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!
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Kristy says
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.
Ashlee says
we use mvelopes through crown financial minsitries. http://www.crown.org
Laura Jane says
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.
desire' says
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.
Jaime says
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/
Nicole says
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!
Meranda says
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!
Nicole says
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!
Gloria Brown says
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.
Cassi says
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.
Alicia says
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.
Liz says
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!
T. Kranz says
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.
Allison says
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.
Ashley says
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.
Crystal says
Another YNAB lover. This software will change your life!
Aimee says
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.
Erin says
I have used Mvelopes for a few years now and really like it a lot. We became premier members when they offered a special on that, and now pay nothing for the service. Their customer service is wonderful too.
Jennifer says
We use Dave Ramsey’s stuff. It has a kids version too. We LOVE it!
Christina D says
Here is a great free and private way to budget online: http://www.budgetsimple.com/ I also like http://www.mint.com for viewing all accounts together.
Athena says
I just started using Budget Simple and it works really well for me!
Sharon says
I’ve used Crown Money Map for years and years and love it but unfortunately it seems they are going to quit making it. It lets me set up a budget then divide each paycheck up into my budgeted accounts until it’s used up and zeroed out. Then once it’s set up I can enter the paychecks into it and it will automatically put the alloted amount into the correct category. As I write checks or use debits I enter them into the register and subtract them from the correct account or envelope. Do any of the above mentioned softwares work in this manner? I’m not familiar with any others and would like to find something like what I’ve been using. My sister uses Quicken and when I tried to explain to her what Money Map does she didn’t think it worked the same way.
Elizabeth Horton says
I use Crown Money Map also and love it except for the lack of updates and support. It also is VERY slow once you get several years of data into it. I would switch if I could find something a little better that works the same way. I just really like this software (minus the issues) and hate to go to something that doesn’t have the same benefits of basically an electronic envelope system.
suzanne says
I also used Crown Money Map; I downloaded YNAB (http://www.youneedabudget.com/) when it was on sale for Cyber Monday and also the free demo of Budget (http://www.snowmintcs.com/products/budgetmac/), which is only for Macs. I think I prefer YNAB, but you could use either one. Budget is an “envelope” system where you see little envelopes on your screen; YNAB calls them “categories” but it’s the same idea. So you have to specify which category every transaction comes from. (And no, Quicken doesn’t work like that. Quicken, Microsoft Money, etc. track what you’ve spent rather than setting money aside for expenses before they happen.)
The biggest difference between YNAB and CMM, to me, is that YNAB wants you to eventually get to where you’re living off last month’s income. So you don’t pre-allocate a paycheck when it comes in. You just record income. If you need it this month you divvy it up on your budget page, but if you already have your “buffer” (one month of expenses) then you just tell it you don’t need the money til next month. It then becomes available on next month’s budget. You can tell it to copy the previous month’s allocations to make things quicker; it’s just a different way of thinking.
Melanie says
We also use Crown Money Map and LOVE it. I was unaware that they are going to stop making it. I hear there is an online version though. Is it Mvelope? I’m not sure.
suzanne says
I believe Crown stopped supporting the software a few years back. There haven’t been any updates in quite a while. I think they do recommend Mvelopes now; however, Mvelopes is online. We considered that, and also Pearbudget, but decided against an online system because, as my dad said, that kind of thing sounds like a hacker’s dream.
Michelle R says
I LOVE Mvelopes! I tried my own spreadsheet and Mint.com, but decided on Mvelopes.
Jenny says
We did Dave Ramsey’s FPU when we first got married 3 years ago and loved his software as it perfectly matched what we wanted our money to do. When he class enfranchise our free subscription ran up, though, we weren’t in a place to pay for it. So I created an excel spreadsheet that we used for just over a year until we were in a place to pay for software. A friend of mine used YNAB and loved it, and I loved that it was a one time purchase rather than a yearly subscription fee. I jumped in and purchased it, splitting the three downloaded with some friends and thereby splitting the cost as well. I have used it for over two years now and have been able to customize it to exactly what I need it to be. I also love that I can sync it with mu phone and see my budget whole I am away from my computer. I don’t think I will ever switch again. It was totally worth my investment.
Rebecca says
We started using Dave Ramsey over five years ago when we started his classes. We now use excel and mint.com. I have found that nobody an take care of my bills, etc. like I can, so I do the excel.
