Comments on: Your Personal Budget Plan Just Got a Whole Lot Easier

By: Brana & Harlan

Brana & Harlan — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 00:25:41 +0000

How do we vote for your blog to win the nominated awards? Congratulations!

By: Neal

Neal — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 15:06:06 +0000

Debtress,

You are right….if you make transfers, this process becomes a bit more complicated.

I don’t think it matters how you track as you long as you track.

I do think it’s very important to:
a. make sure the number is accurate
b. watch the 12-month average and compare it to the current month.

This has really helped us.

By: Debtress

Debtress — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 20:25:51 +0000

Neil, I see one problem with looking at the total withdrawals: I get my paycheck directly deposited into my checking account, then transfer an amount into savings. Since I often transfer a different amount each month, I’d need to budget these transfers out separately.

I like to keep a running inventory on my spending each month, and track it all in excel. Trusting my banks to provide accurate account statements each month seems to risky for me.

BTW, I really like point 6. It seems my friends fall into two categories: those who are stressed about money because they spend it all, and those who are stressed about money because they save it all!

By: Daniel

Daniel — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 11:30:11 +0000

I agree, I have used Quicken, and Mint just makes everything so simple. I go on, make any small adjustments to categories, and it’s all right there in front of me: balances, budgets, alerts, etc. It is easy to use and makes my life simpler.

I have to admit, that also I think Mint is the best, I guess Neal is right, everyone has their own best. Sometimes we try to impose our ideals or way of doing things, but not everyone works the same way.

By: Retirement Savior

Retirement Savior — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 19:30:53 +0000

I actually use Mint.com. I don’t really use a budget that I check often, but since Mint is automated, I can look in every once in a while to see what I spent, if anything is wrong, and if anything surprising is going on.

Quicken may be the same or better, but the best part about these programs is that I have no desire to put a lot of effort into budgeting.