Budget Online
New social networking financial Web sites like mint.com, geezeo.com and wesabe.com are made for twentysomethings. You can keep all your finances in one place, manage your budget, check your balances from your cell phone or office and see how much you’re spending compared with everyone else. If you do your banking online, you simply link one of the programs to your bank and credit-card accounts and the program automatically grabs your spending activity from those sources and categorizes it for you.
Software for Budgeting
As you would expect, there are a number of software programs that can help you with a budget and other aspects of your personal finances. The following are some of the most widely used Windows-based programs for personal finance management:
- Microsoft Money 2004 Premium includes features that let you budget, track investments, bank and pay bills online, plan for taxes, and manage finances. There's an electronic checkbook, and you can track your expenses and print financial statements at the end of each month.
- Intuit's Quicken Deluxe 2004 includes many of the same features as Microsoft Money, plus a feature that tracks your expenses and shows you how they compare with what you've budgeted. And, Quicken information can be transferred into Turbo Tax software during tax time, saving you the trouble of entering data. Quicken.com has a $2.99 online version that you can try free for 30 days.
- Moneydance includes features that allow you to print checks, track expenditures, print reports, and reconcile bank accounts. It doesn't have as many features as Microsoft or Quicken, but is easy to use and recommended. Websites that offer advice on setting up budgets and handling other financial matters are plentiful.
Online Budgeting Websites
- Buddi (buddi.surgeforge.net) Pros: Remarkably simple two-screen set up: "my accounts" and "my budget." Uses pull-down menus for categorizing transactions. Creates graphs and charts for analysis. Cons: Program downloads to your computer only, so you can't access data everywhere.
- Clearcheckbook (clearcheckbook.com)
Pros: Info is store online so you can access it anywhere. You can add expenses as they happen via cell phone or IM. The program also reminds you of recurring expenses.
Cons: Budget resets every month, so if you've underspent on groceries, say, the balance doesn't roll over.
- Gnucash (gnucash.org)
Pros: Set up to resemble a checkbook. Automatically tracks stock and fund prices.
Cons: Handy with double-entry accounting? If not, you may want to skip this program; Gnucash is best for Math Team alums.