Money - Budgeting, Spending etc.

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Uncle Buck

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Hello all. I am curious to know if anyone has come across helpful "Ready for Anything" type techniques, habits, or systems with respect to personal money management.

It seems Quicken and MS Money work best when cash flow is constantly highly positive. However, much like the Ready for Anything approach to time management and life, I am looking for more effective systems and such for "real world" money management. (at least my world where cash-flow is certainly not static, and dare I say sometimes negative :oops: ).

I am hopeful something better is out there. Any insight would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading.
 
Budget help

The forms at this site are good: http://www.homemoneyhelp.com/BBOonline.html
I still use the notebook setup for my incoming bills and my statements after I've paid the bills. I don't use the forms myself any more.

I use two basic things, envelope system and memos on my Palm. We take out cash for groceries, spending money, gas, and church. I leave money in my checking account to pay bills. I set up a memo for every pay period that lists the bills that are due that period, due date and amount. I'll pay those bills on payday. I would also really recommend (and I'm going to set this up at work for myself) using auto deposit and putting 10% of your check straight into savings. You can learn to live on what is leftover and those savings will give you true peace of mind, especially on an uncertain income.
 
Thanks everyone. A brief look into the above sites look to be promising. I appreciate you all taking the time to offer advice on this.
 
Budget map web site and tool

I recommend you look at budgetmap.com, a system I ran across by accident when I was looking for large format check registers. I bought it and find it to be an amazing tool for spending within your budget and raising awareness of your budget goals literally every time you write a check.

Essentially your check register (which you buy from Budgetmap.com) becomes a mini-spreadsheet. You enter and record checks just as before, but there is an additional spreadsheet to the right where you also add and delete entries from specific categories you set up. It sounds complicated but in fact it could not be easier. I was a little concerned that my check register would become too bulky or unweildy but it has not been a problem. If I am busy I can enter data later that day to keep the system current. The web site has an explanation of how it works.

Hope it helps. I am not affiliated with the company in any way.
Andrea
 
I use palm, and highly recommend Quik Budget in conjunction with Pocket Money or something similar to pocket money. Quik Budget is an envelope system for palm, and pocket money is an account manager.

Dwight...
 
Re: Money - Budgeting, Spending etc.

Hi, I'm an accountant and I live in Germany. I do for myself accounting. I use a software for small companies, where I could set up my own accounts. I think it's worth doing it for everybody. It's not necessary to know all the tax rules. But an electronic system gives you a great survey on your expenses and your income. You will get more sensitive on your money. Most people have more than one income: salary, interest, dividends, and so forth. It helps you to make comparisons (re months, years, different sort of expenses/incomes) and so on.

You need some basic knowledge on accounting to do accounting for yourself as a private person, but it's always worth the time and money learning it. Many people handle everything very professional, but they don't do what grandma did, to have a book on expenses and income. It needs to be electronic today in my opinion.

How do I do it: When I go shopping (almost every day I buy something), I pay attention that I get a receipt. The first thing I do when I get home is to enter my expenses, statement of account and so on. It takes up to 15 minutes a day often less. If the expenses is entered I throw the receipt away except it has an importance for my tax return. Then I file this receipt, as it comes. I sort all these receipts at the end of the year.

Best wishes. Alice

Uncle Buck said:
Hello all. I am curious to know if anyone has come across helpful "Ready for Anything" type techniques, habits, or systems with respect to personal money management.

It seems Quicken and MS Money work best when cash flow is constantly highly positive. However, much like the Ready for Anything approach to time management and life, I am looking for more effective systems and such for "real world" money management. (at least my world where cash-flow is certainly not static, and dare I say sometimes negative :oops: ).

I am hopeful something better is out there. Any insight would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading.
 
I use Quicken along with Pocket Quicken on my Palm. I'm not sure why you think Quicken would not work even with a negative cash flow. It is an extremely flexible program and can cover cash expenditures and credit cards in addition to checking accounts.

I obtain a receipt for almost every transaction. I throw my receipts in a receipts to process folder and then input them once a week or so (or enter them immediately into Pocket Quicken). When I take cash out of the bank, I "transfer" the funds on Quicken from my checking account to my cash account. I can then calculate my expenditures for any given time frame. It is so easy to balance my checkbook, develop a budget and see my income and expenditures.

Even if you are on an extremely limited budget, you could use a combination of the "envelope system" and Quicken.
 
The Automatic Millionaire - This book is almost embarassingly simple but it is definitely consistent with GTD principles. The whole premise is to pay yourself first. I found that I was so hung up at the runway level with finances - all the budgeting and quicken input that I was always behind in. It was a lot of work with little results at the higher levels.

This book is so simple and it gives an incredibly practical and sustainable method to get rich. I have implemented several things over the past 6 weeks - it's all on autopilot and taking full advantage of the things that matter most in having a financially secure and abundant life.

I had to get over the simplicity and look at the gap between common sense and what was common practice for me.

I like this book:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-form/102-8952947-0051350
 
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