I also use a three ring binder with page protectors to place our bills in when they arrive. I keep about two months of bills – each bill has it’s own page, allstate has one page-in each page protector. This seems to work great for me. After a few months of bills has stacked up, I then file them away or shred them.
Erin says
I use clearcheckbook.com and a spreadsheet. Before the beginning of the month I set the budget in the spreadsheet based off of what happened in the previous month. Then, I use clearcheckbook.com (which I can view online and on my iPhone) just like a checkbook register. You can set up budgets on there, too. Once a week, I input the actuals, which I can easily view in the categories i set up on clearcheckbook.com, into my spreadsheet and see where were at. It’s been working out pretty well.
Sarah says
We are huge Dave Ramsey fans; our lives have been changed because of him! Even though we’re out of debt now, we decided to stick with envelopes, so it only made sense that we do that digitally as well. We use the program “Budget,” which places your money into separate “envelopes.” While it does nothing different than a spreadsheet (you can still track account histories, allocate certain percentages from every pay check into certain envelopes, etc.), the visual effect of the envelopes has encouraged us to continue in our quest to be financially wise. It was a $30 one-time fee for the download, and they also have add-ons for your mobile devices. Check it out: http://www.snowmintcs.com!
Kristina says
I use a spreadsheet to plan the budget, cash envelopes for spending, and I put all of our bills (monthly, quarterly, annual) as well as other anticipated spending (birthdays, big events) into Google Calendar. You can choose the option to have email reminders, and it has repeat feature so each month I print out a new calendar and I can see which bills need to be paid with each paycheck. We also use it for appointments, schedules, etc, but I print out a special one for my household notebook and check off all bills. I also hand write any unexpected expenses on the day they were spent to keep an eye on our miscellaneous money.
katie g says
We use yodlee.com — WONDERFUL site that automatically brings in all of the info from banks & cards into one simple site. our brother that’s a cpa for a huge firm recommended it years ago. we love it and are never going back. did i mention that it’s FREE?!
Anna says
I second Yodlee. https://moneycenter.yodlee.com/moneycenter/mfalogin.moneycenter.do I have used mint, quicken, Excel, etc. in the past and keep coming back to Yodlee.
I track all of my retirement accounts, rewards programs (Hilton Honors, etc.), and student loans. Love it!
Cristina says
Mvelopes. It’s not free, but it’s a wonderful tool. I bought a lifetime membership when they were offering it to existing customers, and I don’t regret it one bit.
Holly says
We use an envelope system and use EEBA to track it (www.eebacanhelp.com). I love it because we track spending both on smartphones and online. We like to use our credit and debit cards for nearly all purchases (always paying it off each month, of course) and we just use cash for groceries, so this is a convenient way for us to be up to the minute on our finances. There’s a free version and paid version depending on how many envelopes you want. Check it out!
Katie says
If you’ve got a Mac, Moneywell is the best financial software out there. It uses the envelope system like Mvelopes but has a 1 time charge versus the monthly fee of Mvelopes. The only down side is that it doesn’t track investment accounts.
Jessica says
We’ve enjoyed using mint.com for the past few years and we also put items in a more “overall” budget in a spreadsheet that helps us know what our actual dollar amount is for our 3 month savings goal and helps us easily be able to keep track of our rental investment expenditures and medical expenses which I can easily know for tax time. I know mint has the ability to label items for taxes, but I haven’t done that.
Mary says
I guess I should have said you can get to my website by clicking on my name – sorry about that!
Mary says
I wrote a system that would let me transfer money we get into categories to spend. I can see what I can spend easily (with Quicken I’d have to see what we spent, remember what we budgeted and then mentally subtract). I didn’t care what we budgeted; I needed to know what I could spend without blowing the rent money!!
It worked so well that I made it available to sell for just $2 (no monthly fees and it doesn’t take your bank account numbers). You can see it by clicking on my website above. You can also contact me there (see the “about” tab) if you have questions.
Tara says
The newer version of quicken gives you that info. It’s really nice. And you can customize what you want to see, how you want to be alerted etc.
Mary says
Tara – I admit it’s been years since I used Quicken!
Lynda says
We also use a spreadsheet, but in addition we use iBank for Mac. LOVE it and it also has a great mobile app.
