Slache Posted January 31, 2019 Share Posted January 31, 2019 I kinda wanted to try Dave Ramsey's app every dollar, but apparently it's nammed that because it costs you every spare dollar you have... I've heard Mint is good. What else? I (think?) I want to create monthly budget (I have it on paper), track bills, and get notified of overdrafts. Do I want more? We are about to have irregular income. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Kate Posted January 31, 2019 Share Posted January 31, 2019 (edited) I tried to use Dave Ramsey’s Every Dollar app for a few years, but I just couldn’t get it to do what I needed in for my budget. I tried Mint as well (just for a few months) and found that for me, it was better at tracking than budgeting. I am now using YNAB (stands for You Need a Budget) and I love it. If you search some online, you should be able to find a 2 or even 3 month free trial - it is a one month free trial on the website. Dh and I are finally on the same page with our budget after years of trying and we are doing a much better job of saving money than we have in the past. I know I sound like I YNAB informercial, but I really can’t say enough how much I love it!!! ETA: YNAB does have an annual fee, but when we did the trial (two month) we could already see how we had been wasting money and that we would easily save that amount (I think $68 a year?) by using this system. Edited January 31, 2019 by Just Kate 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theelfqueen Posted January 31, 2019 Share Posted January 31, 2019 We use mint. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarlett Posted January 31, 2019 Share Posted January 31, 2019 I use Every Dollar off and on. Just the free one. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annie G Posted January 31, 2019 Share Posted January 31, 2019 We use Mint. Our local credit union won’t let us link our accounts so Mint, which irritates me. We are moving and have a new credit union that promises we can link it. We have too many accounts and Min really helps us be able to pull everything together to get the big picture. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HomeAgain Posted January 31, 2019 Share Posted January 31, 2019 I use the free version of Every Dollar. It works well for us because dh's pay is irregular, so I budget towards the low end of his pay and can ignore the rest of the account (we keep a buffer just in case). Before that I used a spreadsheet. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Familia Posted January 31, 2019 Share Posted January 31, 2019 We use Spend Tracker, but it does not link, so it is not what you are looking for. Love that it does not link to accounts as I only wanted to track certain spending (DH's, grocery, clothing, gifts, etc) which are more controllable. It provides the visual accountability that I was looking for. It is only as good as the information put into it, but I was looking for something simple, a substitute for taking cash out of an envelope and handwriting purchases on that envelope -- the low-tech method I used in the past. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purpleowl Posted January 31, 2019 Share Posted January 31, 2019 Another YNAB fan here. I haven't used any others, so I can't compare, but YNAB works VERY well for us. There are articles on their site about dealing with irregular income. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slache Posted January 31, 2019 Author Share Posted January 31, 2019 So, with YNAB I can create a budget and if more money comes in it doesn't automatically go into my budget, correct? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scholastica Posted January 31, 2019 Share Posted January 31, 2019 46 minutes ago, Slache said: So, with YNAB I can create a budget and if more money comes in it doesn't automatically go into my budget, correct? It comes in as “Inflow” and then you assign it to the categories as you see fit. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slache Posted January 31, 2019 Author Share Posted January 31, 2019 9 minutes ago, scholastica said: It comes in as “Inflow” and then you assign it to the categories as you see fit. I don't like this. Could I find a way around this like create a category called next month, stick everything in there and then redistribute it when I'm ready to make the budget? Although, I'm not sure I like that either. I have to think about this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slache Posted January 31, 2019 Author Share Posted January 31, 2019 My problem is that my husband is a consultant for three different companies. One pays on the first and the fifteenth, one pays every two weeks, and one pays weekly. I want to create a single monthly budget and go based on that while ignoring everything that comes in because that is for the next month. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scholastica Posted January 31, 2019 Share Posted January 31, 2019 33 minutes ago, Slache said: My problem is that my husband is a consultant for three different companies. One pays on the first and the fifteenth, one pays every two weeks, and one pays weekly. I want to create a single monthly budget and go based on that while ignoring everything that comes in because that is for the next month. When you start with YNAB, you’ll import the balance of your checking account and distribute that. You can just let any money that comes in sit in inflow to be budgeted until you are ready to distribute it. It shows up at the top outside of the budget categories. Or you can flip to the next month and budget it there. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moonhawk Posted January 31, 2019 Share Posted January 31, 2019 We used HomeBudget. It's $5 one time (or at least it used to be), and another $5 if you get it for another TYPE of device (ie if you want it both on phone and computer, you have to pay $10; but you can just buy one or the other). You can track your real money and accounts or just set up a spending budget. It hooks up to banks if you want but I've always had issues with that (and in every app I tried, I just have bad luck I think, or credit unions aren't as dependable on their side compared to a big name bank). It was one of the most customizeable options I found and was easy to use. Stopped using it about 8 months ago when I started teaching kids how to budget --moved to paper to make it easier for everyone involved-- but I still like HomeBudget and will return probably, once I'm ready for kids to be more tech-savvy with the budget. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slache Posted January 31, 2019 Author Share Posted January 31, 2019 12 minutes ago, scholastica said: When you start with YNAB, you’ll import the balance of your checking account and distribute that. You can just let any money that comes in sit in inflow to be budgeted until you are ready to distribute it. It shows up at the top outside of the budget categories. Or you can flip to the next month and budget it there. Okayokayokayokay. This I can work with. Thank you. 2 minutes ago, Moonhawk said: We used HomeBudget. It's $5 one time (or at least it used to be), and another $5 if you get it for another TYPE of device (ie if you want it both on phone and computer, you have to pay $10; but you can just buy one or the other). You can track your real money and accounts or just set up a spending budget. It hooks up to banks if you want but I've always had issues with that (and in every app I tried, I just have bad luck I think, or credit unions aren't as dependable on their side compared to a big name bank). It was one of the most customizeable options I found and was easy to use. Stopped using it about 8 months ago when I started teaching kids how to budget --moved to paper to make it easier for everyone involved-- but I still like HomeBudget and will return probably, once I'm ready for kids to be more tech-savvy with the budget. Well that sounds doable! Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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