← Frugal Friends Podcast
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- [00:02]
Narrator/Advertiser
You hear that?
- [00:04]
That's not just a Toyota truck. That's the sound of no crowds, no alerts, no distractions, and no telling what you'll find next. You know, like a detour. So why would you ever take a tour? And you could take a detour. Toyota trucks.
- [00:31]
Jill
Being a serious business owner takes hard work, patience, and a drive to keep moving forward. So it's important to find a serious business card that goes the extra mile. With the VentureX business card from Capital One, you earn unlimited double miles on every purchase. And with big purchasing power, you can spend more and earn more. This is your sign to take your business to the next level. The Capital One VentureX business card. What's in your wallet? Terms apply. See capitalone.com for details.
- [01:00]
Jen
Five best budgeting apps for beginners so you can pay off more debt in 2026.
- [01:11]
Narrator/Advertiser
Welcome to the Frugal Friends podcast where you'll learn to save money, embrace simplicity, and live a richer life. Here are your hosts, Jen and Jill.
- [01:28]
Jen
If you are finally ready to get control of your money and pay off more debt, you are in the right place. Because today we are diving into our top five budgeting apps that we recommend for beginners or people who feel like they're getting back on the wagon after having fallen.
- [01:46]
Jill
We've tested dozens of budgeting tools over the years, some of which really helped us to be able to pay off debt and some of which honestly never should have been made. So we're going to give you the real user experience, not just what looks good on a website. And stick with us till the end because we're going to be sharing with you a free budgeting app that we think has the potential to make our best of list next year.
- [02:13]
Jen
Calling all my financial queens. Hey ladies, what are we using to budget?
- [02:19]
Jill
Like, can everybody tap in?
- [02:20]
Jen
Let me know. Welcome Frugal Friends. I'm Jen.
- [02:24]
Jill
I'm Jill.
- [02:25]
Jen
And we are tapping in. We are going to share five budgeting apps for tried True. You're not going to just hear from us. You're going to hear non sponsored reviews from other users just like you about these top apps. And we are going to share a free app at the end. Because since Mint shut down Rip Mint, it has been harder and harder to find a free budgeting app that does everything you want it to do. And we think we may have found one. But first, since we did our last budgeting app episode back in March, two budgeting apps have fallen off of our list. So that's why we're doing another One, we're prepping you for the new year. So before we get into those top five, rip Cube. Cube is one of the apps that's fallen off our list. And if you were a Qube user, then you already know that as of September 30, 2025, the banking services partner that Cube uses to hold your money has ended. So they were leaving that company. It's nothing shady that they did. They were leaving that banking partner to go to a new one. And that banking partner sent out this, you know, solicited that we're going to be shutting down and you'll get your money back. And so people stopped, you know, kind of left. And so they were going to have to off board everybody and onboard them into the new bank. And the new bank said, no, we don't want to have to onboard. We only want to work with you if we're going to transfer. So they said, we're out. So that kind of that left Cube holding the bag. So it wasn't anything bad. Cube did. But right now you can't sign up for Cube. And they're working on a budgeting app that kind of lets you hook up credit cards and other bank accounts, but you can't get that yet. And because Qube was on our list for being a banking and budgeting app, we had to take them off. They're inaccessible. But stick with us because we did find something comparable that a lot of people have been having good experiences with and we, we will that. But without further ado, we've ranked five budgeting apps that we think are the best on the market and we are going to go through them in no particular order, but maybe we will have our own personal rankings that we will give you.
- [05:07]
Jill
So the first is a Monarch. You guessed it, we love monarchs. They are our top pick. You use them.
- [05:15]
Jen
I'm a little biased because I use them, but I found reviews for all these apps from regular people on the Internet who just really love them. So we're going to go over the differences in all these apps, obviously to let you know which one might be best for you. But we also wanted you to hear from people who are not us and may not have the same biases people in the financial world have. So take it away if you want.
- [05:44]
Monarch User
The absolute best budgeting app. I'm not getting paid for saying this, guys. I'm just telling you this because this app has, like, actually changed my life. You have to get Monarch. M O N A R C H. Just like the butterfly, this is the best budgeting app I've ever, ever used. For years and years, I was just using a spreadsheet or literally nothing at all and just praying that what was in my account was actually in my account. Like, I'm embarrassed to even say it, but, like, there was just not the organization that I needed to have with my finances. And I kept getting surprised with things and frustrated, and it was just not, like, the best experience. But with this app, I really feel like it has.
- [06:26]
Jen
I don't even know it's really an app.
