What are the best apps to use to build a financial fitness routine?

Ralph
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Are you feeling overwhelmed trying to manage your finances? Does tracking every dollar feel like an impossible task? Well, I hear you. Today, I’m going to be exploring how technology can transform your financial life. One of my clients—we’ll call her Sarah—was drowning in financial chaos until she discovered the power of these apps. And today, I’ll share exactly how she turned it around. Stay with me as we uncover the best financial apps for 2024 that will help you build your financial fitness routine. Might even save some relationships.

Podcast Announcer
00:00:33

Welcome to the Ask Ralph podcast, where listening to an experienced financial professional with over 30 years of experience can help you make sense of confusing questions, current headlines and industry trends about taxes, small business, financial decision making, investment strategies, and even the art of proper budgeting. Ask Ralph makes the complex simple by sharing his real world knowledge from a Christian perspective with all things financial.

Now here's your Host, Ralph Estep Jr.

Ralph
00:01:02

Thank you for joining me today. I’ve got a powerful message about leveraging technology with finances and faith, all with the goal to strengthen your financial foundation. And we can all use a little strengthening there. If you missed yesterday's show, I talked about retirement contributions—what percentage you should be putting aside—and I thought it was crucial information. It’s a way to choose between a comfortable retirement or financial stress as you near your goals. So, if you missed it, I encourage you to check it out.

Today’s listener question comes from Michael, all the way from the state of Tennessee. Here’s what Michael writes: "Dear Ralph, I’m at my breaking point with my finances. Last night, I sat at my kitchen table surrounded by bills, receipts, and bank statements, feeling completely lost and ashamed. I’ve tried tracking everything in a notebook, but life gets busy with my three kids, and I keep falling behind. My wife and I argued again about our spending. We honestly have no idea where our money goes each month. I’ve heard about these financial apps, but there are so many choices, and I’m worried about wasting more money on something that won’t help. I feel like I’m failing my family and failing as a steward of what God has given us. Can you help me figure out which apps actually work? I need something that will give me clarity and peace of mind.” Michael, I get it, dude. This is indeed a struggle. You’ve alluded to a big thing that causes so much strife in relationships.

I don’t know how many times I’ve worked with couples whose main pain points in marriage were finances. So, today I’m going to share the importance of aligning money decisions with your values. My goal is to remove some of those pain points and eliminate some of that family tension. Michael, I feel it—you feel overwhelmed. You feel this shame about money. The good news is you’ve got the right desire: to be a good steward. Hopefully, today, I’ll help you along the way. Now, this show thrives on your questions, but today I want to ask you some questions.

We’ve built a listener survey, and I want your honest opinion about the show. Listen, it’ll only take about five minutes. And here’s the best part: everybody who completes the survey will be entered into a $250 Amazon gift card drawing. You can get to the survey by going to askralphpodcast.com/survey. Your answers will shape the show, and I need your survey completed by midnight on December 10th. We’re making the drawing on December 11th, and I’d love to hear from you. It could put a little cash in your pocket for Christmas! Again, to get to the survey, simply go to askralphpodcast.com/survey. I promise it won’t take more than five minutes.

Then Michael, your struggle reminds me of something from the book of Proverbs. It actually comes to us from chapter 27, verses 23 and 24. As a farmer here raising Black Angus cows, I always key into this, but it fits exactly what you're talking about today. Like I said, it's Proverbs 27:23-24. And it says this: Be diligent to know the state of your flocks and attend to your herds, for riches are not forever, nor does a crown endure to all generations. You think about that verse, it emphasizes the importance of managing what God has entrusted to us. So that's going to be our focus today.

Now, let me start by saying this, Michael: I am touched by your question because it really shows that you're vulnerable and willing to talk things out. Trust me, you're not alone in this. Many people struggle with this.

In fact, in preparing for the show, I found these statistics about how finances impact relationships. Let's start with the first thing: money arguments in divorce. This was something I didn’t even realize, but money disputes are the number one predictor of divorce. Here's another statistic: couples who argue about finances weekly—those weekly disagreements—are 30% more likely to divorce. Financial disagreements tend to be longer and more intense than any other conflicts.

