Calculation site.....more inside

monica9

DIS Veteran
Joined
May 3, 2011
Messages
2,714
Hi Budgeteers........

Is there a site that I can go on that I punch in my monthly income and my expenses and it will calculate for me how much I have left over? I know it sounds simple to do on my own but I was just hoping I can literally just punch in numbers and hit enter and have it done for me. I would much rather spend my extra time that I have on the disboards ;)
 
Excel does that.

The benefit of excel is then you save it and when the numbers change you just go change a few numbers and it does it all again without you having to re-enter the ones you already did.
 
I personally like Mint. It also links to your bank accounts and credit card accounts so you can measure actuals against budget.
 
just set up a budget spreadsheet using excel or any other spreadsheet program.............
 

I personally like Mint. It also links to your bank accounts and credit card accounts so you can measure actuals against budget.

giving my accounts out more than necessary makes me nervous....have had 2 credit card accounts stolen twice....
 
I suggest trying out YNAB - you need a budget. They offer a free 34 day trial.
 
I suggest trying out YNAB - you need a budget. They offer a free 34 day trial.

I second YNAB - the problem with your easy way (which is completely doable in Excel), is that your expenses (or even income) may vary month-to-month, or there might be a BIG expense (like a quarterly bill) that might be coming up that you need to save "what's left over" for. What might look like a whole lot of money available on the 8th might not actually be available on the 20th. (case in point for me - tomorrow is payday, but our mortgage and our daycare are also due, so money is flowing in & out all on the same day.)

Once you get used to having a budget, it really doesn't take long to work in it. (And personally, I find it a bit addictive, and I'm in the program at least for 5 minutes every day.)
 
Another vote for Gail's website. I use it and adjust for the categories I need.
 
I am thinking about trying YNAB. Any more feedback on this program would be greatly appreciated. I don't want to spend $60 if the program stinks & even using the free trial would waste time if the program is not great.

FYI - I already do my basic budgeting as it seems like this is set up (add all x bills in a year divide by 12 & set that much aside each month. Same with big bills, car repair funds, etc.

What I do not do is live on last Month's income, per say. Because of the way I budget, there is always the extra $ in the accounts to pay bills immediately, etc. I just don't have a "buffer" account. I guess I do, but it would be in savings.

We don't have any debt, however we don't save enough either (kiddo in college :rotfl2:).

It is time (done annually) for me to redo my budget for the year. I use Excel & I am wondering if this would be a good alternative for me. Get me out of the dark ages & into the digital era :)

Thoughts?
 
I am thinking about trying YNAB. Any more feedback on this program would be greatly appreciated. I don't want to spend $60 if the program stinks & even using the free trial would waste time if the program is not great.

FYI - I already do my basic budgeting as it seems like this is set up (add all x bills in a year divide by 12 & set that much aside each month. Same with big bills, car repair funds, etc. <-- I do that too in YNAB. I think most people (non budgeters, mostly) don't do that, and then get shocked when their quarterly HOA bill hits on the same month as a large car repair bill...

What I do not do is live on last Month's income, per say. Because of the way I budget, there is always the extra $ in the accounts to pay bills immediately, etc. I just don't have a "buffer" account. I guess I do, but it would be in savings. <--- That's what I love about YNAB! It takes some getting used to, to look at the "Available to spend" amount or the amount you budgeted to decide what to spend, instead of seeing the amount you actually have in your bank account (which tends to be a lot more as you get buffered!) For our household, where DH's salary varies, it makes it so much easier to know exactly how much we'll have to spend on the next month.

We don't have any debt, however we don't save enough either (kiddo in college :rotfl2:). <--- The first time I used YNAB, I found places where we were wasting money, and essentially "found" about $1k a MONTH!! Our only debt are our two cars & our mortgage, but when we are dedicated about using YNAB, our savings always grows...

It is time (done annually) for me to redo my budget for the year. I use Excel & I am wondering if this would be a good alternative for me. Get me out of the dark ages & into the digital era :) <--- Try YNAB - it's got a 34 day return policy, and the forums there (for questions, etc.) are very helpful & friendly (reminds me of the DISboards!) Once the lightbulb goes on (because it is different than "normal" budgeting, which is actually just keeping track of what you've spent), you'll be sold! What I love about it especially now (I've been using it since it was just a glorified spreadsheet) is that it works with Dropbox to be "in the cloud" - meaning I can work on my file at work, then check on it on my iPhone, and also at home, with no effort.

Thoughts?

OP, have you found anything you like yet?
 
I am thinking about trying YNAB. Any more feedback on this program would be greatly appreciated. I don't want to spend $60 if the program stinks & even using the free trial would waste time if the program is not great.

FYI - I already do my basic budgeting as it seems like this is set up (add all x bills in a year divide by 12 & set that much aside each month. Same with big bills, car repair funds, etc.

What I do not do is live on last Month's income, per say. Because of the way I budget, there is always the extra $ in the accounts to pay bills immediately, etc. I just don't have a "buffer" account. I guess I do, but it would be in savings.

We don't have any debt, however we don't save enough either (kiddo in college :rotfl2:).

It is time (done annually) for me to redo my budget for the year. I use Excel & I am wondering if this would be a good alternative for me. Get me out of the dark ages & into the digital era :)

Thoughts?

I've used both Mint.com and YNAB. The thing I don't like about Mint.com is that I've never found a way to do budgets for future months. You can't put in numbers for a month until the first day of the month unless they've added that feature since I've tried it. I've never bothered to delete all my accounts out of there (hey it is free) and I still log in sometimes but I kind of gave up on the budgeting function of it.

I liked YNAB enough that I went ahead and bought it. I think had a discount code for 10% off so you might look around to see if there is a code floating around. It did take me awhile to kind of figure out that whole "get a month ahead" thing. I ended up taking most of our Savings accounts "off budget" (you'll see that option in there) and I just track expenditures from out checking and credit cards. It works well for me.
 
I liked YNAB enough that I went ahead and bought it. I think had a discount code for 10% off so you might look around to see if there is a code floating around. It did take me awhile to kind of figure out that whole "get a month ahead" thing. I ended up taking most of our Savings accounts "off budget" (you'll see that option in there) and I just track expenditures from out checking and credit cards. It works well for me.

Thanks! I will look around for a code. I have a Mint account too and I never used it for budgeting. There is no way it would work for me - much too basic. I do log on sometimes because it will give me the current values for investment accounts & our home. That is a cool feature that I do like.

I am an Accountant, so the whole budgeting thing for YNAB sounds very similar to what I am doing on paper anyway. I guess we are one month ahead with a buffer, I just don't pay attention. I spend now by what is budgeted, not my bank balance. Because I budget for all of the big stuff, etc. our checking account balance is always REALLY high, so I think the buffer will be ok, just have to get used to the idea of "spending last month's" income.

I sure would love a program that can help us save more & this one does sound like it does that. I am excited to try it :cool1:

Off to look for a code......
 
My husband set a spread sheet up for me so I will be looking at that next week. If that doesn't work though, these are all great options! I am definitely looking into all of them and figuring out which one works best for me. I just have one account that we use for my daughters stuff (eg, day care, swim lessons, dance, tee ball, her reading class (kumon)) as well as groceries, gas for my car, any clothes or school supplies and birthday/christmas presents. My husband deals with everything else. I don't need to save but would like to. Atleast know where my money is going. I have a feeling Im spending way more on Restaurants and just food in general than I should be.:confused3
 














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