I’m super excited after rounding out my first year using a bookkeeping tool called Monarch Money. After Mint.com got bought by Intuit and went downhill, I found this gem. It’s a web and iPhone app that has everything I’ve ever wanted (to manage my money, that is): easy budgeting, custom categories, recurring expense tracking and automatic transaction downloads from every financial institution imaginable (credit cards, loans, banks, Venmo, PayPal, Apple Card—you name it).
The game-changer for me was the review feature, which saved me an entire day on tax prep! As new transactions download (did I mention this is automatic after the initial setup?), they appear for me to review, which is easy while they’re fresh in my mind. Most auto-categorize, and for the few that don’t, I just choose a category (i.e. taxable or not), click “review” and done. When 2024 ended, everything was already categorized with my custom business categories—the full day of agony I used to go through to prepare my taxes, gone!
If you’re using Quicken, QuickBooks, spreadsheets, something else or nothing, the $99/year they charge will save you an infinite amount of time and stress. Oh, and right now it’s 50% off for your first year with the code NEWYEAR2025 and with my link you also get a 30 day free trial… so book time with me to get you setup quickly so next year your taxes too will be easy!