- [06:28]
Monarch User
Like, it's a. It's a website and it's an app, but I have so much more control over my finances. My husband can see what's going on, I can see what's going on. All the transactions we can categorize. This system's really intuitive, so it will actually learn your transactions and categorize them for you so you can see exactly how you're doing on your budget. It will send you notifications to let you know how much you have spent, how much you have left with your budget. So you can really stay on track of everything that is coming and going. Because let me tell you, it adds up really fast, right? Like, you'll be like, wait, where'd money go? Well, this will tell you exactly what is happening with your money, and it really does give you a lot of peace and freedom.
- [07:18]
Jen
So, yes, I echo everything she said. I've tried every app on this list and ended up going with Monarch. And we have a code for 50% off your first full year with Monarch. I think it's code froogle or frugal 50. I will have it in. We'll have it in the description, but you can try both. So I love, and I've said this, like, many times, my favorite feature about Monarch is that they have widgets. So if you have an iPhone, you can put a widget on your iPhone so you can see your transactions. And I am always aware of what. What the last things that I have spent money on. And so I can always go in and look and see first that it's me who made the transactions. And there's no fraudulent activity on my account that's important. I can see, like, I just had the gym that I go to charge me an extra annual fee that they shouldn't have. And I was able to catch that immediately because it popped up.
- [08:21]
Jill
I got a lift charge. I should 99 lift charge. And I'm like, what is this? They tried to sign me up for a membership. I did not approve so bad. We Gotta be in our transactions, my friends.
- [08:34]
Jen
So, so that is my favorite part. Instead of having to go into an app or go into my transactions and my banking, it is literally just on my second screen. So every time I'm scrolling through my apps, I see my transactions on my phone. So I love that it does send me notifications if I've gone over in a budget category. And the budget customization is just my favorite across all apps. For some reason, budgeting apps all have a weird way, their own unique way. I won't say it's weird, but their own unique way that they have you categorize expenses or make a budget, specifically customize your budget. And I just liked Monarch's budget customization the best. That's what works best for you.
- [09:23]
Jill
I think a lot of this is a lot of the tenants are going to be the same and then you just have to decide what works best for you. Which is one of the reasons that we're showing you in these videos some of the interfaces of these apps. So you can kind of know, oh yeah, I like how that looks. That's going to make sense for me. Also, I think what sets just apps, budgeting apps in general, apart from spreadsheets, is the ability to share with a partner. So I think especially when you're trying to get on board, be on the same page, reach goals together, you're sharing findings, finances with another person, then this is really important. And I do think Monarch is one of the ones who does this best. The ability to collaborate on finances, let you both have your eyes on things is really important. And this, this has a great feature.
- [10:12]
Jen
For that and it is code frugal to get 50% off your first year. Frugalfriends podcast.com monarch if you use that link, you help us a little bit. And if you use code Frugal we're going to help you a little bit. So synergistic. But honestly, yes, I pay for Monarch out of my own.
- [10:34]
Jill
Even though they sponsor us.
- [10:35]
Jen
Even though they sponsor us, they don't pay for me to have a subscription. So I do pay for that out of my personal funds. Maybe I should start writing it off as a business expense. You probably should probably. So our next. So if Monarch gives you like very deep control, unlimited categories, full net worth tracking Copilot is our next pick and it's very similar and I would say the only differences really are in user interface. I feel like the reviews for me, I wanted more budgeting features and people maybe who choose Copilot want more esthetic features. There are people. I would encourage you to search YouTube for a side by side comparison of Copilot and Monarch. If you're watching the video of this episode, you'll see while we're talking on mute, we'll have different the. You know, I've scrolled through all these apps and it's playing on mute. So you can kind of get a tour of what's inside the app.
- [11:40]
Jill
Yeah, it's definitely like a more slick kind of modern look. The visualization is great and they've got this smart budget feature that can kind of align with like an envelope style budgeting. So if that is a way that you were accustomed to managing your finances or, you know, you liked that aspect of. Of Cube, if maybe you were a previous Cube user, then then that can kind of make sense for you maybe with this app.
- [12:07]
Jen
Yeah. And it's more simple than Monarch. So if the customization of Monarch is too much for you, then you could like Copilot, kind of like this reviewer does.
- [12:20]
Copilot User
I just started using the app Copilot and I am indeed spending above my means. This app is so scarily comprehensive. I added all of my credit cards, all of my, like, investments and cash accounts. I have credit cards from different banks. So I really appreciate how it's aggregated into one app. It basically takes all of that into account with your monthly income and it's able to show you a dashboard of all the useful things you need based on all that history. You can categorize your expenses, track them, see your net cash flow, which is scary. Ever since I moved to New York, my expenses have gone like through the roof. And I am on the free trial and for the year it cost $95. But I think for this visibility and awareness, completely worth.