Kellie says
We were using a simple spreadsheet and it worked okay. But I kept hearing so many good things about YNAB, so finally broke down and gave it a try. It was love at first sight. 🙂 I had little trouble getting started (they offer great webinars on how to use it) and as I get more and more comfortable with it I keep finding more things I can do with it.
Sara says
We have used quicken for years and have had good success. I tried the spreadsheet idea, but it only works if you keep every single receipt and check your bank for transactions then categorize or else you’ll end up with more or less money than you thought.
Quicken connects to each account and automatically updates and categorizes each transaction.
I will say, though, we do use credit cards (and pay them off in full every single month) so quicken is very convenient. Tracking cash is more difficult.
Rachael says
I use Quicken too, and we used to have trouble tracking cash too, but this is how we handle it now: If we get the cash out of the ATM, we enter a ‘cash withdrawal’ in our checking. As we spend the cash, I edit the cash withdrawal transaction. I do a ‘split’ and then categorize how the money was spent. Same thing if we do we do a debit transaction with cash back. I agree that credit cards are much easier in Quicken, and that’s how we spend most of our money, putting it on a credit card and paying it off monthly.
Deb says
We use an old version of Microsoft Money. All of our bills are automatically taken out, so the only checks that we write for our regular expenses are for rent and tithe. I don’t record anything in the check register, we do it all on the computer and then I get e-statements and balance the checkbook every month. I also check it several times during the month to make sure everything is good. We do not get any statements in the mail, most of our bills are the same every month except for electric and water, so they just get taken out and my dh’s check is on direct deposit. We have ZERO paperwork for our monthly bills to deal with and I LOVE it. Quicken is good too, but we already have this and it works. I don’t like mint.com, just me, I agree with the reader…..
Robin says
We use Quicken. You can set reminders and even link it to your bank account to set up automatic bill pay and download your recent transactions to check your current balance.
Emily says
We also use Quicken. We have for over 10 years. Recently we had to upgrade to a newer version and I’m still figuring everything out but I can definitely use it for the budget tracking/spending/savings end of things. The part I struggle with is using it to track our investments (401K). So for the most part it is not in there. =) Some others have mentioned having issues using it–I have not really. Once you know how to run reports, etc. it is very easy to see what your spending is, get an itemized list for a month, etc. I love that I can import data from my bank and American Express as often as I like to check to make sure I catch everything. As with any electronic system, you will need to enter in receipts where you spend cash.
Tara says
I can’t imagine not using Quicken. I’ve got everything in there and know exactly where we stand and where we are headed. I have to say I’m amazed so many ppl use a spreadsheet but it is better than nothing! 🙂 I really loved the debt reduction planner years ago when I needed it and now I love the savings goals feature a lot. We save monthly for Christmas, personal property tax, home assoc dues, etc. both of those features are in the deluxe version. I can imagine it might seem complicated in the beginning with all the categories but just use the default ones they provide and the default reports and you’re good. Reconciling my accounts with my statements literally takes about two seconds. It would be a nightmare without quicken. Great budgeting tools too. Used it since ’94!
Holly says
We enjoy using Mint.com, but we have also heard good things about “MVelopes” (a small fee per month).
Janille says
I’ve used Quicken for 13 years. I find it easy enough to use but I use Quickbooks on a daily basis for work and do accounting for a living. No matter what program you get, either on your computer or online, it won’t work if you don’t use it. In my experience, that’s where the breakdown usually occurs 😉
Andrea @ Frugally Sustainable says
We love The PearBudget and Dave Ramsey’s principles are AWESOME!
Alisha says
Try out Gnu Cash (gnucash.org). It’s free and a lot like Quicken, but slightly different.
Robin says
I use a spreadsheet to remind me when to pay the bills and then use Mvelopes from Crown Financial Ministries to help organize it. I have tried to use cash only but it doesn’t work for me. So we use our debit card (and occasionally the CC) and use Mvelopes. It downloads all my debit card transactions, tracks the interest on my student loans, and even forces me to set aside money for any purchase made on a credit card. It’s wonderful. They usually run a promotion for the first year for $35 if you know someone who has it already! Hope that helps!
