Keeping track of your finances

Anyone?

Quicken is pretty popular. Microsoft Money...

I use this financial accounting program called BusinessWorks by Sage Software. It really is more geared for a business, but I set it up for my own personal accounts.

Works wonders for me, I love it. But probably someone who's not familiar with accounting wouldn't like the program. And it's a bit expensive.

At the end of the month I can print income statements and balance sheets. It lets me compare to other months and previous years to see me spending trends. I've been able to cut a lot of my expenses just by seeing what I really spend my money on.

For me it helps to just write out a budget type thing (the old fashioned way). I also use a calendar to keep track of when each bill is due. If I don't do that, I end up with late payments because I forget. I'm also doing Dave Ramsey's financial peace university which I have found really helpful for me since I tend to spend more than I should.

simpleD budget is a free downloadable budget program. I have only been using it for a couple of weeks but so far I really like it.

I use Quicken - it is great because I have set up categories to follow my husbands convenience store stops - he is the biggest offender to our budget because he is out and about daily and I work out of the home. I can show him weekly what he has done and it makes him focus more on his habit of stopping for coffee, soda, candy bars and cookies - they all add up.

Make a budget and stick to it, you will find you have more money than you think. If you have to, use cash envelopes. Example: If you allow 100 dollars for food, put 100 in the envelope and only buy food with it. Sounds harsh but it works.