- [13:00]
Jen
Yeah. So another thing I like about Copilot is they have the ability to roll over unused budgets, unused, like amounts in your budget to the next month, which I know a lot of people really appreciate that feature in a budgeting app.
- [13:18]
Audience Member/Caller
You hear that?
- [13:19]
Narrator/Advertiser
That's not just a Toyota truck. That's the sound of no crowds, no alerts, no distractions, and no telling what you'll find next. You know, like a detour. So why would you ever take a tour? And you could take a detour. Toyota trucks.
- [13:45]
Jill
December is the month where I classically lose track of my finances between travel, gifts, hosting. It all adds up so fast. And it's easy to blow through my holiday budget without one place to track it all in real time.
- [13:58]
Jen
If you want to keep your finances.
- [14:00]
Narrator/Advertiser
Under control, this holiday season, you need to be using Monarch, rated Wall Street Journal's best budgeting app of 2025. Monarch is the all in one personal finance tool that brings your entire financial in one clean interface on your laptop or your phone. And right now, just for our listeners, monarch is offering 50% off your first year.
- [14:21]
Jill
Now, seeing all my holiday spending in one place is keeping me on track to not overspend this month, which January Jill will be very pleased about. We all know it's a crazy season and thankfully Monarch is built for people with busy lives.
- [14:33]
Narrator/Advertiser
Don't let financial opportunity slip through the cracks. Use code frugalonarch.com in your browser for half off your first year. That's 50% off your first year at.
- [14:43]
Jen
Monarch.Com with code FRUGAL in number three.
- [14:49]
Jill
YNAB. This is another cult favorite.
- [14:51]
Jen
Cult favorite, but a cult favorite in the best way. Like we love, we love these cult members.
- [14:58]
Jill
Honestly, it's a great way to budget. So Ynab is particularly doing zero based budgeting, meaning giving every single dollar a job, bringing the saving spending down to to zero. That doesn't mean that then you have zero money in your bank account or that you've literally just spent it all, but it means that you are assigning every single dollar somewhere and kind of beginning with what you already have, not with what you think is going to be coming in. Even though we trust you, we believe that you're going to be getting paid. But this type of approach can really make sense, I think for, for a lot of people, which is why it has such a high, high following. And people who love it, really love it.
- [15:47]
Jen
Definitely had the most unpaid reviews on TikTok and they all sound similar to this.
- [15:54]
YNAB User
I'm so glad you asked this question. I use Ynab Y N A B. It stands for you need a budget. And let me tell you, it has changed my life. That sounds super dramatic, but it's not even hyperbole. I really could not live without Ynab anymore. I didn't really have a good understanding of budgeting before I started using this app and I think I heard about it in a podcast, but I just decided I wanted to start budgeting. Found the Ynab app. I had tried other budgeting apps in the past, like Mint, before that went away and like Acorns and all the other things and it just didn't work for me. The Ynab made sense in my brain. I watched a bunch of different YouTube videos on how to get it set up because there is A little bit of a learning curve to like getting everything set up in your app. But then once you have it all set up, it's like a game. It's. It's so amazing. I would. I'll recommend some YouTube videos that I watched, but really, like, the entire premise is that you take the money that you have earned, the money that you currently have, not the money you're going to earn, but the money you currently have, and then you can put it into like buckets or envelopes and say, like, I'm going to set aside a hundred dollars for groceries this month, or I'm going to set aside a hundred dollars for eating out this month, or I'm going to set aside $50 a month every single month until the end of the year because I'm saving for a new phone or whatever it might be. Or you can say, like, I need $500 by December of 2025 and set up those different buckets and save. In that way, it has helped me to understand my spending, understand my net worth and the age of my money. So the idea that, like, how long does your money live in your bank account before you spend it on something? It's kind of like getting out of the paycheck to paycheck cycle. So when you get paid, are you immediately sending that off to pay for another bill that day or the next day or within that week, or do you get paid and do you have enough time to make decisions about where that money is going to go?
- [18:01]
Jill
That's the thing I think with all of these apps is that there is a time investment from the start, but.
- [18:08]
Jen
Even more so with ynab. So I do. If you're gonna go with Ynab, she said, look up YouTube videos for setup. Highly recommend that. Yeah.
