https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Wed, 29 Apr 2026 16:27:18 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/budgeting-tools-you-recommend#post-2817418 Thu, 19 Apr 2018 23:56:42 +0000 birdofafeather 2817418@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I used Mint for years but it just told me where my money went. I absolutely believe that YNAB changed our finances for the best (and I’m an Econ and money nerd). It’s worth the price (and I’ve bought the software as well as signed up for the subscription). YHL has a code for 3 month trial free: <a href="https://www.youneedabudget.com/landing/young-house-love/" rel="nofollow">https://www.youneedabudget.com/landing/young-house-love/</a> </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/budgeting-tools-you-recommend#post-2817411 Thu, 19 Apr 2018 23:05:14 +0000 GoGoSnoGirl 2817411@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Thank you all so much for sharing your thoughts and experiences with some of the options out there. I may well end up using Excel, but will look deeper into the suggestions you've given me first.<br /> Thank you @MamaCate: for reminding me about MS Money. It looks like there's a new generation software. I'd used Money ages ago, but had forgotten about it/didn't realize they still had a product available. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/budgeting-tools-you-recommend#post-2817219 Thu, 19 Apr 2018 09:56:14 +0000 cam 2817219@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We used the app Goodbudget for a while and it suited what I wanted for a pretty simple envelope system. We could keep track of things on our phones as we go (because I find it more daunting to do in large batches). It's all manual input on an app (or on the website). I wasn't using it for long term goals etc just to keep track each month if spending was getting high. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/budgeting-tools-you-recommend#post-2817200 Thu, 19 Apr 2018 08:52:20 +0000 snowjewelz 2817200@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Once I graduated from excel, I used Mint for a while but it just wasn't helping. I did a trial of YNAB and personally think it's well worth the money. I only wanted it after they came out with the web version though, since I'm on my computer all day at work and it's easier to update from a browser (then it syncs to app on phone). </p> <p>I do link all my accounts on it. It does have a big learning curve and does take time to set up and watch the history build for a bit. But Once you really understand the philosophy, it's so super tremendously helpful. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/budgeting-tools-you-recommend#post-2817194 Thu, 19 Apr 2018 08:01:19 +0000 Mrs D 2817194@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I am still just a good old fashioned excel girl. I have a running file, that is easy to replicate each year. I set it up a while ago and just roll with it.</p> <p>It has a tab for each month, which tracks all our expenses as I log them. Then I have a summary tab to see how we are doing for the year. We dont have spending "goals" more just a comparison to what we did last year and the year before that.</p> <p>We do have savings goals - laid out in the file so I can see our progression towards it. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/budgeting-tools-you-recommend#post-2817191 Thu, 19 Apr 2018 06:48:46 +0000 brownepiano 2817191@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We used to use Excel spreadsheets so didn't need help building a budget, just maintaining- wanted something easy to imput and reconcile with really good analytics to be able to see how much we spent on things (say oil) so we could adjust our budget as needed. I tried Mint, YNAB, Every Dollar, and Good Budget. Good budget won for us hands down. You can't link it to your bank, but we didn't want that. The analytics are amazing. They have an app and online platform. It taught me how to reconcile accounts.. something I had never really done before. It's free or you can pay somewhere around $5 a month for a subscription version. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/budgeting-tools-you-recommend#post-2817185 Thu, 19 Apr 2018 01:51:59 +0000 Hypatia 2817185@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@gogosnogirl I really don't like YNAB because it isn't free. </p> <p>Mint is very similar and it's free (there are a few ads but they're not obnoxious). Most people use it by linking their accounts, but you can add manual transactions instead and still create budgets and goals. It's from the same company as TurboTax, so they're legit. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/budgeting-tools-you-recommend#post-2817182 Thu, 19 Apr 2018 00:41:27 +0000 MamaCate 2817182@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@GoGoSnoGirl: this is a low tech approach (relatively) but my dh has an old version of the Microsoft money software that is an actual program he has on his computer. He has been using it forever. You can create categories, spending goals, recurring payments, split something between categories, review your spending etc etc. It does a ton.