the best budget planning apps out there!

linell

Hi

I have decided it is time to start sorting my finances out as I have more debt than I ever imagined I could have. I am struggling with keeping things on track in the household and need some sort of planner to help me budget properly. I have tried out YNAB but it just got way too confusing and I lost faith with it.
What are the best apps out there that you have tried? Is YNAB really the best and should I have tried to stick with it?
thanks

StopIt

Excel, with a bit of work.


You can enter all of your figures, get totals, work out savings goals etc, work out interest.


The initial work to get a custom spreadsheet together is higher than any app, but the power and flexibility you also get is much higher.

EssexHebridean

To start with - good old pen & paper is a good way to go. There's something about physically writing figures down that really focuses the mind on the fact that this is real life money we're talking about. From there I agree with StopIt that a spreadsheet may be a good way to go - I believe OpenOffice is largely similar to Excel for those that don't have Office.

I'd be inclined to urge people against using anything chargeable - it seems to slightly defeat the MSE o0bject, to me, to pay for something that you can do for free.

OP to get all your "ducks in a line" to start with try putting everything into the SOA Calculator we recommend from here - it's a good way of remembering everything.

lovelylass_2

EssexHebridean wrote: »

To start with - good old pen & paper is a good way to go. There's something about physically writing figures down that really focuses the mind on the fact that this is real life money we're talking about. From there I agree with StopIt that a spreadsheet may be a good way to go - I believe OpenOffice is largely similar to Excel for those that don't have Office.

I'd be inclined to urge people against using anything chargeable - it seems to slightly defeat the MSE o0bject, to me, to pay for something that you can do for free.

OP to get all your "ducks in a line" to start with try putting everything into the SOA Calculator we recommend from here - it's a good way of remembering everything.

After being in a big depression, I've now woke up and going to take control. could you link me to the SOA calculator? And then I'm going to create an excel spreadsheet to take back control of these bills/debt! thanking you in advance

kindofagilr

Excel I made it myself, took a few tweaks here and there but I love it

Dannii75

I use two
Daily Budget for my daily spending log (any left overs from my daily budget roll over to the next day & put them in my sealed jar!)
Spending tracker to check which bills are coming out/ when throughout the month.
D

EssexHebridean

lovelylass wrote: »

After being in a big depression, I've now woke up and going to take control. could you link me to the SOA calculator? And then I'm going to create an excel spreadsheet to take back control of these bills/debt! thanking you in advance

Have a look at the earlier posts on your other thread - it's linked there (I think first off by Fatbelly although that may be wrong).

jimjames

I found an app called Wally (daft name but works). It's free and allows you to track spending on your phone which may be easier than using Excel for some

-taff

You have to remember a budgeting tool is just that.
A budget. i.e. working out how much you need to spend in certain areas, allocating money to those areas, and sticking to that budget.

Alot of time I see people [ and I know because I've done it myself] work out a budget and then use it as nothing more than a glorified tracking of spending instead of actually sticking to the allocated amounts.

Pen and paper always worked for my mother, YNAB works for me.
I ised to use excel but again, then I just tracked my spending with it.

One more thing. Add a savings category where you put a small amount each week or month, or more if you need to, for an emergency fund for example.. It helps to see an amount growing and it spurs you on to spend less money in other areas. It's a boost when you get fatigued with sticking to budgets

Peelerfart

Could try Google sheets, not to different from excel, and free ��

South_dilema

I have been using an app called 'Fudget' for past week and so far has been useful to me to see keep track of how much i have for the week to spend and also what my expenses are to let me know at all times how much money i now have left for the week.

Also has made more cautious of what i money to spend my money on.