- [18:17]
Jill
But I think I can see how this makes sense for a lot of people and I think can help preserve our money that we're not making a budget based on what is to come, but what currently is. And I think that allows us to have some of that margin that maybe some of us might be lacking. And, and, and I think again, finding the thing that clicks with you not just aesthetically, but also in its approach as well.
- [18:46]
Jen
I love that's my favorite thing about ynab, is that they have you save the amount of money that you need to spend in your checking account so that you are making a budget based on what you earned last month versus what you are going to earn this month. I think that is so, so, so smart. And even if you are not Using ynab, you should be using that method. I have tried YNAB and it's honestly we say it's like a cult, like as a joke. But if you're looking to join a cult, this is the best one to. In my opinion it really does. It's a holistic like environment. So they've got their own education on how to use the YNAB method. They have their own methodology, they've got the webinars. They this is really beneficial cult. And if you are a beginner, I would say that YNAB is probably hands down the best budget for beginners. That would be my. My number one for somebody who's never.
- [19:52]
Jill
Done this before, I think especially and this might be what turns some people off to it. But some of us really want this is it's much more active. It does require you to be in the app assigning categories, reconciling, monitoring your transactions more often, moving money around if you are overspending. But that like personally like I don't, I don't currently use ynab but my approach is somewhat similar to that. I really do want to be on top of it. I want to be able to find that lift charge that wasn't supposed to be charged to me. I want to be able to know how am I doing in my food category. Where do I need to cut back? Like I do want that. Even though I'm not a beginner, I still like that level of activity within my money. So if you do too, then it's great for you. And also if you're learning and getting acquainted with this, then it's also good. But yet YNAB is kind of like walking you through that process. It's like being handheld through how active you are.
- [20:56]
Jen
It's wonderful. It's a great radical middle between like using a spreadsheet where you're having to input every transaction and categorize versus a monarch or a copilot that is using machine learning to cat. It's automatically inputting transactions and then categorizing them for you. Where YNAB is in the middle where it will upload all the transactions so you never miss one, never forget to input one. But you do have to manually like categorize them to an extra extent so that you are on top of it. So we promised you a cube alternative and we're here. Our next recommendation for a budgeting app is also a banking app and that is crew. And so we've mentioned CREW before. It's relatively new on the scene but it has a lot of the features that Cube had, which gives it its spot on the list. But because we're not Cube users, we're also not Crew users. We found somebody who is both and can break down the differences and similarities.
- [22:06]
Crew Finance User
I think that Crew Finance is a good replacement for Cube Money. So here are the similarities and differences that I've noticed. Cube Money and Crew Finance are both budgeting apps that partner with banks to bring us useful functionality that allow us to open a bank account and actually have a debit card so that we can spend from our budget. Because both of these companies believe that it's easier to stay on budget when you're spending from your budget. And I agree. The headline information is that Crew Finance is totally free. There's no subscription you can even sign up for to try and pay. Whereas Cube Money has a free version, but they also have premium features and a family package that do cost money. Both cards promote mindful spending. So for both of them, if you're going to make a transaction, you need to go into your app and select where that money's going to come from. That way when you make your transaction, money will come from the place that you selected. This is one of my favorite low maintenance ways to promote mindful spending because you're transaction tracking as you go. They have similar enough functionality in other facets. I will say that Kubunny is a little bit more clear about this. I think the interface is more user friendly. So we have our spending cubes, our savings cubes and our bill cubes. For Crew, all of the pockets that you open are in a list and there's little to no compartmentalization as far as I can tell. Keep in mind, I've been using Q for the last year and a half and Crew Finance I've had for about a month. So I'm still discovering things. A big, big, big difference between Cube Money and Crew Finance is that KRU Finance checking accounts are high yield checking accounts. The APY is 3.7% which is competitive with a lot of high yield savings accounts. Even cube money 0% APY, they don't give you any interest for holding your money with them. Both of these cards you were able to use at at PMS to withdraw cash though, and you do get reimbursed for that fee. For Cube Money I want to say it was like a flat reimbursement monthly and then Crew finance you get 20 reimbursements within a year. It doesn't specify about like the cost of that reimbursement. Though. So it doesn't say like $3 fees or $5 fees or $2 fees. It just says 20 times you get reimbursed. Overall, I feel like these are pretty even Stevens in my brain. I like the APY from Crew. I like that it doesn't cost any money, but I like the interface of Cube. I like the way that the information is presented to me. I don't know if monthly fee that much. I can't tell if I'm just like really attached to Cube money. So I'm giving them more grace. Especially since Crew is new on the scene. For me anyways.