Becky says
We too use You Need a Budget (YNAB) and love it! Last January, I resolved to finally establish a formal budget for our family (rather than trying to mentally track our inflows and outflows). This January, we’ll celebrate a full year of faithfully budgeting our money with YNAB, which is an empowering feeling. In the past, I had tried both manual and Excel spreadsheet methods and – for a time – an earlier version of Quicken, but none of those options seemed user-friendly and intuitive to me (and I wasn’t able to sustain budgeting with them).
The $60 start up price for YNAB can be steep, but from what I understand, all future updates are free after purchase (so no need to buy future editions). I’ll note a few pros and cons of the program below.
What I like –
– YNAB interface is user-friendly.
– In addition to tracking overall income and expenses, I can see at a glance how much I’ve budgeted for each category; how much I’ve already spent that much in each category; and the category balance (which enables me to save money in categories for annual expenses).
-I can relatively easily import transactions from our bank and credit card. Then, I approve each one and allocate any expenses that YNAB doesn’t recognize from previous entries. This means that funds are allocated for credit card expenditures as we go, which has been hugely helpful to us.
-Customer Support responds promptly to any questions I have.
A few tips or aspects of the program I’d like to improve –
-It took me a bit of time to understand that I needed to enter all inflows and outflows through the bank register (not directly into the budget). So, I mention that here for anyone considering this program.
– I still check the bank log to make sure no duplicate transactions have been inadvertently entered (which happens to me sometimes).
-Enable error check so you can make sure you’ve allocated all of your outflows and inflows (if you don’t allocate every transaction, your monthly and category balances will be off)
-In an ideal world, bank and credit card transactions would automatically be imported.
-It can be a little tricky to see where you are in any given month if you aren’t already paying for this month’s expenses with last month’s income (one of the programs core principles).
-Some people have complained that there’s no password protection, but my laptop is password protected, so this is not a big drawback for me.
Overall-
I enthusiastically recommend YNAB for the simple reason that it’s working for us when other methods did not. Budgeting is an empowering endeavor. It can also be sobering when you see how much money you are spending in certain categories and how little you are spending in priority areas. In this way, budgeting can be a helpful method of self awareness. We can only change what we understand.
Best wishes, Amanda, whichever method you select. I admire your determination to begin budgeting early in your career.
Becky
Ashley says
We use Budget for Windows and love it. They also have a version for macs. The site is Snowmint.com. It’s a digital version of the envelope system, so if the envelope system makes sense to you, this is an easy way to represent your envelopes digitally without dealing with cash.
Pam says
We love YNAB!! We have been using it for a few years, and it has helped us immensely.
RuthS says
I use PearBudget for budgeting and love it. Starting my 4th year using it. There’s an online version with a small fee or a free spreadsheet. http://www.pearbudget.com
(Full disclosure: I was hired this year as the PearBudget Customer Service Manager. Best work from home job ever 🙂
Sarah in Alaska says
I’ve been using the Pearbudget spreadsheet for the last 3 years. It’s a great tool. I’m so grateful that they continue offering it.
Carissa says
We have done Dave Ramsey’s course and we loved it. When we did the course we discovered Mint.com it is free and a great program! We would HIGHLY recommend it!
Heidi Schmidt says
I use the Dave Ramsey budget. We did finacial peace years ago and got a deal for the first year or two. I hate paying for the program, but in the end it saves me tons of money then if I didn’t use it. I have bought the yearly thing for for the last 3 years and they just let me buy a life time membership. It cost a pretty penny but for the way I budget it is worth it. It keeps tract of every penny and is so easy to plug in my debits and #’s every month.
Meredith says
It’s not software, but we use a good, old-fashioned spiral notebook. I love it…. we can make notes, lists, budgets, etc…. I check off when the bills have been paid and checks cleared. Each year, my husband and I make a written “contract” including our financial goals for the coming year and what has worked for us! One notebook has been used for the past three years.
Best thing you can do for yourself is read The Total Money Makeover. Because of Dave Ramsey’s teachings, we’re debt free aside from the house. Good for you for wanting to start off on the right foot… you already have!
Meredith says
I have tried every kind of software and I honestly can say that I keep going back to paper. I keep a notebook for the budget and a small one to mark off my bills each month. I then file bills in an accordion file folder. We had just gotten a computer when we got married and when I found money software, I would give it a whirl. The whole, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, quote came into play. Some things I just can’t get into the 21st century on.
