A recent survey found a majority of Americans want to improve their financial situation in 2025.
Sixty-nine percent of respondents of the Motley Fool Money’s 2025 Financial New Year’s Resolution survey are focused on personal finances in the new year, and we found tools, both new and old, that can help you manage your money quickly and easily.
You’ll probably need to try a few out, but it’s so much better once you settle on the right system for your family.
Old school money management tools
Cash in envelopes and planning with spreadsheets might not be your thing, but they can still be an option. Manual tools are still part of the financial foundation for many households, including ours. Our spreadsheet-based budget was the reference point even when we used more technology-based tools.
Cash in envelopes can still work. This was a lifesaver when we lived overseas. We purchased many things off-post, but not everywhere would take our debit cards (like old-school markets). This is less of an issue now than our first time living overseas. We still use envelopes for some expenses today. Plus, there’s nothing simpler than looking in an envelope to see if you can pay for something.
Tools you already have
You might not even realize all the tools you already have access to. Many banks now integrate software to help categorize your spending. These tools will vary depending on where you bank.
Both military banks we use have some budgeting capabilities. These are nice because you know they’ll always integrate with your bank by default (and they’re free). Keeping accounts synced was one of our biggest frustrations with using dedicated budgeting apps.
Dedicated paid budgeting apps
There are tons of budgeting apps available. You may need to try many different ones to see what you like. I’m not diving into all of them here, but I’ll touch on the two I would consider the most recommended paid options: You Need a Budget (YNAB) and Monarch.
You need a budget
You can’t get a better budgeting app name than You Need a Budget. However, there’s more than just the name. YNAB is a zero-based budgeting app (gives each dollar a job) that’s been around for 20 years.
We used it before and liked it, but our finances are pretty simple, so we stopped using it. It might be more needed if we had more expenses or a larger household. It’s easy to get started and comes with a one-month free trial, which is pretty generous for free trials. After that, it costs $14.99 per month or $109 annually (plus one free month for the trial).
Monarch
Monarch is generally seen as the best alternative to Mint, which has been discontinued (rest in peace). It’s a newer app, but the founder started at Mint, so they have a lot of experience in the industry.
More importantly, the app is really easy to use. I like that once you link your bank account, it will automatically “guess” how much you spend in different categories based on your transaction data. The one-week trial is pretty short for a monthly budget app, but it’s not too expensive at $14.99 per month ($99.99 annually).
What should you do?
Regardless of what method you choose, tracking your expenses is critical to managing your money. The better the system you have in place, the better you’ll be able to stick to your budget. If you’ve never made a budget, there’s no better time to start than now!
Visit https://enlistedmoney.com/ for more money tips.
By Brandon Lovingier, Army, ChFC®, MQFP® aka The Enlisted Money Guy™