- [24:08]
Jen
I don't know how long they've been.
- [24:09]
Crew Finance User
Around, but for me they're new. If you were a member at Cube and you're looking for something to replace them, I think that Crew finance is absolutely worth a try.
- [24:15]
Jill
That, that High Yield checking account though, that is what's drawn me in, baby. Because that is mind blowing.
- [24:23]
Jen
Wonderful.
- [24:24]
Jill
Yeah.
- [24:24]
Jen
And so whereas the other app you are thinking about your spending after you've made it, Crew requires you to think about it before because you have to open that pocket to take money out to spend it. So again, yeah, she was right. That's how it kind of uses the mindful spending aspect. But it is that that budget that's combined with a checking account and it does not have a monthly fee like Cube did. And another thing for parents, if you're a parent, this could be your all in one solution. Like it could be the number one for you because not only does it have checking, which is high yield and a built in budget, but it also has built in like kids banking features. So you can pay their allowance through it, you can get them a debit card, joint accounts, child and teen accounts, you know, multiple users under one household. Yes. So this is if you're. If you know Andy Hill from Marriage, Kids and Money, he talks about these features all the time. He loves Crew, he's obsessed with it and it's mainly because of using these features. Like he was not a Cube Money user, but it's these features that really brought him in. And then FDIC insured through Bangor Savings Bank, Banger, Maine. So that banking infrastructure is in place. And we've met the creators of Crew and they are legit like guys.
- [26:03]
Jill
I think one of the things I like about kind of new up and coming apps is the ability to be part of the facilitation of improving the app, you know, to be able to know the creators of it and to know that they're still looking to improve. It means that if you have this app app, you're able to give feedback and say, hey, yeah, here's what I liked about Cube that you know, I was, I switched over to crew for these reasons. And here's some of the features that would be important to me. Not saying that, you know, they're going to implement everything, but I think some of these apps that are on the rise, you do have that ability with. And to me that's a perk too. Yeah.
- [26:43]
Jen
And they are. So it's@tricrew.com not necessarily crew.com crew is a different kind of financial app.
- [26:51]
Narrator/Advertiser
I'm not sure.
- [26:51]
Jen
But if you just remember frugalfriendspodcast.com crew c w you'll get there. We'll make a short link for that so that you don't forget.
- [27:02]
Jill
And last but not least, we promised you this little treasure trove for those of you who stuck with us.
- [27:08]
Jen
Like an MTV on the rise artist.
- [27:11]
Audience Member/Caller
Yeah.
- [27:12]
Jen
On the rise budgeting app.
- [27:14]
Jill
It's called Free Budget and the name is like nothing's hidden there. It is completely free. And if you're wondering how, how in the world we actually don't know because they do not sell, they do not have ads and they don't sell your data. Which is usually the concern.
- [27:33]
Narrator/Advertiser
Right.
- [27:33]
Jill
When we see or hear free, our little red flag should go up. Like, dang it, what kind of ads am I going to be given? I don't want to be dealing with that every time I go into my budgeting app. Or are they going to sell my data on something really vulner?
- [27:46]
Jen
Right.
- [27:46]
Jill
This is like, this is certainly an area where I do not want my data to be sold. And they're not doing either of those things. There may in the future be a paid version, but they are guaranteeing that the basic level of it will be completely free. So I actually am starting to use this one because also side note, this was created by a friend of mine. So really cool to also, yeah. Be able to know the creators of these different tools. So I will say it is free and also in that way it's super basic, which to me I really love. I do not love complexity, I love simplicity. But yet it's super user friendly, focused on kind of clear financial insights. It is giving you kind of an overview of a budget, your spending categories. You can link your credit card, your bank account, so it can kind of.
- [28:45]
Jen
Automatically categorize your transactions to connect your, your accounts. So the same as Copilot, as Monarch as all these other ones, it's using the same technology. So that's where the safety in the linking of your information comes.
- [29:02]
Jill
It also has like visualizations, like graphs to show you how your spending is aligning with what your plan was. Like, where are you going over, where are you going under? So that can. Could kind of provide a simple snapshot as well. It is, it feels a little bit more spreadsheet style. So if you've got that kind of more like logical mind and spreadsheets kind of make sense to you, this would be really great for you. But it kind of allows you to not be as active, not as manual with your transactions. I would say this would be another good solution for people who are accustomed to a spreadsheet but kind of want to be less manual with it going forward.
