Part two in the budget monitoring blog that I am doing the month of July. While this is not going to be a very long series of blogs or comprehensive it is does lay the groundwork for anyone who is wanting to start the budgeting process. Last week I discussed my Excel based budget which I think is very good and effective and a second that is web-based and also looked to be very effective. Now the advantage of the web-based budget is it is accessible from any computer with Internet access.
Now I have used my spreadsheet since I developed it a few years ago with good results. It is easy to use and provides you with a snapshot of where you are financially at any point in time. The positives that I discovered this week in my spreadsheet are it tracks all expenses you make provided you enter them into the spreadsheet. Now you may do this daily or save your receipts and enter them every few days or once a week. Now the longer you wait to enter them the more likely you may forget one and your budget will be off by that missing amount. Also it shows you exactly where you are with your spending and will detail if you are positive or negative in your spending at that point in time. There is a tab for each month and under that monthly tab there are the days of the month. The spreadsheet provides enough space for approximately 90 expenses and up to five sources of income. The negative of this spreadsheet is you must enter the data within the file and there is no web-based component unless you subscribe to a service such as Dropbox to store the file for easy access. For a modest $5.00 charge you may get my spreadsheet at the following link, BUDGET.
The web-based program I utilized is basically a similar format but allows the user to determine if the expense is one-time or recurring. If the expense is recurring the program allows the user to determine how often it will recur. The program allows you to determine if the expense is one that is saved for in a “savings” bucket or is one that is paid for out of the “cash” bucket. Some of the positives for this system are that you can add as many expenses as you have and are not limited as in my spreadsheet. Also you can access your budget from any computer that has Internet access for ease of entry of your expenses. Just as in my budget you are required to enter the expenses in a manner that you see fit and one that works for you best. Again it is better to update this and any budget on a regular basis to ensure that they are accurate. One of the things I noticed as a negative and was the only real drawback of the program was if an expense is in the cash bucket category it assumes you will spend that exact amount no more and no less in the designated time period. While this is not necessarily a bad thing is may be an issue if you use cash on a regular basis and do not spend the full amount. That may cause you to have a budget that is just a little off. This week I will see if there is a way to take any savings from the cash bucket to the savings bucket as that is where they should go in theory anyway. For an annual membership of $38 this system will give you access to your budget, an eBook on how to get the most out of your budget, and emails with tips and encouragement to keep you focused. To get this budget click on the following link, Web-Based Budget.
More on this method as I get further in the month and develop a better understanding of how it works and functions. Now several years ago I came across a group of spreadsheets that I found useful to the point that when Excel updated several years ago I developed my spreadsheet. No mine is not 100% original but at the time the new Excel came out I had forgotten the name of the company that I bought my spreadsheets from. While this spreadsheet does cost a little more than mine it is a very good spreadsheet and worth the extra money in my opinion. One reason is it has a lot more than 90 fields for expenses where is mine is indeed limited. This company also offers two versions of their spreadsheet for budgets one being the basic and the second having daily tracking and a spending analyzer. The company also offers very well developed spreadsheets for retirement planning, net worth, mortgage planning, investment planning, and a 401(k) planner. Another advantage is they do offer a budget planner in the following currencies: Euro, Pound, and Rand. The basic eight spreadsheets are sold for a reasonable $39.95 as a package at a savings of over $36 if bought individually. Another positive if for an additional $20 you are able to get the premium package that includes three licenses and on-line backup of your budget with free software upgrades. For this extremely well developed suite of spreadsheets visit the following link, Click here to visit Simpleplanning.com.
Of the three at this point I recommend the entire suite of spreadsheets from Simple Planning. More to follow next week.