Sakura says
We use a spreadsheet that has a bill check off list with balances, a monthly budget with balances and a payoff sheet. I also use my cc to pay everything then I pay it off each month in full, it’s used similar to the envelope system. I put my money in a second checking account upfront and only spend that much on the card. This has worked for us for a couple of years. I saved it to google docs so I can view it on my mobile devices to. I think the key to making any program work is dedication of usage.
Kristen says
We use an excel spreadsheet just like someone mentioned above….we just write in our income on the top, then write bills on the bottom and the bottom subtracts from the top and produces a number at the bottom…so we know how much money we’ve budgeted out. We zero budget. THEN, we withdraw certain categories in cash: gas/grocery/eat out and use the envelope system with those categories. All other bills we pay online.
Megan says
http://www.pearbudget.com It’s clean, simple, zero-based budgeting for $3 bucks a month.
Sarah in Alaska says
I use their Excel version, because I don’t always have internet access. The download is free and it’s simple to use.
Stephanie says
I’ve been using the Excel version of Pearbudget for 4 or so years and love it. Super easy and takes very little time to keep it up. I also like to be able to see the yearly analysis.
Amy says
I do a hybrid of mint.com and a spreadsheet. I like to have the spreadsheet to make sure I have a zero-based budget and I can fiddle with that when I’m setting it up. Then I go enter the categories and amounts into mint.com. I like the online tracking of mint.com and the visual of seeing how much we have used/have left of each category as well as seeing our credit card balances too.
If you’re doing all debit card, mint.com is better since it’s almost all automatic. When you have cash or a hybrid of cash and debit, the spreadsheet works better.
We had a really hard time with the cash (losing it/splitting it between us/remembering it, etc) so we’re all debit even though it’s MUCH harder to stay in budget with a debit card.
Kelly Hess says
We use Microsoft Money and good old Excel, what comes in must be equal to or less than what goes out! No science to that one!
Deborah~jean says
I am no financial expert but I recommend Dave Ramsey,simple.straight forward and no B.S. I believe he has free downloads on his website.You could check out his book at the library to see if you like his style, I think its just trying to find a match for you,because most have good points.The fact that your even thinking like this puts you way ahead of the game…..Good~Luck!!!!
Kristen says
I use a free spreadsheet I downloaded. I liked it because it came with suggested budget amounts, because starting out I had no idea how much we spent on groceries!! I downloaded it here: http://www.through4life.org/Through/Personal_Budgeting.html
I like it because I’m a numbers person and I like to see all the numbers across the year on the summary page. I also don’t like cash envelopes because when we have cash it seems to disappear. We much prefer to use debit cards and have been able to stick to a budget by doing so. It depends on the person though because sometimes just the idea of using plastic tells your brain that you can spend more.
Sandy Williams says
I recommend Mint.com. It’s great! And it’s free!
It is online based, however. I was kind of uncomfortable with that, but it’s owned by the people who make Quicken and I haven’t heard any rumors of people’s info getting out. Interestingly, I tried out Quicken for a while last year, and absolutely HATED it. It is NOT user friendly, and it wouldn’t do the simple things that Mint could do. Very frustrating considering it’s something you have to pay for.
I used Microsoft Money years ago, and liked that a lot. It was also simple. Unfortunately, they discontinued it several years back. So, I’m sticking with Mint. It even has an app you can download to your iPhone (not sure about other phones) that lets you see your budget while you’re on the go.
Kandace says
We use YNAB (http://www.youneedabudget.com/) and it’s honestly the only thing we have consistently used. Going on one year now and we still love it.
Carrie @ Busy Nothings says
I was going to comment about YNAB as well. We don’t personally use it, but I know several people who do and they LOVE it! In fact, one reader of my blog heard about it through a comment on one of my posts and she checked it out as well and is now on her way to consistantly using a budget and reaching her financial goals! Yay for budgeting tools that work! 🙂
Charity says
We use YNAB (You Need A Budget) and love it.
Savannah says
I’ve used them all, I think. Here’s my opinion on each:
1. Envelope system. Requires the least amount of thought. You make a written budget, fund the envelopes, and forget about it. There’s no daily upkeep with this type of budget, but you won’t be able to track where your money went, either.
2. Mint, Quicken, etc. Requires occasional upkeep. You’ll need to update transactions so they go in proper categories and set up your budget, etc. Very good for keeping up with where your money goes (charts, graphs, etc.)
