A short, honest list of the money tools we’d actually use — and recommend to people we care about. We keep it small on purpose.
High-Yield Savings (where your buffer should live)
A high-yield savings account pays you many times more than a normal checking account for the exact same cash — and you can still get to it anytime. It’s where your emergency buffer belongs.
Our pick — coming soon.
Budgeting apps
If a spreadsheet isn’t your thing, a good app automates the whole three-bucket system.
Monarch Money — our top pick for most people. Friendly, modern, does budgeting + tracking in one place. (Link coming soon.)
Quicken Simplifi — simpler and a bit cheaper; a great no-fuss starting point. (Link coming soon.)
Prefer free? Grab our Budget Sheet — it’s on the house.
Where people actually start investing
You don’t need to be rich or clever to start — you need a simple, low-cost account and time. We’ll point you to a couple of genuinely beginner-friendly brokerages and robo-advisors here.
Our picks — coming soon.
Books worth your time
Three reads that changed how a lot of people think about money:
I Will Teach You to Be Rich — Ramit Sethi. Practical, funny, zero guilt. Closest in spirit to what we do here.
The Psychology of Money — Morgan Housel. Short chapters on why we do weird things with money.
The Simple Path to Wealth — JL Collins. The clearest case for boring, long-term investing.