So my husband and I have decided that we need to do a better job of tracking where all of our money is going. Those little expenses add up and we decided it was time to take charge of the situation. Some fabric here, beer brewing ingredients there (Brett's a homebrewer), some carry-out, a pair of new shoes.......and poof, where did all of our money go? I looked into several money managing options for us and decided on PearBudget.
PearBudget is basically an online budget and expense tracking site. You could very easily do this on your own spreadsheet, but I like this online application because my husband can enter expenses at work and I can access the site from home. So it is very simple. You set your budget - you can use the categories they have set up for you or create your own. Then enter your receipts on a daily basis which in turn allows you to track and see if you are staying within your planned budget.
Obviously, the budget that you set out is an estimate of what you think you spend. So for the first couple months, you may realize that you grossly over-estimated or under-estimated a certain category; thus causing the budget to be adjusted for future months.
It's amazing how much more conscientious I am about spending when I know I am going to have to enter it into PearBudget. I actually really like it - it's like we are taking control of the money - it's not controlling us. Just thought I would share what seems to be working for us! How do you all budget from month to month? Anyone use the "envelope system"?
Cottage Mama's Note: I have no affiliation with PearBudget, I just think it is a super-simple online tool for to track spending.
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