Think about that for a second. The money issue is leading to divorce. It's the number one predictor of divorce, and people who fight about it, argue, or disagree—whatever term you want to use—are 30% more likely to divorce.

Let's talk about financial infidelity. This is a big one too. The statistics say that 31% of people have hidden purchases from their partner. Fifty-eight percent of people admit to keeping money secrets from their significant other, and one in five Americans have spent $500 or more without their partner's knowledge.

Listen, if you want to be on the same page as a couple, you've got to start connecting financially. This infidelity is causing breakdowns in relationships.
Let's talk about relationship stress. Thirty-six percent of couples cite money as the primary source of relationship stress. Thirteen percent of couples say they never talk about finances, and 44% report that different spending habits create tension. You can just see the relationship stress.

Let's talk about dating. A lot of us aren't in the dating world, but think about this: 33% of Americans say debt is a dating dealbreaker, and 70% of people prefer a financially responsible partner over a physically attractive one. Finally, 65% say they wouldn't date someone with poor credit. These are some really sobering statistics, don’t you think? I think they are.

Well, let me tell you about this person I met with last month. We'll call him James. He's a father of two, and Michael, he had a very similar situation to yours. He said, "Ralph, I've been spending hours at my desk. I'm surrounded by these crumpled receipts." And he finally said, "Ralph, I feel like I'm failing my family."

Well, James was looking for some financial clarity, and I shared with him what I'm going to share with you today. And here's the best part: after putting some of these things into practice, James tells me now that his marriage is stronger than ever. He's got financial clarity. He has self-confidence.
You may be asking, "Ralph, why is that? What was that magical transformation?" Well, James and his wife, Casey, started using the right digital tools. Don’t you want to try those for yourself? I think you're going to say yes. So, let's get to some great financial tools you can start using right away.

So for overall budget management, my number one pick is Intuit Simplifi. That’s at www.simplifi.com, and I'll put a link to that in the show notes. That’s S-I-M-P-L-I-F-I dot com, an Intuit product. They're the same people that make QuickBooks and a bunch of other software. Now, what you can expect to spend is $5.99 a month, which isn't a big expenditure.

It’s not going to break your budget, and I think it's perfect for families needing a clear overview of spending. I think it really does give you that overview. You’re going to track everything, and a special feature about this one that I think is great is it gives you real-time family budget sharing. So, you can share this with other people in your family for $5.99 a month. I think they even give you a discount if you do it for a whole year, but I would definitely recommend Intuit Simplifi. It’s going to start to measure things.

The second one I’m going to mention here for overall budget management is YNAB. That’s at www.ynab.com, which stands for "You Need a Budget." Again, I'll put that in the show notes. Now, this one costs a little bit more—it’s $14.99 a month—but they do give you a 34-day free trial, which I thought was kind of weird. Thirty-four days? But see, the whole point is they want you to track your spending for at least 30 days. This way, you have an opportunity to look at it.

Now, this is perfect if you're one of those people that believes in zero-based budgeting. And the cool thing about this one is it has a special feature called the debt pay-down planning tool. So, if you've got some debt, YNAB is a great option because it really helps you get that debt paid down.

Now, the next one in this category is called EveryDollar. You can check it out by going to www.everydollar.com. Again, it'll be in the show notes. Now, for this one, they’ve got a free, basic version. I’m not exactly sure what comes with the basic version, but it’s free. If you want to go to their Plus version, it’s $129.99 a year.

The thing they stress with this one is that it’s perfect for people who use the envelope method, but it’s a digital way to do it. A lot of people understand the envelope method: you allocate this much for groceries, this much for fuel, maybe this much for clothing, and this much for utilities. Well, it gives you that same option but in a digital format.
The thing I like about this one—being a Christian podcast—is that it has some Christian-based financial principles integrated right into it. So again, those are the three I pick: Simplifi, YNAB, and EveryDollar.

