Budget tool

Little_Miss_Sunshine

Hi Can anyone suggest a budgeting tool I can download? Thanks

ChopinonaBudget

Hi Sunshine, a lot of people on here seem to use You Need a Budget, but I think that's quite expensive (although good, if I recall from previous posts)

If you're looking for a smart phone app, I use ExpenSense; it's got a free version but even the paid one is dirt cheap (69p or something). I find it invaluable as I can input all my debts, all my bills and their dates, all my income, have as many different spend categories as I want (some witha budget limit where I get told in red if I go over and some without). I can also choose to rollover the budgets or not on each category. It's dead useful for me as my income is bonkers and fluctuates wildly, and it's the only app that allows me to manually input my income as it dribbles in throughout the month.

Someone else will be along with suggestions if you want a desktop tool (I use a homemade excel spreadsheet so I can't help you there!)

Little_Miss_Sunshine

Thanks for the reply - I've looked ay YNAB but I'm not sure if thats too expensive for what i is.

ChopinonaBudget

Yeah it did strike me as an expensive way if budgeting!
If you're any good at spreadsheets, I highly recommend homemade... Mine is so flexible because I designed it that I don't think any paid or free one can come close.

FireWyrm

Little_Miss_Sunshine wrote: »

Thanks for the reply - I've looked ay YNAB but I'm not sure if thats too expensive for what i is.

It seems expensive, like a good pair of shoes seem expensive until you factor in how long the shoes last and how many times you change a cheaper pair because they have worn through. YNAB isnt just a budgeting tool although in truth, you could do much of what it does via Excel if you are reasonably competent with it. The beauty of YNAB is that it is a philosophy, a way of thinking about money which is different and seems to work better. Instead of worrying about your bank balance, you are concerned only with categories and balances of those categories. If you use it long enough, the concept of 'payday' and how much you have in the bank on any given day simply becomes irrelevant. £30 is expensive, but exactly how much are we talking here? Half a dozen Starbucks coffees? A McDonalds meal for 4? A couple of takeaways? Compare that to the peace of mind knowing for good and sure that you have all the money covering all of your obligations and you (mostly) cannot be surprised by a bill again.

Download the trial, it is free for 34 days. Visit the forums, attend a couple of webinars and then make a decision. It doesnt have to be the only tool you use either. I use a combination of Excel for granular analysis, MoneyDashboard for overview and YNAB for every day accounting.

FireWyrm

ChopinonaBudget wrote: »

Yeah it did strike me as an expensive way if budgeting!
If you're any good at spreadsheets, I highly recommend homemade... Mine is so flexible because I designed it that I don't think any paid or free one can come close.

Really. Would you be willing to post a link to it so we can take a look. I dont know about anyone else, but I am always fascinated to see how others do it. How do you handle split transactions for instance?

ChopinonaBudget

Hi Firewyrm, I'm afraid i have no link; it's just a spreadsheet in my documents on my laptop I can empty the figures and send it to you if you're interested? But I'm not sure how much sense it will make; my accounts are really odd as I have a mixture of self employed and employed and I mix the business expenses up with the household expenses at source! (It works for me...)

SOMam

I have recently downloaded the YNAB 4 trial and I absolutely love it. I have previously tried MoneyPoint (from the Windows 8 Store) and while it gives a general overview of your finances it lacked the detail I was looking for.

As for the cost of YNAB, it is currently £29.99 on Steam and occasionally on sale for £14.99 or if you are really lucky, £7.49. I have also seen a few websites that offer Steam Activation Codes selling the codes for around £15. I plan on holding out until it comes on sale again at £7.49. I for sure do not intend to spend £30 for it (as good as it is I don't want to have to budget the cost to budget)

FireWyrm

ChopinonaBudget wrote: »

Hi Firewyrm, I'm afraid i have no link; it's just a spreadsheet in my documents on my laptop I can empty the figures and send it to you if you're interested? But I'm not sure how much sense it will make; my accounts are really odd as I have a mixture of self employed and employed and I mix the business expenses up with the household expenses at source! (It works for me...)

You could put it in Dropbox and post a link to it?

ChopinonaBudget

Ah I could do that! Might be a while before I've got a chance, but will get round to it!