Trying to get finances in order

[mom1005]

Hello all,

I need some direction on a good system that you use for your finances. I need to get my butt organized in order to pay bills on time, account for my finances etc.

I have looked at Quicken, and some other software to assist. Does anyone have a great system that works for them? I am open to all suggestions.

Problem is that I make really good money and should be able to have a bunch at the end of each month, but who knows......I do try to account for things but every month I just look at my statement and have no idea.

Suggestions are greatly appreciated.

 

[Straycat]

I use a program called You Need a Budget Pro (pronounced Y-NAB) for my finances and it has worked wonders for my financial stress levels.

I picked this one out after reading the great reviews for it on Amazon. While searching for a good program, I found that MS Money was discontinued and the new version of Quicken got really bad reviews.

There are video tutorials on the website to help you start up your first budget and you can sign up for a free webinar class that goes over the same information. Take a look at the reviews and the website to see if it would be right for you.

http://www.youneedabudget.com/

 

[mom1005]

Thank you I will look into it. Good way to describe it "financial stress" I know I can do it but .

I can honestly say I was really good when married because I had someone that well .....no with my divorce if I want to spend money I do and just need the discipline to take a look where everything goes. I truly should have so much more than I do on a monthly basis.....

Anyone else????

 

[PatsMom]

I use Quicken. It works for me. I am not an itemized budgeter so I'm not really tracking cash flow but using it to keep my checkbook and to set reminders to pay bills. It downloads from my bank account, as well as my brokerage accounts to track my investments values (not that I'm looking at that much right now!).

 

[ski_mom]

I started trying out the YNAB mentioned above and somehow found this link:

http://www.mdmproofing.com/iym/excel.html

It has a lot of budgeting ideas on it and I've downloaded the "envelopes" check register and I really like it. I'm leaning toward using that for a few months to see if it does what I like instead of paying for the YNAB. I really like that program too, but it's around $50 and this one is free. The YNAB is definately fancier than this one, but I'm going to give it a try.

At the end of last year, I switched to one of those high yield checking accounts, so right now I don't have my savings separate from my checking. I used to have a certain amount deposited into my savings each month, so basically I never saw it. Now, it is sitting in my checking account, just like the amount I spend, so I always feel like I have a lot of money (even though I don't because most of it is earmarked for other things). I like the envelope excel program because then I can have my "envelopes" for the amounts I have saved up for various things. For example I put aside about $600 each month for various expenses that only come up 1 or 2 times a year. I just marked a separate column in that program and break our checks up into those columns on each payday. Also, when we get special checks (like our tax refund or any extra pays), I can assign them to a column for vacations, home repair, savings or whatever I want.

Anyway, that's what I've been trying and I really think I'm going to like it.

 

[lulamc]

I use an Excel spreadsheet, not very fancy, but it works perfect for me.

 

[Karenj2]

I use a program called You Need a Budget Pro (pronounced Y-NAB) for my finances and it has worked wonders for my financial stress levels.
http://www.youneedabudget.com/

I second YNAB!! That program has been great for DH & I - although we didn't have debt, per se, we were spending our savings (living over our means), and this helped me to see where that was happening. Since last June, we've been able stop living over our income, put money away into an Emergency Fund (at minimum $1k a month - part of one of my paychecks), and save up for our Disney trip. Plus, since when we started YNAB, DH wasn't getting his commission check (due to his workplace's error), so we got used to living off of just his base salary and one of my paychecks, so any commission he gets goes into savings (for our EF or big-ticket items we want).

Whatever you use, do SOMETHING! Find what works for you, and stick to it! As I read somewhere, it takes at least 40 days for something to become a habit, so stick to it for a few months before deciding if it works.

P.S. The forums there are also a great resource for how to use the product (as well as accountability buddies).

 

[cglaura]

I didn't use any program either. I wrote out on paper what fixed bills I have (mortgage, insurance, cable, phone, electric, food, gas, etc.). That money goes in checking account #1

I see what is left over...how much of that do I have to put in savings....some goes in a high yield savings account for emergencies and some go in IRA.

Then with what is left I use to spend on things that are not monthly or are quarterly, such as gifts and charity, clothing, etc. That goes in checking account #2.

I keep $50 out as cash and that is my "stuff" money for the month. When the cash is gone the cash is gone.

I never use my debit card around town for stuff, such as coffee or snacks or fast food. That always comes out of cash. The only thing I use my debit card for is groceries (so it comes out of the budget in checking #1).

I think you'll find if you stop using your debit card and use cash you really think about if you want it and where is it going.

 

[fab5friend99]

I love Quicken! I love the reminders the most. It's not that I don't have the money to pay my bills, it that I just that time slips by before I remember to get it paid. And it keeps a running total of my checking account so I can see when it's going to go negative and then I can set up the transfer to cover it. And depending on how detailed you want it to be, you can keeps track of where your money goes.

I also love that with a click of the button it will go online to all your accounts, or just the ones you choose, and download recent transactions automatically. I caught a stolen credit card number this way after only 2 days of use before the theifs had a chance to really abuse it. I do this about once every week or two.

I live in Texas which has no state income tax. So for Federal taxes, I can deduct my sales tax. Quicken makes it easy to split out the sales tax so I can keep track of it to see if it is more than the standard deduction which it was last year.

 

[My2Angels]

I use a program called You Need a Budget Pro (pronounced Y-NAB) for my finances and it has worked wonders for my financial stress levels.

This is what we use too! I LOVE it! If you work it right, you will always be one month ahead of yourself.

 

[tlenzendorf]

Sounds silly, but I use good old cash. I get paid, pay all my bills, then withdraw all my cash except about $100. Personally for me I have a much harder time handing out cash money than passing out my debit. I always saw the dollar amount in my checking as what I had left to spend, not money to save. When I get paid next, I go to the bank and deposit whatever cash I have left in my savings account. I was super surprised when it took less than half the time I thought it would take to save for our August trip