Now, if we’re talking about debt management, there’s one called Debt Payoff Planner. Again, that’s at www.debtpayoffplanner.app. I’ll put this one in the show notes as well. The cost is free, but they do have some optional premium features. The thing I like about this one is that it’s perfect for creating a debt snowball plan. I’ve done shows on this before. If you want to try to snowball out of your debt, this is great because it gives you payment reminders and progress tracking along the way. So, for debt management, it’s the only one I’m going to mention today: Debt Payoff Planner.

Now, let me just say to you, I’m not getting kickbacks from any of these people. I make $0 if you decide to go with these. I decided strategically that I wasn’t going to set up affiliate relationships because I felt like that wasn’t the thing for me to do.
So, if you want to check out one of these, I’m going to put those links in the show notes.

Now, if you're looking to save, the final app I’m going to talk about today is called Qapital. It sounds kind of funny—maybe I’m not pronouncing it right—but it’s Q-A-P-I-T-A-L. Again, that’s at www.qapital.com. Now, this one is $3 a month for their basic plan.
What this app really does is help you automate some saving rules. It helps you put together saving goals, and basically, it rounds up purchases for savings. This is another one you’ll want to check out. Again, that’s Qapital—Q-A-P-I-T-A-L.

Now, I promised to tell you about Sarah, the lady I mentioned at the start of the show. Michael, she came to me feeling just like you feel. She was working overtime, running a small business, and said, "Ralph, I don’t know where my money’s going every month."
I said, "Well, you’re the perfect candidate for what I do," because I always start with an assessment. When you come to meet with me—or when we do an online call, book a call with Ralph—I’m going to ask you a very simple question: Where are you today? That’s where these financial apps come in because they will give us some non-emotional, just-the-facts details. That’s where we’ve got to start. In her case, she simply didn’t know. She was working hard, but she wasn’t sure where all her money was going. So, I recommended she look at these apps, and we settled on YNAB for her.

Now, let me tell you, this was remarkable. Within the very first week, she discovered something shocking. You ready for this? It’s what I call the "Amazon Dream." A lot of us have suffered from this.

It’s so easy to just click, and it's at your doorstep sometimes in a matter of hours. But when she started tracking all her spending, she found that her family was spending—get ready for this—$847 a month on Amazon. I asked her, "What is it?" She said, "Ralph, it was just random purchases." And guess what? Drumroll, please. The rest of the money was spent on food delivery. That’s right—DoorDash had her house on their favorites list! No wonder she felt like money was slipping right through her hands, because the truth is, it was.

Remember, if you listen to the show, I always say this: What gets measured gets done. She wasn’t measuring it, so she had no concept of where her money was going.
Now, you’re thinking, "Ralph, that sounds great. She started tracking. What were the results?" Wait until you hear this. Here’s exactly what she did:
The number one thing she did was start with just one app. She started using YNAB, and she committed to logging every purchase for two weeks. I asked her to do it for a month, but she said, "Ralph, I’m a busy person, but I will commit to two weeks." It was eye-opening for her, like I just shared with you.

The next thing she did—and this is critical—was set up bank synchronization to catch anything she missed. She had the intention of logging everything, but you know what? Life gets busy. So, what she did was connect her bank account to the app, and I highly recommend you do this. Every single transaction from her bank account, credit cards, and savings accounts was logged. This way, there weren’t any "Oops, I forgot to log that one" moments. She had to account for every single transaction. She was also concerned about her relationships. So, one of the things she added was weekly 15-minute "money check-ins" with her spouse. They sat down together, reviewed what had happened the past week—what came in, what went out, and where it was spent by category.
Because she had some credit card debt, she used the debt pay-down feature to create a plan for getting rid of those debts.

You might say, "Ralph, she really committed to it." Yes, she did. And here are the results:
Within three months—and listen to this, I’m talking about just three months—Sarah had, number one, built her first-ever emergency fund. She said, "Ralph, I never had an emergency fund before. I always went back to my credit card if I needed it." Here’s another cool thing: she reduced her dining-out expenses by 70%. I guess DoorDash ended up having to lay off some people because they weren’t coming to her house as often. But think about that—she reduced her dining-out expenses by 70%!