3. Excel spreadsheet. Most upkeep, but most customizable. You can do nearly anything you want with a spreadsheet. There are lots of them online that people have created for budgeting. I ended up making my own, though. I like to use one of these in addition to Mint because Mint updates on days that I don’t, so I always know how much money I have in all my accounts. I just use my spreadsheet for a general overview of the budget and a bill checklist. I keep a checkbook, too, just in case. You can create your spreadsheet in Google docs if you want access to it everywhere.
Savannah says
Thanks to everyone that suggested YNAB. The $60 price is a bit high, but I downloaded the trial and it looks pretty great.
Laura says
I would like to go with the cash envelope system but am a little afraid. Has anyone had a problem with returns? I am VERY diligent about keeping receipts, but I invariably can’t find the one receipt I need for a return. Thankfully the stores where I shop can usually find my purchase based on my credit card number. I’ve wondered how much money I would lose if I couldn’t make a return because I paid for the item in cash and then lost the receipt.
shannon says
I tend to keep my receipts for anything that I might return in my cash envelope. I go through about once a month and throw out receipts. Anything that I might still return, I put in a special place.
Savannah says
Ditto what Shannon said. Just stick your receipts in your wallet when they give you your change. I rarely return things, though.
Kristi says
Anything that has a warranty, I staple the receipt to the warranty. Then I circle the item/amount as well as the date of the receipt. If an item doesn’t have a warranty, a blank piece of paper works. Write what the item is so you can easily find it without checking through all the receipts, and then staple the receipt to the paper. This helps me easily find receipts for specific items. Any other receipts that I think will not be needed, I store in separate envelope. We have different envelopes for different stores just in case we need to find a receipt that isn’t in the “warranty” file. We don’t shop very many different stores, so it’s not overwhelming having different envelopes.
As far as budgeting software, I bought Dave Ramsey’s CD when he had a sale and paid only $10 for it. Great deal!
Emily @ Our Frugal Happy Life says
I keep all receipts – and I mean ALL. We’re self-employed and need them at tax time. We have actually been told to keep all of our receipts for 5 years, in case we would be audited.
I have an accordion file that I file by receipts in, by month.
Cindy says
Mvelopes is great if you like to do it online. I personally like YNAB software. (You Need a Budget)
Stacey says
We’ve used YNAB for about 4 years and love it! Check it out!
Jill says
We use YNAB also and have been very pleased! It was worth every penny spent on it. Works great for a zero-based budget and is easy to navigate. We switched a year ago from Microsoft Money and have not regreted it.
Megan says
We just use a spreadsheet for each month to budget everything. On payday, we take out cash for groceries, eating out, haircuts, etc till the next pay day. We used debit only for gas purchases since I don’t really want to drag 2 kids out of the car and into the store just to pay cash. But my amount is predetermined….I only give myself $60 every two weeks for gas. We rarely use credit anymore and if we do it is immediately paid off. All the other bills/utilities/savings amounts are included into the spreadsheet and it subtracts out everything from our paycheck amount line by line till we get to zero at the bottom. Our cash budgets fluctuate depending on how ever much is left after we pay our monthly bills. We are debt free except house (thanks to Dave Ramsey) so it is really easy to do the spreadsheet monthly since really the only thing that changes are the monthly bill amounts and the cash budgets. I have everything else on bill pay or directly drafted out of my account.
Elizabeth says
We use http://www.mytotalmoneymakeover.com
It is a website designed by Dave Ramsey and his team. We started using it after we went through financial peace university. We are using it to help us get debt free.
Sara S. says
I second this website!! Although, there’s a lite version you can use for free on the daveramsey.com website (or at least there was the last I checked). Even if you don’t want to subscribe to mytotalmoneymakeover.com, I’d HIGHLY recommend reading his book Total Money Makeover!! This book CHANGED MY LIFE! Plus, it has budget worksheets in the back and he explains how to use them, or you can also find the same worksheets on his website.
P.S. — You can listen to the Dave Ramsey podcast for free on iTunes.
Marsha_M says
Love the Gazelle Budget on the My Total Money Makeover site! Unfortunately I really want to save more this year so I am experimenting with an excel budget (I’m actually using the excel budget in “open office” form) that was designed by “Dustin” from the forums. You can find the form at http://www.climbingout.net/
chrystal says
We LOVE using Microsoft Money. We have used it for years and have always been pleased with the way it allows us to keep track of bills, savings, etc.
