Quicken vs Good ol fashioned paper for budgeting

[AmbitiousSaver]

How is it that if I outlay my finances till the end of August in Quicken, I'm not in the negative at all

But if I write down what I make each month and subtract our expenses on paper, we're in the negative. Is this cause I get paid weekly and might have an extra paycheck in longer months?

I'm counting all the same transactions, no transfers, nothing. But I can't figure this out.

[sweeps]

How are you calculating what you make each month? If you're just multiplying your weekly net income times 4, then yes, you will underestimate your income over the long haul.

[AmbitiousSaver]

Yeah thats what I'm doing on the paper method... whats the best way to adjust that so we know really how bad/good our situation is?

[sweeps]

Best way would be to look at your W-2 from last year and divide the net income by 12.

If you only know your weekly net income, multiply it by 4.3.

[zetta]

Quicken is ok for creating a budget, but I found it didn't work well for actually trying to stick to a budget on an ongoing basis. For that I'd recommend an envelope system -- either on paper or with YNAB (Personal Budget Software - Excel Budgeting Template, Free Personal Finance Spreadsheets), Mvelopes, or a similar style software.

[maat55]

How is it that if I outlay my finances till the end of August in Quicken, I'm not in the negative at all

But if I write down what I make each month and subtract our expenses on paper, we're in the negative. Is this cause I get paid weekly and might have an extra paycheck in longer months?

I'm counting all the same transactions, no transfers, nothing. But I can't figure this out.

I recommend that you set your budget up based on 4 weeks in 12 months.

List every expense you can think of and put it in a month and divide by four.

If possible, set aside one months bills in your bank account as spent. It will be like having working capital hidden in your account. When you come up with extra funds every quarter, you can apply it to paying down debt or an unexpected debt.

I keep my budget simple by not figureing in clothing and auto expenses etc., I have a auto fund that we hold out monthly that we purchase auto's and pay repairs with. You can create an misc. expenses to cover odd ball expenses.

The key to a budget is to plan every expense you have and pay only the amounts you allow for that expenses with exception to utilities that change month to month. Un expected expenses depending on size can be picked up with EF if needed.

It may take a couple of months to level out your budget, but you should be able to get it to balance as long as you are sticking to it.

[skydivingchic]

Like Zetta, I like and recommend the envelope style of budgeting. This method has been a HUGE help for me and my finances. I personally use and love Mvelopes, but you can do it on pen and paper or with excel if you prefer.