- [29:45]
Jen
So they do charge a small fee for using Plaid. So if you're going to have your transactions automatically sync to free budget, you will have to cover that cost because I mean, ultimately they can't.
- [29:58]
Narrator/Advertiser
That's.
- [29:58]
Jen
They Plaid charges them a fee for every single account take a hit, right? And so they can't take that many hits. So there is a small fee that goes directly to Plaid, but they don't profit off of that. But if you want to use it like a manual transaction tracking budget that's completely free and the user interface for what it is, is, is quite great. It's got a good color palette. It's very easy to see what you've budgeted your actual. The difference, the percentage to it over it you are. So there's a lot of insights you can get to it without the clutter. So. So maybe you love Copilot because it's less cluttered than Monarch, which I don't think it's. I mean, I love the user interface with Monarch, but maybe you want something a little simple, but you don't want to pay $95 a year for Copilot. Maybe the fee for connecting your accounts to Plaid is what you want to do. You don't care necessarily about connecting all of your. Your debts and your investment account and seeing your home value on, you know, in your net worth. Maybe you're just there for some simple budgeting. Free budget is a great way because honestly guys, finding a free budgeting app in today's day and age is nearly impossible. We had to. The. The free option that we talked about in March no longer has a free option anymore. It just has a free seven days until you have to pay. And so that it fell off our list.
- [31:32]
Narrator/Advertiser
List Right.
- [31:33]
Jen
We always want to include a free option and it's getting harder and harder to find a free option. Good Budget was something that we considered ultimately free budget won because we know the person who started it. Yes.
- [31:50]
Jill
And I like it. It is what I'm beginning to use right now because it's also desktop and mobile friendly and that makes it easy to share with a partner. I think pre, you know, when I typically use my spreadsheet. Yeah, I can share that with Eric, but it's not as, it's just like a little bit more clunky. So if you just want like less clunky, a little bit elevated, but still free. There you go.
- [32:12]
Audience Member/Caller
There you go.
- [32:12]
Jen
And so those are our five Monarch, Copilot, YNAB Crew, and Free Budget. Try them out and see which one.
- [32:22]
Jill
Works best for you, but also help your friends out. Make the comment section. Also some helpful reviews if you've tried one and it didn't work for you for some reason. Help other people to kind of know know what the pros and cons are so that they can make a choice that's going to be most beneficial, the best fit for them.
- [32:42]
Jen
Yes, let's, let's crowdfund this research.
- [32:45]
Jill
Yes, let's also crowdfund this other thing that you all love to submit to us and makes my day the Bill of the week.
- [33:07]
Narrator/Advertiser
That's right. It's time for the best minute of your entire week. Maybe a baby was born and his name is William. Maybe you paid off your mortgage. Maybe your car died and you're happy to not have to pay that bill anymore. Duck Bills. Buffalo Bills, Bill Clinton. This is the Bill of the Week.
- [33:27]
Audience Member/Caller
Hey Jen and Jill, this is Amy calling from Nova Scotia in Canada. My Bill of the week is about home insurance. Really just a reminder that we should be contacting our home insurance providers when we make any changes to our home. Sometimes something as small as removing a pool or adding a security system can actually save us money every month. So definitely worth giving them all the information so they can adjust your premiums accordingly. On the flip side, there are things we can do like adding a pool or hot tub or solar panels that can actually void our insurance. So it's important that we let them know of every change so that they can make sure we are maintaining our coverage and giving us the best price possible. I got solar panels a couple of months ago and called my insurance provider to let them know, only to find out that they don't cover me at all if I have solar panels. So I wouldn't have known that if I didn't call in, which obviously could have caused a lot of problems down the road. So I switched to a different provider who does cover us for solar panels, and we actually saved $60 a month between home and auto, so it ended up being a big win. All right, thank you very much. And I love the show.
- [34:48]
Jen
What a great reminder, Amy. And this is something that I didn't know until I took the insurance class for the CFP, but you need to be covered at at least 80% of your home's value. If, when you make a claim, you want to be able to claim 100% of whatever cash you get. If you are, like, covered. If Your home's worth 500,000 and you're covered for 400,000, you're good. If you're covered for 350 and you have a deductible that's like. Or if you get 150, you're able to get $150,000 because a tree fell on your house. Well, if you've only got $350,000 worth of coverage, maybe your, you know, your policy says, oh, you can get up to $150,000 for a tree incident. You're not going to get the full 150, even though that's what you were approved for because you weren't covered 80% of the house. So they're going to do math to figure out the percentage that you get, and it's going to be, you know, up, probably, like, you know, whatever that percentage is, 75% or whatever of that 150,000, where if you had just been covered that extra 50,000 and got your 80% coverage, you would have gotten the whole 150,000 from whatever incident it is.
