| Budgets Don't Work | | | | track of your changing patterns of spending |
| I don't believe budgets work for the long run. We | | | | behaviour and make adjustments accordingly to |
| have our unique and different ways of doing budgets. | | | | meet your financial goals, I would recommend |
| Some of us allocate certain amounts for each | | | | tracking your expenses on a continuous basis. |
| expense category. Some go by envelop ideas such | | | | Personal Finance Software |
| as putting money in different envelops for different | | | | Now, here comes the main question - What financial |
| expense categories, and spend money from these | | | | software you should use to track your expenses? |
| envelops based on circumstances. The problem with | | | | Personal finance software programs like Quicken and |
| budgeting is that we usually stick to it for a couple of | | | | Microsoft Money are able to keep track of your |
| months and then get bored and get rid of it. | | | | spending. However, I recommend a simple and easy |
| Although I don't believe in budgeting, I do believe in | | | | to use web-based program called Expensr. Expensr |
| tracking expenses. Why and how you should track | | | | keeps track of your income and expenses and tells |
| your expenses? Let's talk about it. | | | | you where your money goes. It is very simple to use |
| Track Your Expenses | | | | and let me describe some basics you need to know. |
| Tracking expenses gives you a visualization of where | | | | Sign up for a free account. On the main page, on the |
| your money is exactly going. You need to know this | | | | top left, you will see five tabs. These tabs are Home, |
| to cut unnecessary expenses and increase your | | | | Accounts, Analysis, Budget and Community. Accounts |
| savings. You can do all sorts of calculations and | | | | and Analysis tabs are the ones you will be using |
| thinking in your mind to figure out where your money | | | | most. Enter all your income and spending daily under |
| is going - but the real picture may not be the same | | | | Account tab. You can create multiple categories to |
| as your mind tries to depict. Don't be surprised if you | | | | categorize you entries. Entering an item is easy, and |
| see a very different picture than what you had in | | | | you should be able to do it in a snap. Analysis tab |
| your mind. Spending just a few dollars here and there | | | | shows how much you are spending in each category. |
| daily can add up to a large amount at month's end | | | | You can view this either in a pie chart or in a bar |
| and tracking expenses will show you how powerful it | | | | graph. Charts or graphs show spending trends. |
| can be to cut once-daily visit to your coffee shop. | | | | Trends can be used to see how your spending |
| Tracking expenses will gradually help you make | | | | behaviour has changed over time, and you make |
| better decisions. | | | | adjustments accordingly. |
| How long should you track your expenses? | | | | Expensr has many other features. I mainly use it to |
| How long should you track your expenses? It all | | | | keep track of my spending and income, and to plot |
| depends. You can do it for three months, one year | | | | graphs to visualize my trends. If you are looking for |
| or for good. If you are looking to take immediate | | | | simple, easy-to-use but powerful personal finance |
| action on cutting unnecessary expenses, three | | | | software, expensr is your answer. |
| months of tracking will give you a fair idea. If you | | | | NB - Expensr is now Moneystrands. Read my |
| want an in-depth financial picture, I would recommend | | | | Personal Finance Software Review to find out more |
| tracking for four to six months. If you want to keep | | | | about financial software. |