Today’s question is from Amanda:
I am trying to find the right financial management software for budgeting and help with my bills. I am a recent college grad (’08) who just secured my first “big girl” job and would like to get started on the right foot. I’ve explored Mint.com, but couldn’t grasp it. Sounds silly for a college grad, but any money management budgeting tips or software you know of or could suggest would be great! I’ve searched and haven’t been able to locate anything. - Amanda
You can read more about how our family tracks our finances here. I’d love to hear what works for the rest of you!
Do you have a question you’d like to ask Money Saving Mom® readers? Read the submission guidelines and submit it here.
Subscribe for free email updates and be entered to win $100!
{ 103 comments }
← Previous Comments
I use Mvelopes and really like it a lot. I’ve used it for several years and like it much better than anything else I’ve tried.
Another YNAB lover. This software will change your life!
I use Excel, rather than some specialized software. I merely set up a spreadsheet for each month (usually I do three months at a time so I can see what’s coming up) and organize it by date – ie on the first I get paid, on the 15th I pay rent, etc. Then it’s a quick snapshot to see where I am for the month. This works because I don’t use a debit card though… it’s merely like a check register. Then I’ve got another sheet that I track our credit card spending on so I know what the next month’s payment will be.
Learn to use Excel, then make a set of spreadsheets that does exactly what you want. I have one sheet that shows our yearly goals/picture, then a sheet for expenses for each month that is linked to the yearly sheet. I just enter in expenses in each category and they are totaled up on the monthly sheet and appear on the yearly sheet.
I rely on online baking to view my expenses rather than keeping up with receipts. Use a debit card as much as you can and you can just check your statement online rather than keeping up with receipts. Any cash withdrawals that I forgot what I spend it on I just make an educated guess so the money is still accounted for.
If you have an iPhone you can get YNAB app for $4.99.
The Mint app is free for iPhone and iPad.
I have used both on the PC and they are great.
I use Quicken but just keep a copy on my computer (not online). It is like a glorified checkbook – so it should be easy for you to pick up!
Another YNAB user here. We haven’t been using it that long but it has already helped us track where our spending goes – now we can get on track for actually having a budget, something we’ve been trying to do on our own for 5 years.
The price – you can buy it on Amazon and if you use swagbucks you can get it for less there. They also had it on sale for Black Friday (I think for $30ish) and may again next year if you can/want to wait that long. I ended up paying full price and I don’t regret it at all.
We got our start with the worksheet from Dave Ramsey and then we modified them to fit our lives. It is simple and easy and I took that excel document and added to it all the other budget spreadsheets that I do-it is great to have it all in one place. I have a break down of what daycare and after school care costs me for the year broken down into weeks and months so I can budget for it. I also have a sheet called “Budgeted savings” where every dollar in our three linked savings accounts are accounted for. It is simple and easy for me to add and subtract money out of those accounts and excel does the math for me. We usually have around $3000 in savings that is all specifically allocated for certain purposes-for example we strive to have $500 in the doctor bills category by the end of each year-to cover the deductible for the upcoming new year.
We made an Excel spreadsheet. Tried to guess at all our expenses. Set up envelopes and then saw how it worked. Had to tweak a few envelopes, who realized how much our dogs eat!! When I get paid I get cash back for the envelopes and go online to pay our mortgage, phone etc.
Okay, I need some help from anyone who is self-employed or has a spouse that is. I find it hard time using any kind of software that makes you have to put in a set amount for income. Is there a software that allows you to add paychecks in individually? Or do you use Excel and if I could just see an example to help me on our way? I am so tired of the unknown! We have tried to use the envelope system, but it is just frustrating for me! Any suggestions would be awesome!
I enter paychecks individually in Quicken. You can “schedule” them to be an estimate based upon whatever you like (this time last year, average of the last 3 paychecks, etc.), but then when the pay check actually comes, you enter the exact amount. It’s pretty nice!
I am a huge fan of Quicken. The newest 2012 version (personal, not deluxe or anything like that) has an AMAZING budget tool. It will forecast your cash based upon your scheduled bills, income, and budget. It’s nice to know exactly where you are and what you really spend all your money on. I couldn’t believe how much my husband and I spent on eating out, and once I started using Quicken about 2 years ago, we were able to see that and cut back and we do a lot better now. Plus I am now at the point that I actually like recording receipts and taking care of bills. The program is very self-explanatory and user-friendly!
I have noticed that when my bills are organized I have less stress. I really enjoyed reading the pre-release copy of Crystal’s Money Saving Mom®’s Budget book because she touched on this point, but on a broader scale; organize your life first. Last year I posted my Budget series and I think it would be very helpful, especially for a young adult.
The budget series is the first of many personal finance topics we have shared at Busy Mom on the Go!
http://busymomonthego.com/personal-finance-tips/
Okay…I know this is going to make me sound really lazy, but I’m not good at determing how much of the funds to allocate where. Is there a software that I can enter in my bills and what day they are due and then each week enter our income and have it tell me what I need to do with the money each week? Does that make any sense??? Please don’t judge my laziness. I just do better if I’m told what to do instead of having to spread it out myself.
I absolutely love using mvelopes.com! There is a small monthly fee or you can buy a lifetime membership, but it’s totally worth it. It’s basically a virtual envelope system.
we use mvelopes through crown financial minsitries. http://www.crown.org
We used quicken forever but it didn’t work well with our Mac computer. After using nothing for almost a year we purchased YNAB. I live it. It integrates your spending and budget really nicely. Very user friendly. On a side note though I wouldn’t purchase the smart phone app. It’s not as flexible as we need it.
← Previous Comments