How to Tackle "Big Ticket" Expenses Without Busting Your Budget

We’ve all been there. You’ve been diligent with your monthly budget—rent is covered, groceries are accounted for, and you’ve even stayed within your restaurant limit. Then, a "medium-term" expense hits. Maybe it’s an annual car registration, a semi-annual insurance premium, or that dream vacation to the French Riviera.

Suddenly, your monthly budget is blown out of the water.

In my latest video, "How to Think About Saving for Non-Monthly, Big Ticket Expenses," I dive into why these expenses are the biggest challenge for most people and show you exactly how to manage them using Monarch Money.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JaI5RJji1as

The "Middle Child" of Expenses

Most people are good at budgeting for two things:

1. Monthly Necessities: Rent, utilities, and daily discretionary spending.

2. Long-Term Goals: Retirement or a down payment on a home.

But the "medium-term" expenses—those that fall between $500 and $5,000—often get ignored until the bill arrives. My simple rule of thumb? If an expense exceeds your typical monthly discretionary income, you should be budgeting for it in advance.

How to Automate Your Budget in Monarch Money

In the video, I walk through a real-life example: my upcoming road trip in May [03:45]. I need to save $2,000 over the next three months, and here is how I use Monarch Money to make it happen:

• Create a Specific Goal: Use the "Goals" feature to create a dedicated bucket for your expense (like "Vacation") [04:23].

• Link Your Accounts: Link this goal to a High-Yield Savings Account (HYSA). This keeps the money "earmarked" so you don’t accidentally spend it on Friday night takeout.

• Set Monthly Allocations: By setting a monthly contribution (e.g., $700/month), Monarch automatically factors this into your budget as an "expense" before you ever spend a dime of it [06:21].

The "Pro Tip" for Spending and Points

One of the trickiest parts of budgeting apps is handling the actual spending. Most of us want to use a credit card to earn points, but apps often struggle to link a credit card purchase to a savings goal.

I share a "netting out" trick in the video [10:53] that allows you to:

1. Pay for your flight or hotel on your credit card.

2. Adjust your Monarch budget to "pull" the money from your goal.

3. Transfer the cash from your HYSA to your checking account to pay off the card.

This keeps your budget balanced while ensuring you still get those travel rewards!

Ready to stop stressing over non-monthly bills? Watch the full video below for a step-by-step walkthrough of the Monarch Money interface and my strategy for keeping your financial plan on track.

Are you struggling with a specific "big ticket" item? Or do you have a different way of tracking these in Monarch? Leave a comment on the video—I’d love to hear your strategy!

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Surviving Crypto Winter: A Strategic Approach to Alternative Assets

Since October 2025, the market has been gripped by what many are calling a "Crypto Winter." In just four months, Bitcoin has seen its value nearly cut in half [00:07]. While I generally steer my clients toward more traditional, time-tested investments, I understand the allure of alternative assets. If you are determined to stay in the crypto game, there is a way to do it conscientiously without putting your entire financial future at risk.

Why Crypto Remains a High-Risk Play

It’s important to understand why crypto is so volatile compared to the S&P 500. Two major factors often lead to these "winter" cycles:

• Competition for "Alternative" Dollars: Crypto doesn't just compete with stocks; it competes with gold, silver, and even prediction markets [01:44]. When a new "shiny object" or trend emerges in the alternative investment world, money often flows out of crypto and into those new assets. Because crypto lacks wide adoption, it doesn't have the same staying power as established companies with consistent revenue [02:40].

• The Herd Mentality: Because adoption is still limited, many investors treat crypto as a short-term opportunity rather than a long-term hold. When a bull run happens, influencers and large-scale investors often move to take profits quickly, which can "pull the rug out" from under those with a traditional buy-and-hold strategy [03:31].

The Barbell Method: A Safer Way to Take Risks

If you truly believe in the potential of a specific coin or alternative asset, I recommend the Barbell Method of Investing [04:20]. This strategy balances two extremes to protect your downside while allowing for massive upside.

1. The Risky End (10-20%): You allocate a small portion of your portfolio—ideally no more than 20%—to the alternative asset you believe in [04:28]. The goal is for this small slice to provide the vast majority of your portfolio's growth.

2. The Safe End (80-90%): Instead of putting the rest into a standard index fund, you place it in ultra-safe assets like Treasury Bonds [05:16].

Why Treasuries instead of the S&P 500? Crypto often moves with the broader stock market, but much more drastically. If the market drops, crypto often crashes harder [05:31]. By keeping 80% of your wealth in something like the Vanguard Short-Term Treasury Index Fund, you ensure that even if your crypto investment goes to zero, your long-term finances aren't ruined [06:10].

Summary

Investing in alternative assets doesn't have to be an "all-in" gamble. By using the barbell strategy, you can hunt for those high returns while keeping the core of your wealth highly protected.

Watch the full video below for a deeper dive into these strategies

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34tGLWfr3M0

If you have questions about implementing the barbell strategy or navigating this crypto winter, let’s talk! Drop a comment or reach out to us at Coda Financial Coaching.

Contact Alex Now

Master Your Cash Flow: The Power of Recurring Transactions in Monarch Money

Managing your finances isn’t just about tracking where your money went—it’s about knowing where it’s going. In my latest video, I dive into one of the most impactful, yet often overlooked, features in Monarch Money: the Recurring Transactions tool.

If you’ve ever been hit by a "surprise" annual subscription or forgot to cancel a free trial that turned into a paid one, this feature is your new best friend.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SL0dUtUTQc

Why You Need to Track Recurring Merchants

Companies count on their billing getting lost in the shuffle of your daily transactions. Whether it’s an HBO Max subscription you only wanted for one month or a 7-day trial you forgot to cancel, these small leaks can add up to hundreds of dollars in wasted cash.

Monarch Money acts as the perfect antidote by allowing you to designate specific merchants as "recurring," giving you a clear forecast of your upcoming expenses.

How to Manually Tag a Recurring Transaction

While Monarch automatically identifies about 80% of your recurring bills, it might miss some if the amount or the billing date varies slightly each month [01:13]. Here is how to fix that:

1. Find the Transaction: Go to your Transactions tab and select the merchant you want to mark as recurring [03:25].

2. Edit the Merchant: Click the three dots in the top right corner of the transaction detail and select "Mark merchant as recurring" [03:38].

3. Set the Details: You can set the start date, status (active), and frequency (e.g., monthly or yearly) [03:47].

4. Save: Once saved, this merchant will now appear in your Recurring tab, allowing you to forecast your outgoing cash flow [04:29].

Pro Tips for Success

• The One-Year Review: If you are new to Monarch, don't just look at last month. Go back and review a full year of activity to catch those "big" annual subscriptions before they hit your card again [02:05].

• Monthly Checklist: Make it a habit to check your Recurring tab once a month. It’s much easier to cancel a service before the charge hits than to fight for a refund afterward [02:34].

• Cash Flow Forecasting: Use the recurring view to see a forecast of your upcoming bills. This helps you manage your bank balance and ensures you always have enough for the essentials [04:43].

How do you manage your subscriptions? Do you have a favorite "hidden gem" feature in Monarch Money? Let me know in the comments!

Contact Alex Now