- The Financial Diet
- Posts
- The Financial Tools We Actually Use & Recommend
The Financial Tools We Actually Use & Recommend
June 23, 2025
Paid non-client. Views may not be representative. See reviews at the App Store and Google Play. Learn more. Investing involves risk. Performance not guaranteed.
presented by Betterment
Markets can feel unpredictable, and it’s normal to wonder if now is the right moment to start. Investing isn’t about timing every move—it’s about starting when you can, staying steady, and giving your money the chance to grow over the long term.
Luckily, you don’t have to be anywhere near an expert to start building towards the future you want. If you’ve been putting off investing, Betterment makes it as pain-free as possible so you can focus on the things that matter most to you. With Betterment’s expert-built, globally diversified portfolios, you can put your money to work, optimizing day after day and again and again.
Make your money hustle with Betterment — click here to sign up in minutes.
"Ever since Mint danced its last ballet this year, I've been looking for the perfect app to be my new go-to money management tool. (For those who don't know the lore, Mint was the very first tool I ever used to help improve my relationship with money, and it was heavily featured in the first TFD book!) After doing my research, I decided to adopt Monarch because the UX is familiar and easy to use (it was actually started by ex-Mint people), the features are genuinely helpful, and the price is very reasonable for a high-quality, ad-free product. In full transparency, we do work with Monarch now, but I was using them before we partnered and would continue to use it regardless. If you've also been looking for your new budget app in a post-Mint era, I have to say Monarch is that girl." - Chelsea, CEO & Co-Founder
“Splitwise is one of my favorite apps to keep shared expenses organized! As someone who has fronted very large bills at a group dinner in the past or lost track of who paid for what on a group trip, this app is truly a god-send. It makes it so easy to track what each person owes, split costs fairly, and settle up without awkward Venmo math or endless group texts.” - Kristine, Account Manager
“As a finance manager for small businesses, I have used several different payroll/HR management software and I can say Gusto is my favorite hands-down. The user interface is easy to understand, the accounting software integrations are great, and the customer service is top notch. I feel like they are perfectly tailored to businesses with 1-50 employees.” - Heather, Finance Manager
“Also, this is more of a method than a product: if you have shared finances with your spouse but separate credit cards, I definitely recommend utilizing two different cards to maximize points. We are an Amex family; I have a gold card and my husband has a platinum. Since my card gets 4X points on restaurants, I always pay the bill (technically — again, shared finances, so it always comes out of the same checking account). Since his card has better points on travel, we always book flights on his. And I think these are great cards for our spending/lifestyle, but definitely do research before settling on any rewards card with an annual fee!” - Holly, Creative Director
“I’m known as the ‘never at home, always at the airport’ girlie in my friend group — and proudly so! Still, travel can be expensive. A dear friend of mine told me about Going some time ago and I haven’t been the same since. It’s the best app for tracking flight deals. Best deal I’ve booked so far was a $220 trip to Paris last summer!” - Alexa, Content & Production Manager
“I can’t pass up the opportunity to recommend Advisor.com, which is one of the TFD community’s most-used services. As Chelsea has stated many times (and that I wholeheartedly agree with), good financial advice should be accessible to everyone, not just the wealthy. I personally work very closely with the team at Advisor.com and have heard dozens of personal anecdotes from this community about how much their financial advisors have helped them in their wealth building journeys. It’s rare to find a financial advisor with a flat-fee model that makes sure clients' financial interests comes first. If you want personalized financial advice to help you reach your money goals, I highly recommend trying out Advisor.com.” - Rachel, Marketing Director
It's safe to say that despite the unusually rainy weekends we've been having, that it's officially picnic season if you can catch the perfect weekday to have one~ I bought this absolutely gorgeous patterned picnic blanket from Ban.do a few weeks back. It's actually now on sale on their site and best of all, it's very light + packable so it won't take up too much space in your tote!
Speaking of snacks that pair well at picnics, I recently brought these delicious Bahlsen Choco Leibniz Milk Chocolate cookies to one and they were a hit. They're lovely little biscuits with a perfect balance of sweetness -- they have a dark chocolate option too! I personally also love to pair these with a charcuterie board.
I adore all kinds of pasta salads and I recently came across this TikTok recipe by @gatherednurition for a chicken caesar tortellini pasta salad and it makes for a truly divine work from home lunch.