Now, another thing she did, she said, "Ralph, one of the things I also heard... I've been listening to your show, and you always talk about tithing." She said, "So, you know what? I started tithing consistently." And she said, "But the best part of it all... my husband and I, we started talking about finances, and guess what? We don't argue about finances anymore. We may have some scuffles when we have our weekly check-in meeting, but we work it out because the data is right in front of us. And let me just tell you a big picture. If you don't listen to anything else I say today, listen to this: the key to success isn't just choosing an app. Anybody can pick it up; you can subscribe to that. I got so many clients that buy these apps, and they come to me a year later, and I say, 'How's it tracking going?' 'Ralph, you know what? I never even bothered with it. Never connected my account to it. Never looked at it.' So it's all about finding an app, though, that aligns with your values and lifestyle.

You got to be willing to use it. I've got one client right now—and it's funny—but she has been paying for QuickBooks Online, now, I think, going on four years. And she's somebody I only see at tax time. She comes in to see me, and I say, 'Hey, let's log into your QuickBooks Online.' 'Oh, you know, Ralph, I never got around to setting that up.' Listen, the apps aren't going to be your solution. But I do recommend starting with one app and mastering it before you add any others, because you can get crazy with this. Like, you can add the YNAB and the savings app, and the pay-down-debt app. Start with one. So, Michael, for your situation, I'm going to suggest beginning with that."

"YNAB—I see a lot of people having success with that because it focuses on giving every dollar a purpose. And if you think about it, if you start looking at your finances with a purpose—like, what was this money spent for? What was the purpose of this?—it may just change the dynamic. And here's what you can expect if you do this, Michael, and you'll see these results in 30 days, I guarantee it."

If you commit to doing this for 30 days, I log all your information. The number one thing, you're going to have complete clarity on where every dollar goes. You're going to be able to do it. It's not emotional at that point; it's facts. You spent this much on DoorDash, you spent this much going on Amazon.

You spent this much on utilities. You get the idea. It's going to completely track where every single dollar goes. And then, once you have that data, you can make decisions. Another thing it's going to do: it's going to reduce arguments about money with your spouse, because, again, it's all going to be tracked.

There's no more of that, we talked about at the beginning, that financial individuality infidelity. You can't hide it. It's right there in black and white, or color, if you're using, you know, on the app. And that's what I'm recommending. And nothing—you're going to get... Number three on my list here is better sleep at night, knowing your bills are tracked. You're going to know what needs to be paid.

You're going to make sure your bills are going to be paid. You're not going to be paying the late fees. You're not going to be paying over-interest charges, all that kind of stuff, if you start to really dedicate yourself to using this. The number four thing: it's going to give you a path to reaching your financial goals.

See, once you know where your money's going, then the next step is to create those goals. And then you can measure, "Am I getting to those goals?" You have that budget. You know, let's say, for example, you said, "Look, next month, we're only going to spend $200 on eating out or DoorDash." Once you get past that month, you can look at your app and say, "Okay, well, guess what?

We spent $250, so we were over budget." So, that's something you can work on if you... and if your financial goal is to have these things in place. Maybe you have that tithing goal. Maybe you want to increase your retirement. Maybe you want to put money into that emergency fund. Maybe you need to start planning for your child's education. Until you measure what you're doing now, you'll never get to those goals. And number five.

And I think, Michael, this is really going to hit home with you. It's going to give you confidence in your role as the family financial leader. It just will, because you're going to have a toolbox. You're going to have a way to demonstrate your leadership because here's what you're doing. And isn't that what you want, Michael? So put these actions into motion today.

I remember, these are just apps. These are tools. They're just tools. It's like a hammer for a carpenter. It's a tool. If you don't know how to use it, if you don't use it, it's not going to happen. The real transformation happens when you combine those tools with biblical principles of stewardship. See, these tools are meant to support your journey, not to complicate it further. Now, I'm going to share some action items for you just in a few minutes. But first, let me ask you this: The holidays are coming. Are you losing sleep, wondering how you'll afford everything on your holiday list? This year, I was walking out the door this morning. My wife says, "Ralph, that shirt looks like it's a Christmas shirt." I said, "Well, you know what? We're getting closer to the season," which is why I'm asking you these questions. Are you tired of starting every year buried under a mountain of holiday debt? I don't know how many clients of mine come to me at tax time and they say, "Ralph, man, I am buried with this... with this Christmas debt or this holiday debt." You know, do you want to create those magical Christmas memories without that financial stress that usually comes with?