- [36:16]
Jill
And this is the reason why I think a lot of us put off the call is because it seems so complex, and we don't know what we don't know. But that's where pe helpful people can come into play. That's where an insurance broker can be helpful if you're using one. That's where talking to a CFP can be helpful. Or if you really just want to dig into the weeds on your fine print, you know you've got a call out there you need to make.
- [36:42]
Jen
There's a call that you need to make. Girl, I'm looking at you. You know, I know. I know you tired.
- [36:51]
Jill
You know you're tired.
- [36:52]
Jen
I know you're like, stop looking at you. But I am looking at you. There's a call you need to make and I need you to make it today.
- [36:59]
Jill
This is also a good reminder that about making any changes, whether it's improvements or taking something away, that can change. Sometimes it might raise our premium. So that could be a reason to maybe not do it or it could help to reduce our costs. And I think those are one of the things that we can just forget about. But here's your reminder. Thanks to Amy. If you've made any changes, it might allow you to change your insurance or switch your insurance again. Policygenius frugalfriendspodcast.com Policygenius helps you to shop for those insurances. Well done saving $60 a month Amy. We're cheering you on if you have a bill that you want to submit. If it has to do with saving money on a bill, a bill you don't mind paying or your name is Bill. Those are the three categories really. We've narrowed it down. Tell us about it. Frugalfriendspodcast.com we can't wait to hear it. You know what's not going to steal my joy this holiday season? An overpriced phone bill. Because right now all of Mint Mobile's unlimited plans are 50% off, which means I can get three, six or 12 months of unlimited premium wireless for just $15 a month.
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Jill
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- [39:10]
Jill
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- [39:33]
Jill
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- [40:07]
Jen
All right, what is your budget like right now? How would you describe it?
- [40:15]
Jill
A little chaotic, a little spicy, a little unhinged if you will.
- [40:24]
Jen
Oh, not words. I thought you were so you. But you use a spreadsheet. You don't necessarily. I mean you're getting into free budget, but so we also sell a budgeting spreadsheet that we have just updated for 2026. So if you've purchased our budgeting spreadsheet this year year, we have been getting a lot of feedback and we have incorporated all that feedback into improvements for the 2026 budget. So you'll be getting that very soon if you haven't already. But we have a beautiful budget spreadsheet that we've actually simplified quite a bit.
- [41:03]
Jill
I'm also going to be doing a walkthrough of my very simple, super easy budget spreadsheet as well. So that'll be like a bonus 10 minute little episode. If you're curious about that, definitely subscribe because then you'll be alerted to that.
- [41:21]
Jen
Video when it'll be drops a YouTube exclusive. So if you want a walkthrough on how to make a really simple Excel budget, then, well, it's Google Sheets. I'm sorry, but you can save on Google Sheets. You can save it as Excel and use it in Excel. It's a spreadsheet. It can be used in any spreadsheet.
- [41:39]
Jill
Software and it is super simple. I am not a freak in the sheets. I am very, very vanilla in the spreadsheet. And if that's for you, then Perfect.
- [41:51]
Jen
And then you'll also keep low key the spreadsheet that we sell, which is a little bit more robust.
- [41:57]
Jill
Yeah, but that's what I do. My approach is two times a month. I am combining kind of a transaction inventory with my budgeting progress. So every month I'm kind of like reassessing what's the money that I'm going to be spending. And then on this kind of like nearly two weeks rotation, I'm looking at what did I just spend? Categorizing that into my spreadsheet. Super simple categories again. You'll see it in that video. And then being able to see, all right, where do I have excess? Where do I kind of need to rein it in? Do that again at the end of the month. Month rinse and repeat. And it just really keeps me quite on top of my spending.
- [42:43]
Jen
Yes. What about you? So looking just kind of like normal. It's December, so actually we are. So I'm doing no spend January when we do our 90 day debt free fast track. Have we talked about it this episode?
- [43:01]
Jill
I don't think we've talked about it yet.
- [43:03]
Jen
So we're hosting a 90 day debt free fast track track January through March of 2026. And we are helping our community pay off $100,000 of debt in the first quarter of 2026. So if you want to pay off $1,000 of debt in 90 days, we invite you frugalfriendspodcast.com debt free. And we're doing three skill building challenges throughout that program. The first is a no spend January. So I will be doing no spend January, but I'm also doing kind of a low spend December because we are a month. We have a rental that is not rented out this month. So we are a little not strapped. But like I don't have that income coming in.
