ready to budget. budget program??

[nodmicks]

I just purchased You Need a Budget, not cheap at $60, but I am in love with it. After I downloaded the 7 day free trial and played around with it, I found it easy to use, and it does everything I want. I also like the philosophy behind it. I had another budget program - I don't even remember the name - and hated it, but this does easily all the things it did badly. It has great support - including lots on one line instructional videos and (free) online webinars for getting started, and a large and active forum of users. I've learned a lot browsing through that, and it seems that quite a few use it following the DR snowball plan as well.

It keeps normal registers, so I should be able to drop MS Money, though I will keep that current until the end of the year and then archive it. YNAB accounts for savings and reimbursements easily, allows you to keep accounts on or off budget, can split transactions and allocate sales tax proportionately, allows you to follow their "buffer" methodology or ignore it.

The only thing it does not do easily or well that I have found, is to project cash flow much into the future - it's not designed for that - but since my finances are quite simple, I can easily do that on a spreadsheet if it is necessary.

I know from seeing other posts, that those who responded about this program didn't like it, but I wanted to voice an opinion on the other side. I think it's a great program and will be worth the cost to me in the long run. It has become the key tool in my financial arsenal.

As for Mint, yes, I trust my bank online, and have to use it, but I'm not happy spreading that kind of information any more widely than is necessary. I prefer having my own stand alone money/budget software.

Edited to add: the single download is $60, but if you have someone else who is interested, you can get two - separate activation key - so it drops your cost to $35. I just didn't have anyone around who was interested.

I just did the trail of this. Whew I have a lot of accounts so it is taking a bit!

[dcompton]

Nodmicks: One thing I forget to mention - a lot of people don't like the way it uploads from banks. It seems it's rather clunky. But I never do that anyway. I prefer to manually input transactions. It keeps me more on top of what I'm doing day to day.

I hope you like it. I'm really impressed.

[FrugalKate]

I'm a little hesitant to put my personal information on any .com's softwear.....It's just way too easy for them to possibly see and possibly sell my information or spending habits to third parties.

[Nishu]

for those who use Mint.com.......have you had any problems with it?
I have started but got a little nervous when they wanted banking information.

For a long time, my bank would not sync with mint. Sometimes a few of the transactions show up twice. Other than that, that's pretty much it. I've never heard of anyone having security issues with mint. I've used it off and on for a couple years and it's worked well for us.

Be sure to check out the "trends" sections. A lot of the transactions from your bank will show up as uncategorized. You can do a search for that tag and put them in the right category. This will make your budgets and trends more accurate. The "goal" section is really nice as well.

[gmarie]

thank you for this information. I was thinking on relying on Mint alone. That's is why I was asking the questions about problems

Truthfully, you shouldn't be relying on ANY budgeting software by itself. You should always do a monthly bank reconciliation!

A bank reconciliation is simply comparing the numbers on your monthly bank statement with your numbers (check register), and noting any outstanding checks or deposits in transit - and recording any bank fees.

The banks ending balance less any outstanding checks or deposits in transit should match your ending balance!

You can use full-feature programs like Quicken to reconcile your accounts - or the back of your bank statement. Programs like Mint.com do not have a reconcile feature built in.

Banks make errors, and since you are human, you will be making errors on your check register and whatever budgeting program you choose- so setting aside time once a month to correct the errors is worth it!

[nodmicks]

Nodmicks: One thing I forget to mention - a lot of people don't like the way it uploads from banks. It seems it's rather clunky. But I never do that anyway. I prefer to manually input transactions. It keeps me more on top of what I'm doing day to day.

I hope you like it. I'm really impressed.

I wasn't so impressed the 1st few days. HOWEVER , I was looking at this as normal budgeting. Wow was I wrong!!!! My trial was to expire today and I was still undecided and confused yesterday afternoon. I email YNAB and they gave me a trial extension until Nov 7 and suggested the online webinars (free) to learn about the program. TERRIFIC customer service and I wasn't even a customer yet!

