Products that save you on life admin
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Provided by
Monarch Money, Inc.
Life Admin Area
Personal finance
Yes - Publishes its fiduciary commitment
This product is listed on the Tools of Wayshaping despite there being an informal relationship between Wayshaping and the company. Check out our methodology for how we handle conflicts of interest and why we still choose to list it.

šŸ¦¾ What is it?

Monarch is a budgeting and financial tracking app that consolidates your financial accounts through secure connectors to offer an overview of spending, saving, and investment progress. You can categorize you transactions (and it will categorize for you too), so that you can assess where your spending is going.

ā²ļø How it saves you on life admin

If you've ever tried to build a budget on your own, it can be difficult to know where to start. It helps to have recent and relevant transaction history. Then you have to create categories; it's helpful to have a logical system for doing that too. Monarch takes the lift off building a budget for the first time, and then the technology helps you keep that budget in placeā€”and collaborate with your partnerā€”in one unified system. If you save $15 due to budgeting and becoming more aware of your spending in certain categories, then Monarch's monthly price will be worth it (and it's annual price is even lower!)

šŸŽ“ Terms to know before you use it

Net worth

Your net worth is the number you get when you add up all of money, property valuable assets, and debts. (You're worth more than your net worth though šŸ˜„)

Net worth tracking

The idea that if you can visualize and see your net worth over time, it becomes a positive, tangible motivation for saving more and investing it for the future.

Goal-based finance

By setting financial goals ā€” anticipated events in life where you'll need to use money ā€” you're able to pay yourself for the future (i.e. save). Researchers at Morningstar have found that making tangible goals can have a positive psychological impact leading to more successful wealth growth, compared to other methods.

Transaction categorization

Manual or automatic categorization of different transactions. Budgeting tools often vary in their accuracy of how well they automatically categorize transactions, which helps save time and build trust in the tool

šŸ“ˆ Why it thrives in today's marketplace

With a focus on privacy, data security, and ease of use, Monarch stands out as a reliable budgeting tool tailored to simplify financial planning for households in the digital age.

šŸ„‡ Why it's reviewed on Wayshaping

Monarch helps households manage finances with ease, consolidating multiple financial tasks in one place. Hereā€™s how it assists with life admin:

  1. Account aggregation reduces the need to check multiple accounts.
  2. Goal tracking simplifies long-term financial planning.
  3. Automated insights provide financial clarity without manual effort.

Direct alternatives

YNAB

YNAB is a budgeting methodology and subscription-based product that helps people put a budget in place with an aim toward growing their net worth. YNAB's four rules of budgeting help guide its product and users' approach.

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Origin

Origin is a budgeting app that started as an employee benefit offered in workplaces. Now, the tool is accessible for a subscription fee and also features investing and financial planning tools.

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