topic Re: Best Budgeting Tools in Personal Finance

Best Budgeting Tools

MechEngineer — Fri, 02 Jun 2023 01:41:51 GMT

While I've been in the garden, I've been thinking about better ways to budget, and to make budgeting a more cohesive and complete task than what I do currently, which is keeping a general running tab of expenses and make sure I adhere to my budget. I have had a lot of trouble sticking to things such as spreadsheets as I find them cumbersome to handle, and have found that certain apps such as Mint don't do a great job for me with how they track my expenses or have issues with the current institutions I have. I have considered something like YNAB or Quicken, but don't want to pay for the services before I get a better opinion/idea of what may work for me. Thank you in advance!

Re: Best Budgeting Tools

itslovefield — Fri, 02 Jun 2023 04:14:03 GMT

I would be curious about input here as well. I am a bartender, and have cash daily. So, creating a traditional budget is difficult because of not knowing just how much I will bring in each day. I DO, however, have a spreadsheet tracking (and my planner, because I love writing things out) my daily income.

I am working on transitioning to a salaried, managerial position, which is a long time coming. So, (fingers crossed) hopefully, I'll be able to make that jump later this year. Until then, however...

Re: Best Budgeting Tools

rosco75 — Fri, 02 Jun 2023 14:08:24 GMT

I use Mint, and I found that it was a bit of a learning curve and cumbersom in the sense that some transactions had to be micro managed due to mislabling them (restaunt charges tagged as grocery stores or something like that)

But once I got it down and was more active in it, it because easier to use. I like it now.

Re: Best Budgeting Tools

MechEngineer — Fri, 02 Jun 2023 20:26:57 GMT

@itslovefield wrote:
I would be curious about input here as well. I am a bartender, and have cash daily. So, creating a traditional budget is difficult because of not knowing just how much I will bring in each day. I DO, however, have a spreadsheet tracking (and my planner, because I love writing things out) my daily income.

I am working on transitioning to a salaried, managerial position, which is a long time coming. So, (fingers crossed) hopefully, I'll be able to make that jump later this year. Until then, however...

My income is also pretty inconsistent based upon the time of year, as I'm still a full time college student. Budgeting is much easier for me during the summer months when I work full time, but I expierience the same struggles. Best of luck on your transition and I hope it goes your way!

Re: Best Budgeting Tools

MechEngineer — Fri, 02 Jun 2023 20:29:17 GMT

@rosco75 wrote:
I use Mint, and I found that it was a bit of a learning curve and cumbersom in the sense that some transactions had to be micro managed due to mislabling them (restaunt charges tagged as grocery stores or something like that)

But once I got it down and was more active in it, it because easier to use. I like it now.

I also had similar issues with Mint, which really tended to turn me off to the entire platform when I stopped using it a few years ago. Thank you for your expierience, I'll take another look at it!

Re: Best Budgeting Tools

iheartwings — Sat, 03 Jun 2023 02:01:53 GMT

I have been using YNAB for almost 10 years, so I can only speak for this particular app. For several years, I used it for mostly tracking and a little budgeting, but I went all in for the 4 rules in 2020. Turns out I was living on the credit card float, and I got away from that when I did. It's essentially an electronic envelope system of budgeting, and you only budget the money you have (not forecast what you're supposed to have), while being intentional with that money. It took time to get to a point where I'm living on last month's income (current YNAB calls it aging your money), but since getting there, it just feels good to know everything for the next month is covered by the end of this month.

One thing that it's helped me think of is to put away small amounts through the year for costs that you normally have (sinking funds). Yeah, it seems silly to save $0.64 month for the next 4 years for my driver's license, but then I don't have to worry about what other category I have to pull from to have the money to pay for it when the time comes. Same as insurance premiums, personal property tax, etc.

You can link accounts to upload your transactions, but I started before that was an option - so I still enter my transactions manually. Everyone is different in this respect, so ymmv.

For those with irregular income (freelancers, contractors, etc), YNAB does provide educational resources on how to use the program to help even out the ups and downs. I have a regular paycheck, so am less familiar with this, but I think it can be helpful for someone who might need a little more direction in knowing what they need to cover their expenses.

They do offer a 34-day free trial before you will need to commit, and it isn't the cheapest subscription, but for me, it's been very much worth it.

hth

Re: Best Budgeting Tools

MeredithLepore — Thu, 08 Jun 2023 08:18:08 GMT

I've found that budgeting apps can be helpful if you use them religiously and check in often (YNAB, as some people suggested, can be helpful). Personally, I use excel and update it only once or twice a month, but like that I can go back and compare previous months' spending. It also depends what you're budgeting for. If you have debt, using a tool to manage your debt in one place can make a big difference. I personally like Credello for tracking my financial progress towards paying down debt and saving etc. Budgeting with a goal helps more in my opinion because you have to put the surplus somewhere

Re: Best Budgeting Tools

Citylights18 — Sat, 10 Jun 2023 22:29:54 GMT

I think setting aside funds is okay for most people. I do think cards help with budgeting, for instance if you'll only place a certain purchase on a certain card.

Buy now pay later to me is a good concept if it allows you to save up more cash in the present. Cash flow management I find is the most important skill. Debt and interest is okay if its productive debt. There is also a timing factor if you are going to spend around your work schedule. Sometimes I don't have the bandwidth for home renovations other times I do.

Re: Best Budgeting Tools

RBD22 — Fri, 16 Jun 2023 14:42:04 GMT

I'm seconding YNAB. I have used this for years and have been able to pay down a signficant amount of debt in that time plus have saved for many things without stressing.

