Budget Software

[mustardseed2007]

We have to get back to a budget. I'm looking at budget software because I also know that I really can't keep up wit a spreadsheet anymore. I need something that will auto populate stuff for me, carry over from a previous month and link to and preferably keep up with my bank account. A budget for lazy people. 

I tried YNAB and it's driving me nuts. So now I'm down to Mint or Quicken unless there is some other option that everyone loves. Please give me your reviews. 

By the way, I had a nightmare last night that I quit my job without having a new one for some reason and we were totally broke. I don't know why I didn't dream I got fired? 

Anyway. We need an emergency fund b/c apparently I could accidentally quit my job without having a new one

[liziz]

I use mint, but I also keep other spreadsheets because I find it doesn't quite capture everything. (Mostly things I know are upcoming relative to the actual balance of our bank accounts, since we mostly use CC and our statement month is not the same as the calendar month)

I have used Quicken for years (in the past), and loved it.

[oldbaylover1024]

Mint is a good product and links easily to bank accounts, loans, etc. I will caution that the app doesn't work well with Apple products. I've had better luck with Android.

It's also a nice budgeting tool. It's also 'smart' so it should learn your habits and regular spending quickly and automatically categorize items for you.

You can use to budget for future items. I'd have to go in and play a little to remember, but there's a savings/budget function that way you don't necessarily have to keep separate spreadsheets.

And, as a tax preparer who has resolved NUMEROUS tax ID theft issues, please use a strong username and password. And I recommend actually changing this one every 90 days or so. It links to active accounts, just like any other online banking tool, so be wary of that exposure.

ETA: Oh! And it's an Intuit product (the makers of QuickBooks) and I *think* there is a way to link Mint to QuickBooks online or desktop if you ever wanted to do that. Don't quote me - I'd have to look into it further - but I'm pretty sure you can.

[twinmomma]

One note for Mint - when we tried to use it, they couldn't connect to our bank because it's a local credit union. They might have updated and have a more expansive list, but I remember it being basically useless for us when we switched from a big chain bank to a local credit union. Double check that your bank is able to link to it.

[oldbaylover1024]

Feb 3, 2017 7:39:52 GMT -5 twinmomma said:

One note for Mint - when we tried to use it, they couldn't connect to our bank because it's a local credit union. They might have updated and have a more expansive list, but I remember it being basically useless for us when we switched from a big chain bank to a local credit union. Double check that your bank is able to link to it.

I had this issue for a while with my bank (a large regional bank). But I think it may have been a combination of the bank's updated website/security and the fact that I was using an iPhone. When I switched to Droid, it connected perfectly. May be totally unrelated, but thought I'd throw it out there.

[mustardseed2007]

Ok Mint can connect to my bank account, I'll try that before going to quicken I think. Thank you guys!

[welly01]

I half-heartedly use Mint but I still keep a detailed spreadsheet. I recently started some Dave Ramsey stuff and he has an app/website called Every Dollar. You have to get the paid version ($99/year I think...pretty expensive) for it to connect to your bank accounts but the budgeting feature (free) is pretty good.

[twinmomma]

I also just wanted to share a budgeting tip that we use. Rather than try to track all of our expenses and spending in a tool like Mint, which we were never keeping up with, we came up with a different solution. We have a spreadsheet that breaks out our regular expenses/bills for every month, shows what we have leftover for "extra" money, and then we break that up into savings and "discretionary budget." The discretionary budget is actually transferred to a different checking account with a different debit card. So we have our "bill paying account" and our "other money" account. We know we can spend the other money on whatever, because it doesn't impact the bills or real expenses at all. I just have an auto transfer set up for each Monday. It's like an allowance. Way less stressful than when we were trying to nickel and dime everything and figure out how each dollar was being spent.

[mustardseed2007]

Feb 3, 2017 11:00:19 GMT -5 twinmomma said:

I also just wanted to share a budgeting tip that we use. Rather than try to track all of our expenses and spending in a tool like Mint, which we were never keeping up with, we came up with a different solution. We have a spreadsheet that breaks out our regular expenses/bills for every month, shows what we have leftover for "extra" money, and then we break that up into savings and "discretionary budget." The discretionary budget is actually transferred to a different checking account with a different debit card. So we have our "bill paying account" and our "other money" account. We know we can spend the other money on whatever, because it doesn't impact the bills or real expenses at all. I just have an auto transfer set up for each Monday. It's like an allowance. Way less stressful than when we were trying to nickel and dime everything and figure out how each dollar was being spent.

That actually might work better for me. It's getting to the point where I don't have time to budget like I used to.

[liziz]

Feb 3, 2017 11:00:19 GMT -5 twinmomma said:

I also just wanted to share a budgeting tip that we use. Rather than try to track all of our expenses and spending in a tool like Mint, which we were never keeping up with, we came up with a different solution. We have a spreadsheet that breaks out our regular expenses/bills for every month, shows what we have leftover for "extra" money, and then we break that up into savings and "discretionary budget." The discretionary budget is actually transferred to a different checking account with a different debit card. So we have our "bill paying account" and our "other money" account. We know we can spend the other money on whatever, because it doesn't impact the bills or real expenses at all. I just have an auto transfer set up for each Monday. It's like an allowance. Way less stressful than when we were trying to nickel and dime everything and figure out how each dollar was being spent.

I'm happy with my system now (we have to instantly move $ to savings so we don't spend it!), but I really like this idea.

[twinmomma]

mustardseed2007, That's where we were at. I tried a bunch of methods and just didn't have the time or mental energy to keep up with it. We've been doing this system for a couple years now. We generally evaluate the budget spreadsheet once a month, keep an eye on it quarterly to adjust savings amounts, etc... and it works pretty well. I map out the entire year in expenses at once, and have a tab for each quarter, which has each month within that. It's definitely not a fancy spreadsheet, but we realized that just the basics is all we needed. We don't care about every single transaction.

[indyrowergirl]

+1 for Mint for spend tracking and for Dave Ramsey's "budgeting by envelopes" (similar to the method described by twinmomma,).