Need a budget program.

[wizard210]

Okay i know this has been asked a hundred times. I looked around as well but not seeing anything that catches my eye.

I need a budget spreadsheet or program.

Right now I'm using Quicken to track all my finances. It's all well and good but seems to lack as a tool for budgeting.

I saw pear budget out there but again not real happy with it. I looked at YNAB but I can't see spending that kind of money for a program like that.

What spreadsheets are people using? Is anyone willing to share their spreadsheet with me?

[jpg7n16]

I use YNAB.

Microsoft office has a free template for budgeting: Personal budget worksheet - Templates - Microsoft Office

[jIM_Ohio]

I use a microsoft spreadsheet for my budget
we generally do not balance a checkbook to need anything beyond that

[gpoitras]

I use Microsoft Excel. It does amazing things and 100% customizable.

[dczech09]

Personally I do not like many of the products out there when it comes to be personal finances. I use an excel workbook that I created for myself (that way I understand it thoroughly and it actually works for me). When it comes to finances, it comes down to your own personal style as to how you want to track and plan everything, but generally Microsoft Excel will work great for 99% of people.

My advice is research a bit and understand what you want/need and play around with Excel a bit. I had a lot of fun creating my personal workbook and I still change things from time to time. I just recently redid my budgetting tool so that it is connected to my checking account ledger and updates automatically.

[wizard210]

I just recently redid my budgetting tool so that it is connected to my checking account ledger and updates automatically.

How did you do that might I ask?

[kork13]

As with others, I use an excel spreadsheet that I designed for myself. It does everything I want it to, and I really like being able to tailor it to my personal situation (as opposed to a cookie-cutter budgeting program). If you really do want it, I'm willing to share, but I expect that most people who use excel probably designed something that works for themselves specifically, and may not be as beneficial for another person. But if you do want mine to see what it looks like, shoot me a PM.

[kork13]

I just recently redid my budgetting tool so that it is connected to my checking account ledger and updates automatically.

wow, that's pretty gucci, I'd also be interested to know how you were able to set that up...

[alohaitsaj]

I like GreenSherpa

Personally, I'm a fan of GreenSherpa. Not only will it show you your financial history, but it will also give you a clear picture as to what your financial future looks like while allowing you to create financial goals for yourself and collaborate with a spouse or tax adviser.

[jaine]

I use mint.com. It's free. Transactions are downloaded and categorized automatically, from all of my accounts. No effort required from me except to sign in and look at all the useful graphs. Lots of useful graphs and charts - pie charts to show where my money is going, bar graphs of my spending over time in any category, trend lines of my savings, trend lines for my retirement savings, lots more.

My favorite graph of all is the budget graph - a ticker for today's date next to the ticker for how much I've spent in my food/gas/fun category (but you could make a budget and see the same graph for any category). So I know if I'm spending too fast compared to how much time has passed. I would be dead in the water without that graph!!!

ETA: mint.com screen shots

[heidrek]

I honestly believe a good budget is critical -and worth investing in. get soem professional help with this as it can be a great corenerstone to your future financial stability.

[dczech09]

I better clarify what I did with my budget: I run a ledger for my checking account on excel that I balance everyday. I do this because my online banking does not keep track of every time I swipe my card and takes a few days to process the transaction.

I linked my ledger to my budget so that my budget automatically stays updated with the amount of my money in my account and I can better see if I am over or under a budgetted allocation.

I just want to reiterate what everyone is saying; it is best that you develop something that works for you. My excel spreadsheet may look rather involved and archaic to some people, but it works wonders for me which is what matters.