Budgeting

RG2015

I was following a thread yesterday on the Squirrel app which has now been deleted from this site. I was intrigued as to why the OP felt that it was worth £10 per month as to me budgeting is quite simple.

I have income and expenditure which both can be any of the following:

• Fixed
• Variable
• Essential
• Elective
• Regular
• One-off

This list could be extended but it does cover the basics and I accept that the psychology of acquiring and spending money is a major driver. However, I believe that successful budgeting comes down to planning, organisation and motivation.

I can see how budgeting software could help with planning and organisation but I cannot see how this could influence motivation. I did try Microsoft Money many years ago but I found it time consuming. It then ended up as an exercise in reconciling the data rather than utilising the data to improve my budgeting.

I now use spreadsheets and they keep me fully in control. I know that many people use free budgeting software but I would be interested to hear if anyone could say why they might pay for any budgeting programs.

I apologise if the content of my post doesn't flow particularly well but I hope it does stimulate a discussion on the basics of budgeting.

ColdIron

I paid $24 for AceMoney back in 2012 and use it nearly everyday. With the number of accounts I have I need something to track them all and a spreadsheet just doesn't cut it for me, too time consuming and prone to error (mine)

I retired a couple of years ago and having four years of accurate and categorised data was invaluable for planning etc. It's easy to overlook he odd TV, laptop, dental bill etc

I don't use it for budgeting/reconciliation etc (life's too short), just a plain and permanent record of income and outgoings. Best $24 I ever spent

Willing2Learn

I'm another one who bought budgeting software in $$$ back in 2012, when I paid $60 for YNAB. I use it everyday. Before learning the YNAB method (zero-based budgeting), I was floundering in a sea of debt. Now, I've become a saver with no more debt, and I manage all my credit accounts successfully. YNAB helped to change my life around (from a finance perspective) and I could not imagine being without it.

colsten

I'm a happy, and full paid-up, AceMoney user myself, too. I couldn't exist without it as I have dozens of accounts that need monitoring. Whilst AceMoney, like MS Money, is effectively a glorified spreadsheet, it does have a very functional, well-designed, user interface which is way better than any spreadsheet I could have put together myself, despite being rather well-versed with Excel.

I agree with ColdIron, best $24.99 I ever spent.

RG2015

Willing2Learn wrote: »

I'm another one who bought budgeting software in $$$ back in 2012, when I paid $60 for YNAB. I use it everyday. Before learning the YNAB method (zero-based budgeting), I was floundering in a sea of debt. Now, I've become a saver with no more debt, and I manage all my credit accounts successfully. YNAB helped to change my life around (from a finance perspective) and I could not imagine being without it.

It does looks like you made a good investment. I have had debt in the past but it was always controlled; good debt if you like. Perhaps I have an intuitive understanding of finance or alternatively a propensity not to overspend.

For forty years I had one bank account and one credit card which was paid in full every month. In the last four years this has grown to multiple bank and savings accounts for better savings rates and several zero interest credit cards.

In response to ColdIron and colsten regarding the limitation of spreadsheets, I do try to keep it simple.

I have records of my income and expenditure going back and forward several years. It may not be particularly elegant but it works. My one rule is that every spreadsheet must allow all the data to be in view within the width of my laptop. And no, I don't reduce the Excel zoom level below 100% or below the default 11 pitch font size.