How did my budget go this month? Great! I think. As I have worked on following the budget, and tracking my spending, I have noticed one amazing and wonderful perk...my bank account balance has not come close to going below $100. If anyone knows me, you know that is an amazing feat. Just a couple months ago, I was going into the negative every month, hoping that a paycheck would go through before everything hit my account and bounced. And usually every month, for about 2 or 3 days before payday, my account was in the negative.
Here is what has really helped me. I always have two programs running on my computer, at all times. My internet browser, with one tab always dedicated to the bank's website, and my finance software, Ace Money Lite In the finance program, I have scheduled all of my bills, indicating which are paid every month and on what days, and also scheduled each paycheck, with an estimated amount. This gives me the option of viewing my finances 2 months ahead of schedule, having the bills scheduled let's me get all of the necessary expenses budgeted, and all I have to do is look at the ledger to decide what needs to be paid. So this is what it looks like today, starting with the paycheck, and then listing what bills will be paid with it, and then a running total balance. (and it looks much neater in the software program than it does on this page)
11/16/2007 Cristina Gerrard Wages and Salary:Net Pay 446.90 448.72
11/16/2007 Questar Gas Bills:Natural Gas 57.00 391.72
11/16/2007 Monticello 3rd Ward Donations:Tithing 45.00 346.72
11/16/2007 Grocery Cash Envelope Food:Groceries 80.00 266.72
11/16/2007 Gas Cash Envelope Automobile:Gasoline 20.00 246.72
11/16/2007 Emergency Savings Savings 100.00 146.72
11/16/2007 Devon's Repair Service Automobile:Maintenance 100.00 46.72
I love finance software, and since I can't quite justify paying $60 for one of the larger programs that can track more than just day to day spending, I'll use this handy free one until I need to track more accounts, like retirement and taxes, and investments. I've also found that just being able to track my regular checking account with this program, and not knowing what is in the savings account means that I just keep adding money to the savings account without being tempted to take it out to cover trivial expenses.
Remember they call it personal finance for a reason, its personal. What works for me, may not work for everyone, but I hope it can be a good place to start, sometimes we need another's example to inspire us.
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Right now, Quicken is Beta testing its Quicken Online account, and if you get approved (which, as far as I can tell, just requires you to register), you get to use it for free. I personally love Quicken and used it for years. I've just recently gone back to using it. The nice thing is that it downloads transaction history from banks, credit cards, and other agencies. It can also give you charts of how you spend things. If you like what you have, go with it. If you want to try Quicken Online, I think you'll enjoy its simplicity. It also can help you in filing taxes, if you do it yourself.
Thanks for the head up Rob! I have always loved Quicken. It is the program I have on my laptop, but at the moment my laptop is out of commission, I'm off to check this wonderful tip out!
I love you revisiting your budget! I think I would be interested in seeing "Budget-revisited" again in another three months or so! Thanks.
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