- [43:51]
Jill
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [43:52]
Jen
So I need to like reduce the spending, which is not ideal because it's December. But I am a little lucky for you. You're a frugal girly, right? I'm a frugal girly. I can manage. So yeah, we are kind of at the same budget. Instead of like increasing for presents and parties and matching pajama sets, we're kind of staying at the same budget. So it's not low spend, but it kind of is a low spend Christmas.
- [44:23]
Jill
Yeah, yeah. And so you're doing that. Is, is Monarch like helpful for you with that type of goal that you're setting for yourself?
- [44:31]
Jen
Yeah, I have the same, like I've set my budget and it just copies and pastes like month over month so I don't have to reset it up every month. And oh my gosh, our utility bill was a hundred or fifty extra dollars last month and I was alerted to that like immediately because of Monarch so that we can keep an eye on it. But yeah, so it's kind of just keeping me accountable with the transactions and the cash flow and all of that.
- [45:07]
Jill
Beautiful. Thanks everyone for being here. We hope this is helpful for you to know what's going to be the best fit for you. And speaking of good fits, our book Buy what you love without going broke. Some of you have reviewed it like this from Kelsey. Gave it five stars. Says I've enjoyed listening to Jen and Jill's podcast for years, but was unsure if I would learn anything new from the book. I was completely, completely wrong. These two have such a talent for leading the reader to ask relevant questions to get at the heart of spending and saving. Instead of assuming a generalized money goal like becoming a millionaire, quitting your job, they leave space for the reader to decide for themselves and how they want to approach it. After reading this book, I feel more in tune with the psychology behind my money habits, how they relate to my overall goals, and how I want to attack them in the new year. Beautiful.
- [45:57]
Jen
Yes. I hope you choose to attack them with us in the 90 day debt free fast track. I so appreciate that review. We appreciate all your reviews for the book. If you haven't gotten a copy, buywhatyoulovebook.com we even have instructions on that site to get it on, how to request it at your library if it's not available there. And we would love it if you'd leave a review on Amazon. You don't have to buy it from there, but it is usually the first place people look to get their reviews. And we would love it if you'd subscribe to the YouTube channel, hit the like button and help us grow there. And if you're on Spotify or Apple, we love reading your reviews over there. We haven't forgotten about you. We love you. You can't see me making a heart.
- [46:44]
Jill
Right now we're making the Millennial Hand heart because I don't know how to do the Gen Z version.
- [46:48]
Narrator/Advertiser
Nope.
- [46:49]
Jen
So we're here being Millennial and we see you there too. And if you liked this episode and you want help sticking to your budget, check out our episode on how to do a no buy or low buy year in 2026. We share our firsthand experience and think it will Be really helpful for helping you stick with any budgeting app that you choose. Frugal Friends is produced by Eric Sirianni.
- [47:30]
Jill
Okay, Jen, when you saw that your utility bill went up $50 and then it alerted you to keep an eye on it, what kind of changes did you make? Well, first of all, why do you think it was high? And then what did you do differently to drop it?
- [47:45]
Jen
Okay, so I just got this notification like a week ago and it is about fifth, like, I mean, maybe $20 higher than its height. And so I don't know if it's our tenants in the back. That's something like we have tenants in an ADU. So I'm not 100% sure if it's a mistake or if it's partly them. So it's not like wildly higher to where I'm like, we got a leak somewhere. But yeah, so it is something where I'm like, okay, this is the highest it's been in six months. And they've been with us for six months. So next month, Month. Let's see what it looks like.
- [48:40]
Jill
So, yeah, that's the tough thing about like a short term or midterm. If you're not charging them for utilities, right? Like you're just eating the cost and hoping that whatever you're charging them to live there also covers their usage.
- [48:56]
Jen
And I think midterm is much better than short term. They have a little bit more incentive to be kind, but especially when you're on the same property as them. But yeah, I mean, we'll see.
- [49:13]
Narrator/Advertiser
It's.
- [49:14]
Jen
We'll see what happens. They're out in a week, week and a half.
- [49:21]
Narrator/Advertiser
So we'll see.
- [49:21]
Jen
Kind of like what the state is, what the utilities are.
- [49:28]
Narrator/Advertiser
But they're so kind, they're so nice.
- [49:29]
Jill
Oh, good.
- [49:30]
Narrator/Advertiser
They're great. So I'm not super worried.
- [49:33]
Jen
Just on alert.
- [49:35]
Jill
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Jill
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Jill
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