📣Events
Join us THIS WEDNESDAY, June 25th, for The Mid-Year Financial Check-Up, a totally FREE workshop, in partnership with our friends at Monarch Money. In this workshop we’ll help you gain clarity on the following questions: Are you still on track to hit the milestones you set out to reach back in January? Do you need to make adjustments to your goals and spending habits based on major life events that have occurred in that time? And overall, what can you do now to make sure you leave 2025 with a brighter financial outlook than you had entering into it? Click here to register!
We’ve been getting a ton of questions, comments, and DMs as of late about the omnipresence of AI and worries about digital financial safety. So we thought — why not have a workshop about it? We’d love for you to join us July 31st for a totally FREE lunchtime workshop, How To Protect Yourself From An Increasingly Scammy World, where we’ll walk you step-by-step through how to protect yourself from online threats and identity theft, featuring a cybersecurity expert from Aura. You'll learn about the most common digital threats you face and leave with practical tools to spot red flags, set up protection across your devices and accounts, and respond confidently when something feels off. This workshop will include an hour-long presentation, followed by 30 minutes of audience Q&A. Replay available if you can’t join live but you must register ahead of time for access — click here to register!
We’re SUPER excited to announce our next workshop in partnership with our friends at Advisor.com! Join Chelsea and CFP Kellen Thayer on July 16th for How To Build Wealth In A Scary Economy — a timely deep-dive workshop where they’ll break down everything you need to know to build wealth and financial security even during chaotic economic times. They’re covering everything from leveraging down markets for investment optimization, to managing cash flow, to setting long-term goals based on your personal career and income paths. This totally FREE workshop is all about taking back financial control. Just take our very short quiz to register!
🎥YouTube
It was a busy week for us over on YouTube! Yesterday we premiered episode 4 of Asked & Answered (season 2) co-hosted by Chelsea & Erin Lowry. This series is turning into a community favorite! Check out our latest episode, TK TK with 2 more episodes dropping this month!
Catch up on our latest capsule series, Wedding Season, co-hosted by Chelsea and Ashley C Ford. In this series 4-part series, Chelsea and Ashley deep dive into wedding culture, bachelorette culture, the wedding industrial complex, and of course, the finances of it all. Check out the first 2 episodes available now! Come back for new episodes dropping Thursdays throughout June!
Our June video essay, Gen Z Has No Hope Because Millennials Used It All, premieres tomorrow, June 24th at 12pm et! Join us on YouTube in the live chat! The ad-free, director’s cut will be dropping for $4.99 Society members later today!
✨The Society
Join us this Thursday, June 26th, for our next Society workshop — Voting With Your Dollars: Building Community for Economic Change. Friend of TFD and sustainable money expert, Kara Perez is back for another important and timely event where she’ll lead a discussion on how building strong communities can lead to real economic change. We’ll talk about how people can come together to support each other financially, share resources, and create more opportunities for everyone. This session is great for anyone who wants to make a difference through connection and collaboration. Register here.
Check out our latest guidebook, How To Build Financially Healthy Relationships, a 17-page guidebook designed to help you understand your own relationship with money, set financial boundaries without shame, and create more honest, supportive dynamics with your friends, family, and romantic partners. Join The Society at the $9.99 tier for access.
Check out our full June Society calendar below!
The Society at TFD is our members-only community with access available on both YouTube and Patreon. Joining The Society is the best way to directly support TFD! The Society offers the exact same things on both platforms, so choose whichever one you prefer!
We offer 3 tier options:
The Society at TFD Lite: $2.99/month
Monthly office hours with Chelsea to chat and get your personal questions answered
Access to our monthly book club hosted by TFD Creative Director, Holly
Illustrated tech backgrounds every month
Access to Society Discord
The Society at TFD: $4.99/month — includes everything in the $2.99 tier plus:
Monthly ad-free extended director's cut videos from Chelsea
Exclusive members-only events and workshops
Complete post archive (including exclusive members-only videos of Chelsea ranting on different topics)
The Society Premium: $9.99/month — includes everything from the previous tiers plus:
Weekly newsletter from Chelsea
Monthly multi-page workbook/guidebook on a different topic each month
Members-only capsule podcasts