Jennifer C. says
except they stopped making it!! – if you can get a copy from someone it’s great, but microsoft stopped offering support in Jan ’11. We loved it too and switched over to mint.com – not the best, but we also use my husband’s nerdy excel spreadsheet. Our pastor uses Mvelopes – he said it’s expensive, but it works fairly well for them (albeit doesn’t do everything they’d like it to do.)
Jennifer C. says
…and I should clarify that when you get a copy from someone…you should make sure they don’t have it loaded to their computer. Otherwise, you’re stealing software. 🙂
Christy says
Ditto! I’ve been using Microsoft Money since 1997 and love it. It’s true that Microsoft no longer supports or sells the product, but if you do a search for Microsoft Money Sunset you should be able to locate their final version available as a FREE download from Microsoft’s website. In this version they have disabled the parts of the software that connect to the internet. This means you won’t be able to download account transactions or do other updates like automatic stock quotes through the software, but I never did this anyways as I prefer to manually enter my transactions. Most people don’t like to do manual data entry, but if you’re like me and you don’t mind the work and you’re really picky about how your transactions are categorized (For example, you spend $50 at Walmart in a single transaction but $20 of that was on groceries, $15 was on clothing, $10 was on a prescription (eligible for my section 125 medical reimbursement plan) and $5 was for home repair) then Money is great for tracking all that.
I tried Mint for short time and did not like it as much. One of the main benefits of Mint is that they try to automate things for you. You give Mint the account numbers and passwords of your financial institutions (I know, sounds scary at first) and they’re supposed to connect automatically and download your financial transactions into Mint. It’s a great idea and I thought it would save me so much time with the data entry. However, the deal-breaker for me was that both credit cards I use blocked such connections, so I was having to enter the transactions manually anyways. If I was going to have to do that, I might as well stick with good ‘ole Money which has much more robust reporting capabilities.
Tara says
I’ve worked in information technology for twenty years. I have to say I would never trust any site with all of my financial information. No way.
And never ever use your debit card to purchase things online!! Ever!!
🙂
Tara
Savannah says
Tara,
Would you please tell us why?
Tara says
Sure, I just know that now matter how great the security, it is still as vulnerable as the people who work there. And, systems are never without security holes. I’m sure they’re security is top notch. I just still wouldn’t trust all of my eggs in one basket. It’s would be very different to have all of your account compromised by a security breach than just a single credit card or something.
On the debit card thought, you should never use it online anywhere. Credit cards numbers are stolen and many many sites do not have top not security, by a long shot. So, if your debit card number were stolen and started being used, they have your money (taken directly from your bank account) and you have to fight to get it back. If you use a credit card and it were to get stolen, you fight the charges. No loss of money.
Bonnie says
I believe it is because you don’t have the safety nets with debit cards that you have with a credit card. If someone steals your identity and uses your credit card, the credit card has some protections for you and you can get your money back. Debit cards have no protection. It’s like someone stole cash from your pocket if they get a hold of your debit card numbers. If sure someone else has a better explanation out there.
-Bonnie
Crystal says
Most debit cards actually have the same protection as credit cards, but you have to report the theft within 2 days.
Jen says
Tara is right! I did a ton of online shopping for Christmas, and just a few weeks ago I noticed a charge I did not make for $64.64. Thankfully, I use a credit card when I shop online, so I easily disputed the charge through my bank’s Website. They immediately subtracted the charge while they investigate. If I had used a debit card, that money would have come directly out of my bank account, and it would have been difficult to get it back quickly.
For the next few days I was keeping an eagle eye on the account in case anything else happened. Sure enough, I logged on one morning and there was a pending charge I did not make for $4,750.00!!!! I called immediately and they closed the account, and reissued a new card with a new account number to me. I caught the transaction before it had been processed, but can you imagine if I had used a debit card, and that had been my bank account? I definitely agree that you should always use a credit card when shopping online for safety reasons!
Jacqueline says
Thanks, didn’t know I could download. Love Microsoft Money but didn’t have a copy of the software anymore.
Tori says
I am a fan of the YNAB (You Need a Budget) software. It’s a bit pricey though.