Budgeting methods

**AspiringToBeFrugal** · 12-07-2009, 03:38 PM

I am curious what your budgets look like--do you use an Excel spreadsheet? A Franklin Covey money management system (or something similar)? Some other computer software? And how do you do a year-long budget? Do you use a calendar to track when things are due?

I'm thinking that I should do a yearly and monthly budget. Is this what you would recommend? I'm just needing to rethink our whole budgeting process.

TIA!

**ladytoysdream** · 12-07-2009, 03:52 PM

I guess I am old fashion. I do it with a notebook and pen.
Each page is for one month. My current notebook, I can go back 5 yrs in it. So if I wanted to know more about Dec of 2008 , it's a easy flip back in the book.
I just write the bill, when it is due, the amount, and then date of payment with a checkmark when it is paid.

**RaineyDaye** · 12-07-2009, 05:21 PM

I track my expenses in a database. I have a budget in a spreadsheet.

**Contrary Housewife** · 12-07-2009, 05:56 PM

We made a spreadsheet -- really it was more of a list -- tracking monthly expenses and annual expenses that needed to be saved for things like taxes and car insurance. Our bills are the same every month except when medical bills or insurance comes due.

I wanted some kind of bill folder to keep track of bills and due dates but we were so broke I couldn't afford one. I made a space for bills and bill paying and just laid them out in order of due date.

I buy a 30 pocket accordion folder each year and file all receipts, pay stubs, bank statements, etc.

I do not keep track of itemized expenses or balance a checkbook. That would drive me batty and I have never been able to balance one anyway. DH and I are both responsible so there isn't a problem of one of us taking money out and being overdrawn or coming up short later. My philosophy is to take care of the dollars and let the pennies sort themselves out.

**TigerGirl1226** · 12-07-2009, 06:05 PM

I use Excel. One one page I have listed out my reoccurring bills. On the right side of the page, I put our paychecks and what needs to be paid on what day.

I have additional tabs for stuff like tracking our debts as they go away. Or recording interest rates or important dates.

**littleplum** · 12-07-2009, 06:59 PM

I use Excel. One workbook per year, one worksheet per month.

The weeks are in columns (4 or 5) with the first column being the name of the expense, then 4 or 5 columns for weeks, then a column for totals.

The rows are the income for that week, then the expenses, then the totals. The last expense is a calculated field for the snowball, so that the total automatically zeroes out.

Basically, it's DR's budget sheets, but in Excel.

**DJ1972** · 12-07-2009, 07:22 PM

I have tried several programs and systems....but the one I use and like the most is plain old pencil and paper. I have a "bill binder". I keep my bills in there, along with my written budget, which is made up several months at a time (in pencil in case changes are needed.) I also keep stamps, envelopes, calculator, and my checkbook in there. That's what works for me. It's a plain old zipper type school binder with folders and notebook paper in it.

**Palooka** · 12-07-2009, 07:55 PM

I've tried Excel before but I like my spiral notebooks way better. So I guess I'm old fashion too!

**nic4549** · 12-07-2009, 08:09 PM

I use Dave Ramsey Budget sheets. They break everything down simply and have tons of categories that I never even thought of.

**Emjo** · 12-10-2009, 02:15 AM

I use excel. On the first worksheet/tab I have "The Budget": estimated monthly income after taxes, all of our expenses, when they are due and how they are paid (pretty much everything is auto-debit thought which keeps it simple).

The second worksheet is the current month's working budget: pay dates and amounts, and everytime I spend in my variable categories (gas, food/personal care, baby stuff, household, entertainment, etc) I record it and keep a running tally of what I've spent and how much I have left. It's like the envelope system but cashless.

At the end of the month I compile all my info onto a third worksheet - what came in, what went out, what was saved, how much we spent in each variable category and what we paid in utilities. The first worksheet stays the same and the second one is erased to start the next month.

**melodys** · 12-13-2009, 09:30 AM

I'm a computer geek, so I like to use software whenever possible. Used to use MS Money, but since that is going away I had to find a replacement. I recently discovered mint dot com's budgeting feature and I really like it.

**mnmarty03** · 12-14-2009, 06:01 PM

I've tried using excel and other programs.. but what works best is just writing it out. I have typed sheets w/each company's bill, contact info, due date, and amount. Those sheets I keep in our household binder. We also have one of those big desk calenders that goes through sometime in 2010. So i pencil in each pay check and each bill when they need to be paid (i.e. all the bills due the 14th or later are written in on the 14th, so they process ON TIME and I pay them ON TIME). I easily do this for multiple months at a time.

**MaryCarney** · 12-14-2009, 06:57 PM

Yellow legal pad and pen (I'm a lefty and NEVER write in pencil

)

I seem to remember EVERYTHING I write down, but little of what I type - not sure why.......

**Lady_V** · 12-14-2009, 07:11 PM

I keep the address, due dates, amounts and account numbers to everything on 4x6 cards (just in case)

The other stuff I have in a Google Document. I use the calendar to mark when I paid things. I keep track of other things on the Google Spreadsheet.

Nothing really changes month to month around here.

** I was using Quicken but got annoyed when the newest version wouldn't sync with the bank.

**dcompton** · 12-14-2009, 07:44 PM

I've been working a pretty loose system without a categorized budget for a couple of years. I use MS Money and track cash flow. (I didn't know it was going away, but I don't need updated versions anyway.)

In January I am going to start tracking again. I am setting up a database for purchases. Also last month I started using a columnar book and pencil for the day to day entries. Every couple of weeks I enter it all in the computer, to be sure my math is right, and if I have transferred money from one account to another, to check that I haven't forgotten to record one side of the equation. MS Money never forgets. Cash flow projections are also much easier on the computer.

I like being able to pull out the ledger and make a make a quick entry then and there, without having to crank up the computer all the time.

So: MS Money, pencil and paper, Access database. I keep a balance sheet in Excel.