What is a monthly money review?

A snapshot, not a stream of transactions

Most financial activity happens continuously: money arrives, bills are paid, investments move, and balances change. A monthly review pauses that stream long enough to answer a simpler question: where do things stand now, compared with last month?

The result is a financial snapshot. It does not try to reconstruct every purchase. It gives you a repeatable view of the parts of your money that matter most to you.

What to include

A useful review usually brings together five areas:

• Cash: current balances in the accounts you use or save in.
• Investments: current values, plus any money contributed or withdrawn during the month.
• Debts: credit cards, loans, mortgages, or other balances you want to reduce.
• Other assets: valuable items or property that belong in your personal picture.
• Income: money received during the period, when you want a broader cash-flow view.

You do not need to include everything you own. Consistently reviewing the same meaningful categories is more useful than building an exhaustive list that becomes difficult to maintain.

What the comparison can reveal

One snapshot tells you where you are. Two or more snapshots show movement. You can see whether cash increased or decreased, whether debt moved in the direction you expected, how investments changed, and how your overall net worth developed.

When income is included, the change in cash can also support an estimate of spending. That estimate is intentionally broader than transaction-level categorisation: it helps you see the month without maintaining a daily ledger.

Who this approach suits

A monthly review can work well if you want to understand your finances but dislike continuous maintenance. It may be especially useful when you:

• have tried expense trackers and stopped using them;
• prefer not to connect your bank accounts to an app;
• want to see cash, investments, debts, and assets together;
• care more about meaningful direction than individual purchases;
• can commit to one short routine more easily than a daily habit.

It is not the only valid approach. Detailed tracking can be useful when you need exact category limits, shared household budgeting, reimbursement records, or close control over irregular spending.

How Lygu supports the habit

Lygu is a private iPhone app built specifically around this monthly rhythm. In about 15 minutes, you create a snapshot, compare it with the previous one, and optionally leave a reflection for your future self.

There is no bank connection and no Lygu account. Financial records are stored locally on your phone. Limited privacy-preserving usage analytics are used to improve the app, as explained in the privacy policy.