In addition, regarding another commenter that works as a bartender, my opinion is that an envelope budgeting method (which YNAB is) is probably the best method for someone with an inconsistent, cash-based/heavy income. That's what we used to do when I was in that kind of position. You add the money that you bring in each day to different categories as you go along so it will work with you based on the exact amount of money that you have on hand. It's hard to use forcasting tools for budgeting with that source of income because of the extreme variability, day-to-day, week-to-week, and month-to-month. Busy times of the year bring in more than slower times so you can build up a reserve during the busy times to subsidize the slow times. Throw any extra money or a set amount each day/week/month into a "reserve" fund to balance out the slow times.

Re: Best Budgeting Tools

calyx — Tue, 13 Jun 2023 18:04:51 GMT

I'll 3rd, 4th, or 12th YNAB. If you do some searching, you can probably find other trial offers. The 34day one is their 'standard' but I know people who have gotten longer trials using different sign up links (through blogs and whatnot) - I got a 3 month trial by emailing and asking to extend it (I'm paid monthly, so 34d wasn't best fit).

Re: Best Budgeting Tools

butterpecan — Wed, 14 Jun 2023 01:12:19 GMT

I am also interested in this YNAB, is the monthly cost after trial reasonable?

Re: Best Budgeting Tools

disney2 — Thu, 15 Jun 2023 01:41:44 GMT

@butterpecan you pay yearly for YNAB. It's a great budgeting tool. You can link up to 25 accounts, however if you have several at one bank like NFCU, that's one.

Re: Best Budgeting Tools

butterpecan — Thu, 15 Jun 2023 04:03:52 GMT

@disney2 Thank you and that is a helpful tidbit of info on the account number capabilities as well. I will download it now.

Re: Best Budgeting Tools

TheRedHat — Fri, 16 Jun 2023 03:19:17 GMT

Honestly, the best budgeting tool is the one that you will use regularly and follow. Personally, I am also a fan of YNAB.

Re: Best Budgeting Tools

TXSunflower — Mon, 26 Jun 2023 18:37:53 GMT

This is helpful. Ive used quicken and and mint. I stopped using mint because it has a lot of issues that concerned me. I went to quicken but for a paid service the support is just not there. I tend to find myself no longer using it. I am looking for something new to keep me on track. I figure at this point since ive given quicken this much of a chance i might as well do the same for YNAB.

Re: Best Budgeting Tools

coldworld — Mon, 26 Jun 2023 19:27:12 GMT

@iheartwings wrote:
I have been using YNAB for almost 10 years, so I can only speak for this particular app. For several years, I used it for mostly tracking and a little budgeting, but I went all in for the 4 rules in 2020. Turns out I was living on the credit card float, and I got away from that when I did. It's essentially an electronic envelope system of budgeting, and you only budget the money you have (not forecast what you're supposed to have), while being intentional with that money. It took time to get to a point where I'm living on last month's income (current YNAB calls it aging your money), but since getting there, it just feels good to know everything for the next month is covered by the end of this month.

One thing that it's helped me think of is to put away small amounts through the year for costs that you normally have (sinking funds). Yeah, it seems silly to save $0.64 month for the next 4 years for my driver's license, but then I don't have to worry about what other category I have to pull from to have the money to pay for it when the time comes. Same as insurance premiums, personal property tax, etc.

You can link accounts to upload your transactions, but I started before that was an option - so I still enter my transactions manually. Everyone is different in this respect, so ymmv.

For those with irregular income (freelancers, contractors, etc), YNAB does provide educational resources on how to use the program to help even out the ups and downs. I have a regular paycheck, so am less familiar with this, but I think it can be helpful for someone who might need a little more direction in knowing what they need to cover their expenses.

They do offer a 34-day free trial before you will need to commit, and it isn't the cheapest subscription, but for me, it's been very much worth it.

hth

You sold me on trying it. I've been looking for budgetting app for a while.

Re: Best Budgeting Tools

Just1Starfish — Mon, 03 Jul 2023 23:37:07 GMT

Just another voice for YNAB....while it has a somewhat insanely steep learning curve, having now used it for 6-7 months, I'm not sure how I ever got along without it. You just have to commit to working through the panic of the first month, and utilize their FB group for questions, too....truly an amazing group!!

Re: Best Budgeting Tools

jimenez12 — Mon, 22 Jan 2024 08:48:34 GMT

I'm using Song Nhi App, a virtual financial assistant. It's alternative to which supported split bill payments and four types of profiles that fit my needs. It was built from ground up with the vision of helping people escaping rat race and achieve financial freedom. Any budget app that supports a milestone of financial freedom as well?

Re: Best Budgeting Tools

MarkintheHV — Mon, 22 Jan 2024 12:04:15 GMT

I tried YNAB, Quicken and Tiller. I just couldnt get YNAB to work the way I wanted it, and quicken would not download a couple of my accounts. I settled with Tiller since I am a spreadsheet guy (I can customize as I see fit) and once your monthly and annual budget is set up the only thing I do is download and catorgize the the transactions that I havent set a rule up. It comes with several reports (you can always download different ones) that give you and idea where you stand with your budget daily, weekly, monthly and yearly.

Re: Best Budgeting Tools

gardenmom — Fri, 26 Jan 2024 18:39:49 GMT

I really like Buckets.app. It's really useful and so much faster than using a spreadsheet (I did that for years). It's an envelope method. There's an untimed free trial, and then it's a one-time purchase. It's hosted locally on your own computer, so it's as safe and secure as your computer. And it helps me to see my trends with spending and create savings goals.