</p> <p>It does seem secure because it is password protected on his computer (separate p/w than his login) and he has it back up somehow. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/budgeting-tools-you-recommend#post-2817178 Wed, 18 Apr 2018 23:49:50 +0000 crazydoglady 2817178@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@GoGoSnoGirl: You can link YNAB to your account, but I prefer to input manually. It's very easy to set up and kind of fun, too. I usually just log in every few days and update things. There is a free 34 day (or something) trial. Also, you can synch multiple devices if you want both you and your DH to have access. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/budgeting-tools-you-recommend#post-2817174 Wed, 18 Apr 2018 23:04:52 +0000 bhbee 2817174@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@GoGoSnoGirl: yeah I think you have to kind of enjoy excel for that to be a good option!! But you have maximum flexibility. We only have a few bills we can’t charge, but luckily they’re all pretty static numbers (car payment, mortgage, etc) so I don’t have to track them closely, just make sure nothing weird happens on bank account. We did have a small instance of bank account fraud (thankfully I caught it early) and it was so much more trouble to handle than credit card fraud. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/budgeting-tools-you-recommend#post-2817172 Wed, 18 Apr 2018 22:38:49 +0000 GoGoSnoGirl 2817172@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@bhbee: yeah, we do use our miles card extensively, too &amp; I suppose the categories/sorting it provides is somewhat helpful. There are bills we have that can't go on our credit card, though, so I still need a place to see it all in one place. I'm glad to know an Excel spreadsheet might still be a good option, but I don't love the idea of manually plugging everything in there. Theoretically, it'll just be painful for the initial set up &amp; tweaking it to make it work well. Unfortunately I lost access to my old versions, so I can't start from those. :sad: </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/budgeting-tools-you-recommend#post-2817170 Wed, 18 Apr 2018 22:15:42 +0000 GoGoSnoGirl 2817170@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@crazydoglady: YNAB was one I'd heard about here previously, but I haven't "toured" it to see if it would work without links to our accounts. Thanks for confirming that it is useful even without linking (or is that even an option on YNAB?) Can you tell me, how much time did you spend entering specific details to get started using that app? Do you find you have a lot of maintenance to do each month to keep it up to date? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/budgeting-tools-you-recommend#post-2817168 Wed, 18 Apr 2018 21:58:43 +0000 bhbee 2817168@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>One thing that really helps me is using one credit card (paid off monthly) for everything possible. Only one place to check, good options for rewards and the increased fraud protection vs using your bank account directly. </p> <p>I do everything in excel because i like fully customizing to my own budget and what i like to track. But our main card is a Citi double cash and the app itself allows you to look at spending by category (by month/statement, annually, etc). So it could do something very basic. But it’s not always that accurate - I just found a summer camp payment in the lodging section when I tried it out and that was just first thing i checked. I actually don’t mind the time to copy entries to excel because it helps me really get a good handle on things. I use the same template each month/statement. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/budgeting-tools-you-recommend#post-2817167 Wed, 18 Apr 2018 21:55:06 +0000 crazydoglady 2817167@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@GoGoSnoGirl: I use YNAB and don't have it linked to my banking account. Could you do something like that? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/budgeting-tools-you-recommend#post-2817166 Wed, 18 Apr 2018 21:37:27 +0000 GoGoSnoGirl 2817166@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I've never been good about keeping track of every single expense &amp; don't know if I'm aiming to do that now, either, but we really need to pay more attention to where our money is going. I'd long ago set up my own Excel spreadsheet budget when I was single, but abandoned it once I married my husband &amp; we were living comfortably on 2 incomes. That hasn't served us very well now that we are a single income family, but I'm a bit uncertain how/where to start from scratch. I'd previously considered some of the apps out there, but having suffered several occurrences of identity theft and the many reports of data breaches out there across other financial institutions, we are not comfortable linking personal data with any of these apps or sites. What does that leave?? Excel again? A paper ledger book? :grin:<br /> Any suggestions from you organized Bees would be greatly appreciated! </p>