And we talked about that stress today. We talk about how those financial things are really causing problems in relationships. And that's why I wrote this guide, and it's called the "Surviving the Holidays Without Going Broke Guide." It's very straightforward and to the point. And let me tell you, it's not long, but here's what you're going to learn: You're going to learn a proven budget system that actually works. I'm going to show you how smart shopping strategies can slash your costs. I'm going to talk about ways to create magical memories for Christmas without maxing out your credit cards.

So you don't have to spend yourself into oblivion to create magical memories. And I'm going to challenge you—most of the time, people don't remember what they bought anyway. It's all about how to create those memories. I'm also going to give you some tips for teaching kids gratitude, what I call the "Gimme More" world. And most importantly, I'm going to tell you how to keep faith and family at the center of your celebration, because isn't that the whole point? So, don't let January's credit card bill steal your holiday joy.

Download your free guide now. You get it by going to askralphpodcast.com/christmas. And make this your most meaningful and, dare I say, affordable holiday season yet, because your stress-free holiday season starts here. Go to askralphpodcast.com/christmas. And here are those actions, I promise, because guess what?

I always say, you know it. If you have good intentions without actions, you're not accomplishing anything. So let's break this down into manageable steps that will help you regain control. Michael, I'm talking directly to you. So, this week, Michael, here's what I want you to do: I want you to choose one app from our list.

Again, I recommend that YNAB (That's Y-N-A-B) for your situation. And then what I want you to do is set aside 30 minutes with your wife to install this and explore it together. You've got to have that buy-in. Then, I want you to connect your bank accounts. I want you to connect whatever accounts you spend money with.

If that's a bank account, savings account, credit cards—every single dollar connected. The second thing I want you to do during those 30 days, I should say: I want you to log every purchase. I don't care how small it is. And if you've got to connect it, it's going to do it for you. You're just going to have to go in and categorize those things.

And I'm going to tell you, don't wait until the end of the month. Do it every day. Do it every couple of days, because then you can make changes to what's going on. And then the other thing I want you to do is every Sunday, I want you to sit down with your wife and I want you to plan what's called a money date. You're going to write down all your financial wins that week.

Talk about what went well, what didn't go well, and I want you to celebrate those wins. Now, I'm not telling you to celebrate them by going and spending money, but celebrate them together. Build each other up during this. And here's the thing: By day 60, I want you to make sure all your accounts are connected.

I want you to look at setting up automatic bill payments through the app you're using or your bank account. And then, I want you to really start focusing on creating your first emergency fund. If you don't already have one, set a goal. And even if you're putting a couple dollars a week, or $10 or $20 a week, get to it.

And then, if you really feel compelled, you can book a call with me and I can tell you how to get to that next level. Remember, just as we're called to be good stewards of God's gifts, these tools help us fulfill that. They can really help us because they help us look at things in practical ways. Now, tomorrow I'm going to be tackling a critical, critical topic that affects all of us. And this is a term I'm going to throw out there.

And a question I'm going to have tomorrow is: Is social inflation to blame for our high insurance rates? And you're going to discover why premiums keep climbing and what you can do about it. And trust me, I just got some renewals on my insurance, and those numbers are sky-high. So, you don't want to miss this one.

It's going to be an eye-opening episode, all about that social inflation and high insurance rates. And I'm going to give you some practical takeaways. Now, remember this: My passion is to help you achieve financial success. I want to see you live out your dreams. This is why I do what I do. This is why I turn on this microphone.

This is why I turn on this camera. And I play these episodes out because I want to see you live out your dreams. I don't want you to be stressed. I don't want you to feel overwhelmed. I don't want to see your relationships fail because of finances. And, at the same time, I want to see you grow in your faith, grow in that stewardship. And I know, together, we can master your finances from that Christian perspective. So, as I always say, stay financially savvy out there. And God bless you abundantly.

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