I took 2 webinars last night. It helped so much! This software is awesome and I get the principal now! For years I have had 13 savings accounts and move $ to insurance, etc with every pay day. This does it for me plus some! I absolutely love it! It is a whole different mind set with not MAKING a plan for the $ until it is in your hand and building the buffer at least a month ahead before you get serious on other goals.

I dont mind if it doesnt upload from the banks as smoothly as some may wish. I want to manually enter and SEE step by step what I am doing.

DCOMPTON thanks so much for sharing that you use the program! I am so glad I tried it and took the webinar classes! Now I am going to seek some one to split the double membership with. ($69.95) If I can't find someone I will gladly pay the $59.95 instead as it is worth it plus more! This goes so well with DR"S envelope system that it is unreal. No actual envelopes needed!

[dcompton]

Great! I'm glad you like it too. I've about changed my mind about running Money concurrently until the end of the year. There really isn't any need.

I had two savings accounts that, at this point, I wasn't keeping much in - I was making no interest at all on them.. I closed them days after I started using YNAB. It is easy to wall the money off in the budget itself so it isn't spent. I decided that managing my money this way, it was pointless to deal with extra accounts if I wasn't gaining anything from them.

I love the simplicity of this once it's set up and going. I've still been playing with my categories, making a few changes from what I have always used, and deciding exactly how I want to handle cash, but it's falling into place quickly. October has been my experimental month.

Their customer service does seem to be top notch. I haven't used it directly, but I watched a lot of the videos and they really give the help you need. I didn't do the webinar and wondered how they were. I'm glad to hear they were good. If I hit a snag, I'll do that too.

[nodmicks]

Great! I'm glad you like it too. I've about changed my mind about running Money concurrently until the end of the year. There really isn't any need.

I had two savings accounts that, at this point, I wasn't keeping much in - I was making no interest at all on them.. I closed them days after I started using YNAB. It is easy to wall the money off in the budget itself so it isn't spent. I decided that managing my money this way, it was pointless to deal with extra accounts if I wasn't gaining anything from them.

I love the simplicity of this once it's set up and going. I've still been playing with my categories, making a few changes from what I have always used, and deciding exactly how I want to handle cash, but it's falling into place quickly. October has been my experimental month.

Their customer service does seem to be top notch. I haven't used it directly, but I watched a lot of the videos and they really give the help you need. I didn't do the webinar and wondered how they were. I'm glad to hear they were good. If I hit a snag, I'll do that too.

The webinars were great. Things I thought I had grasped were not quite correct and you had a chance to ask ?'s. I'm really glad i did it. It was taught in such an interesting way and even covered how to start if you didnt have $. One of the classes last night handled cash and different way to log or not log it.

I left several ING accounts off budget as I didnt want them in my budget at all. They are off budget. They are 100% untouchable for me. I took all my sinking funds at the local bank and combined them to pay all of October. The next of Oct checks should cover 1/2 + of Nov.

Seriously how much easier! paying everything at once with the buffer instead of waiting for paychecks and doing so many transfers.

I really can't see why you'd need to run Money also unless you want to see the 2011 pic all in one place. I think this program is so much easier than Money. Thanks again for sharing.

[dcompton]

There is one little thing that is making one task super easy for me. I have to keep track of online purchases to pay sales tax on it with my income tax. (Yes, I am so stupidly honest I actually do that.) It was always a pain to keep up with what I had logged and what I hadn't, but with the variable colored flags, I just flag any online transaction with a red flag and when I get around to logging it in my spreadsheet I change the flag to purple. Easy-peasy! GO YNAB!

[KennySoward]

I have tried a lot of programs, but the most customizable (and fun...oh, and easy) is a basic spreadsheet. Like some users stated, Calc is free with OpenOffice and can pretty much do it all.

If you need any further tips, you can check out my book on Amazon (The Budget of Your Life: Breaking the Chains of Debt)...which basically takes you through step by step (selfless plug)