In this blog post, we’re emphasizing the critical role that tools play in helping our clients achieve financial clarity and control. Just as we advocate for the strategic inclusion of a wealth manager as a trusted resource on the team to enhance overall portfolio management, we also see immense value in leveraging digital expense trackers to manage and optimize spending.
Why Consider a Digital Expense Tracking System?
Expense tracking is not just about monitoring where your money goes; it’s about empowering yourself to make informed financial decisions that align with your goals. A digital system can provide real-time insights, enabling you to adjust your spending and savings strategies dynamically. Whether you’re an individual, couple, or family aiming to better manage personal finances, the right app can be a game-changer.
Here are 6 top-rated expense tracker apps that are definitely worth checking out:
- Quicken Simplifi: Ideal for planners, offering detailed, customizable reports and real-time adjustments to your spending plan.
- You Need a Budget (YNAB): A robust tool for those committed to a disciplined, zero-based budgeting approach.
- Goodbudget: Excellent for beginners, utilizing the envelope budgeting method to categorize and manage expenses.
- PocketGuard: Designed for those who want to avoid overspending, with intuitive alerts when you’re close to reaching budget limits.
- Tiller Money: Tiller connects your banks to your spreadsheets and automatically tracks your daily spending, income, and balances in easy, customizable templates.
- Monarch Money: Monarch Money is a money management app that allows you to create a budget, track your net worth and investments, set savings goals, and more. Unlike many other budgeting apps, it can integrate all your financial accounts, not just your checking and savings.
Debra Jacobs, Ed.M., AFC a financial educator and consultant at Money Smart for Life, emphasizes the advantages of digital expense tracking in modern budgeting. Debra Jacobs notes,
“Digital expense tracking takes the guess work out of budgeting. Because these systems link to your accounts and pull in your transactions, they give you real data so you know exactly where your money is going. They also make your life easier; once you get over the initial learning curve, you will spend much less time manually entering information and/or worrying about your spending.”
With that in mind, Debra has identified two top tools that she believes excel in this area:
Debra’s Top Picks: Tiller & Monarch Money
- Tiller
In a recent newsletter, Debra highlighted Tiller as an incredibly flexible tool for budgeting and tracking spending. Debra notes that it’s ideal for those comfortable with spreadsheets, as it integrates with both Google Sheets and Excel. However, Debra recommends using Google Sheets for its broader functionality.
What Debra Loves About Tiller: Debra appreciates Tiller’s flexibility, allowing her to customize budget categories and automate transaction categorization, saving time. The active user community also continuously develops new templates, offering endless possibilities for financial management.
What a User Might Not Like About Tiller, According to Debra: Debra points out that Tiller might not be ideal for users who aren’t comfortable with spreadsheets. Additionally, while it can be accessed on a smartphone, Debra finds that it works best on a computer. Debra also mentions that one of her clients had trouble pulling transactions from a small credit union, though most users experience no connection issues.
- Monarch Money
Monarch Money is an app that can be used on both your phone and computer. Debra notes that it’s easy to set up and has a manageable learning curve. The app’s AI is impressively intuitive, making transaction categorization straightforward.
What Debra Loves About Monarch: Debra appreciates that Monarch connects to financial institutions using three different platforms, increasing compatibility with banks and credit card companies. Debra is particularly impressed with the AI categorization, which often seems to know exactly where to place transactions. Monarch is also great for couples or multiple family members to access shared accounts, and financial professionals can be granted access to assist with budgeting and categorization.
What a User Might Not Like About Monarch, According to Debra: Debra mentions that while Monarch excels at budgeting, it doesn’t offer the extensive functionality that Tiller does. Reporting options are limited, and Monarch isn’t the best choice for analyzing long-term trends.
AFP’s Perspective
At Assurance Family Partners, we understand that true financial health is a combination of big-picture financial planning and daily choices that make up discretionary spending. It demands a holistic approach that includes both to be complementary.
And we know you may be wondering, which tool does AFP use for its client service?
The answer is Quicken Desktop for Windows, which in our opinion, is a very trusted and comprehensive tool that helps us keep our clients’ financial data protected, reconciled, categorized, and reported for ourselves, the client and their partners in an organized and effective way.
By integrating digital expense tracking systems into their financial practices, our clients gain a clear, organized view of their finances, which in turn empowers them to make decisions that support their long-term objectives.
If you have any questions or need guidance on how to better manage your finances, we’re here to help. Reach out to us today to learn more.
Jeremy Zizmor is the founder of Assurance Family Partners, a company whose mission is to assist and empower individuals and families who need help managing their personal day-to-day finances. He is responsible for running all facets of the business.