for all the features.

[@amanda_elllis]

Was looking for this comment. I use rocket money 🙃

[@copycatlyn]

18 a month is absurd for a company who wants to help budget money to build money.

[@beng32112]

Anyone else YNAB broke? 🙋🏼‍♂️

[@bobcollins211]

Every dollar doesnt work with the fidelity CC

[@dragoncat5836]

There's a separate website for the fidelity cc that you have to make an account with to get it to work now, there was a post about it recently on /r/personalcapital.

[@BrandonBusby-u2b]

Give me YNAB or give me death!

[@jimlutz9119]

Old School YNAB FTW. Sure as heck am not paying for a budgeting tool.

[@jimmymcbuckets5255]

YNAB 4 is the 🐐

[@texaskid4444]

Copilot users stand up 😤

[@kimgo4518]

Long video. Where are the time stamps?

[@wurdnurd1]

All about the YNAB life.

[@JakeTreadway]

' Rebie(? hope i spell it right) for pres.

[@guyninneman7982]

Paying for a budgeting app when there are so many free resources available is like getting fast food instead of making it at home

[@deb5392]

The free options (other than a spreadsheet) come with either a ton of ads or sales pitches (or barebone features). I used to use mint and didn't even realize how exhausted I was by the ads and CC promotions until I switched to YNAB.

[@CrimsonGuard262]

Caleb hammer has entered the chat

[@AstroPopper]

YNAB is actual garbage