Thursday, May 15, 2008

Money-Saving May: Budget

How do you organize your budget? On the computer? On paper? Using categories?
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7 comments:

Claire said...

I have two different excel spreadsheets that I use. One is just a checkbook register. I find that its better at adding and subtracting than I am!! Since starting to do my register on the computer, I've had far less issues!

I also have a calendar that I use to budget. It has a page for each month, set up like a typical calendar. I put in our bills on the dates that I get them and include any other expenses. Then I can look at the whole year and see where we need to be more careful about excess spending and where we can have a little fun! One of my favourite features is the last page, where I can see the whole year, and see which days we go under our "acceptable threshold" in our account. I'm not explaining this very well!! I'll post a picture of the calendar when I have a chance. Its an awesome tool though... I'd be happy to email it to anyone who wants one. I make it at the beginning of each year, so the one I'd send now is for all of 2008.

May 15, 2008 at 10:48 PM
Liz said...

I do both. We have a basic budget laid out on the computer (moreso thanks to my husband), but I do our monthly budget on paper. I think mostly because I just like to write things down and cross them off when they are paid.

Between mine and my husbands paychecks, we get one every friday. I figure out at the beginning of the month what week I am going to pay which bill. This way i make sure that there is always money to pay the bills. I then set aside $200 for gas/groceries/spending and the rest is swept to the savings account. By leaving less money in the checking account, we are less likely to overspend and thus stay on budget.

May 16, 2008 at 1:15 AM
Bethany said...

We don't really have a budget written out, but we know how much our fixed expenses are each month (mortgage, tithing, etc.) and everything else we put on our credit card. We do limit our spending on the credit card though so if it's getting close to the end of the credit card month and we're close to our limit, we'll be a little more careful. When we come in under our limit, any extra money goes to mortgage or student loans. As far as budgeting for different categories, it's just never worked well for us. Some months we spend more on entertainment, some months on food, some on clothes for the kids or whatever. As long as we keep our expenses under the limit, we're in pretty good shape.

May 16, 2008 at 7:55 AM
highdeekay said...

Quicken - my husband is meticulous about tracking every expense and categorizing it. It took me a while to get used to saving receipts and stuff but now I love it.

May 16, 2008 at 4:17 PM
Lindsey said...

I am a paper girl. I have a budgeting form that I print off every month and fill in our expenses. My husband had to use Quicken for one of his classes (which meant I had to use it since I do the budgeting and bills) and I HATED it. I'm sure that it works great for some people, but I had to download account information from several accounts that we have each month and import them into Quicken. Then, I had to go through and categorize each expense. I thought it was such a pain and so time consuming! I much prefer my tried and true paper system. I wouldn't mind using Excel in the future so that the expenses are automatically added up, but I think everyone just has to use the system that works best for them!

May 16, 2008 at 7:22 PM
Linz said...

I think I'm very similar to Lindsey. I do paper but want to try out excel just so the adding happens more quickly.

May 16, 2008 at 9:57 PM
Unknown said...

We've used Money since we got married about seven years ago, and we LOVE it--especially the Budget Forecast feature, which shows you the high and low points in your savings, checking, or other accounts from one to twelve months out. It also has great Debt Reduction calendars and graphs, if you're into those aspects.

May 19, 2008 at 7:59 PM

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