Keeping up with finances

audiobliss

I want to keep track of how much I deposit, what I withdraw, for what, etc.

I don't need anything fancy at all. The thing is I just noticed I'm withdrawing a lot of money each period, and I have no idea what for! So I just want to keep tabs on what I'm spending money on.

Would it be easier to just use Excel, or would MS Money be a good idea? Wait, I'm not even sure I have MS Money on this computer. If not, Excel it is!

I do have Peachtree Pro Accounting, but I think that's a little overkill.

TroyD

A pencil and some graph paper ought to do.

BDT

Demiurge

Get Quicken. I am always balanced to the last red cent having used it for the past year.

*EDIT*

You can do it all by hand, but it's all about being dilligent about keeping track of your receipts and entering them in -- no matter what method you use.

Quicken can hook up to your bank account and all of your credit cards. You run their one step update and it'll download all of your transactions, statements, ect.

The graphs are very nice and help with savings plans because you can visually see how your money will grow if you stick with a budget. That's the real alure to using these programs.

Sami

That's a good project for your C++ and SQL practice.

PolkThug

Get rid of your debit card and start using cash again.

bobman1235

Demiurge wrote: »

Get Quicken. I am always balanced to the last red cent having used it for the past year.

+1. Been using Quicken for about 5 years now, always know exactly where my money is going. Pretty sure MS Money is basically the same program.

Demiurge

Oh, and if you're responsible enough to handle it -- buy everything on a credit card or two and just pay your entire balance off on them every month. It's a great way to build credit and it makes tracking your finances so much easier than with a Debit card. Using cash is great, but it doesn't do anything for you when you want to get a good interest rate on a house or what have you.

bobman1235

Credit cards are also actually much "safer" to carry, as you're usually protected from theft. Plus if you get one with cash back / bonus points and pay it off every month it's like getting free money.

VR3

I've been keeping track of money in/out the past 2 years via Excel in my own little system thats worked good....

But I buy things with checks -- pull off one when I need* to buy something

I refuse to active my debit card and refuse to sign up for any credit cards...

So its interesting none the less...

edbert

I use MS Money and it works for me, but my mom has used Quicken for years and loves it. I know both will track spending for you in pretty good detail depending on how much info you provide when you input your transactions. It really helped us out to get extraneous spending under control by showing us exactly where our money went. That and being able to import your transactions straight from your online account to balance things is awesome. Kind of takes the pain out of everything.

dorokusai

Stop paying for sex and I would suggest MS Money.

AsSiMiLaTeD

My bank has an excellent set of online software that does spending trends and breakouts for me. About 95% of what i spend I don't even have to categorize, it gets bucketed automatically.

I have my checks deposited into my local bank, then an auto-transfer from that to my ING accounts and primary spending, and I can track everything and see where all my money goes, and how much I'm spending in each category.

It can be kinda scary, about two years ago I realized that my wife and I were spending about 1400 a month in eating out, that's effing ridiculous. We're down to 700 or so now, but still need to cut back...

bobman1235

Vr3MxStyler2k3 wrote: »

I've been keeping track of money in/out the past 2 years via Excel in my own little system thats worked good....

But I buy things with checks -- pull off one when I need* to buy something

I refuse to active my debit card and refuse to sign up for any credit cards...

You really are an old man trapped in a young guy's body, aren't you Trey? Seriously, CHECKS?

snow

Vr3MxStyler2k3 wrote: »

I've been keeping track of money in/out the past 2 years via Excel in my own little system thats worked good....

But I buy things with checks -- pull off one when I need* to buy something

I refuse to active my debit card and refuse to sign up for any credit cards...

So its interesting none the less...

Why lol? A lot of credit card companys and banks offer cash back rewards for anything you purchase with there credit card and you can go back and get a printout of exactly where your money went. I cashed in some points last month on my credit card for $500.00 cash it took a little over a year for me to earn these points is all and the money went towards audio stuff.

REGARDS SNOW

Demiurge

snow wrote: »

Why lol? A lot of credit card companys and banks offer cash back rewards for anything you purchase with there credit card and you can go back and get a printout of exactly where your money went. I cashed in some points last month on my credit card for $500.00 cash it took a little over a year for me to earn these points is all and the money went towards audio stuff.

REGARDS SNOW

Well, he's what, 18 years old? Some 18 year olds can handle it, but I know I couldn't when I was that age. I pissed my money away on all sorts of crap I didn't need as it was and having some stick $5,000 in credit in my face would have only made it worse.

I started out with a gas card when I was 20 and completely used to paying for all of my own things and then I moved to a credit card.

But yeah, I agree that it's nearly a must that you use a credit card, and do so responsibly, if you want to have access to the best options for financing on all sorts of stuff.

snow

Demiurge wrote: »

Well, he's what, 18 years old? Some 18 year olds can handle it, but I know I couldn't when I was that age. I pissed my money away on all sorts of crap I didn't need as it was and having some stick $5,000 in credit in my face would have only made it worse.

I started out with a gas card when I was 20 and completely used to paying for all of my own things and then I moved to a credit card.

But yeah, I agree that it's nearly a must that you use a credit card, and do so responsibly, if you want to have access to the best options for financing on all sorts of stuff.

18 Yikes!! good point Demi.


REGARDS SNOW

audiobliss

Wow, a lot of responses on here. Definitely thanks to everyone for all of the advice!

As for my spending habits...I always use cash. All my withdrawals are from when I go to an ATM and get cash to pay for something. I've never actually used my debit card *AT* a place of business. And I've probably only written 8 checks, tops. And I would LOVE to have a credit card for the very reasons mentioned here (yes, I could handle it; apparantly I have some spending habits I need to investigate, but I'm doing that), but I applied for a Wachovia Student CC sometime last year as was denied...because of not enough credit history. Drrrr!

Anyways, I have Peachtree because I was taking an accounting class last fall and we were talking about some accounting programs, I've always liked technology and gadgets more than the actual concepts, and Staples had a rebate going where it actually turned out to be free. So I bought it.

Sounds like Money and Quicken are very similar. I don't have Money on this computer, but I'm pretty sure we have one or both in the house somewhere. And if not, my bday is next week, so maybe it'll go on the list.

Again, thanks for all the input, folks!

Demiurge

Try a gas card, they're usually the easiest to obtain and usually have limits around $200-$500. Of course, you'll have to find a station you like to use and continue going there regardless of price most likely.

audiobliss

Do you think it'd be worth the effort (not much, really) to apply for that CC again? Any chance I'd get one this time around?

bobman1235

If you've been with your bank a while you may also want to talk to them - they will often have "introductory" credit cards for people like you.

Demiurge

audiobliss wrote: »

Do you think it'd be worth the effort (not much, really) to apply for that CC again? Any chance I'd get one this time around?

No, I would do the gas card thing or what bobman said, his suggestion is probably the best.

audiobliss

What's the difference in what I applied for and what bobman's talking about?

bobman1235

Sometimes if you can't get a card (you've already been rejected) it helps to talk to a real person at a bank that's familiar with you rather than just sending in an app, that's all.

Demiurge

audiobliss wrote: »

What's the difference in what I applied for and what bobman's talking about?

Your bank has a history of your transactions and a general idea of your saving/spending habits.

audiobliss

I bank at Wachovia, and that CC I applied for last year was a student CC from Wachovia. Good idea about talking to someone, though.

VR3

I know about points and so forth with CC --

However, checks allow me to save more money than having cash at my finger tips...

That'll I make several thousands at the end of the year from interest, vs points...

To me, its a win win situation...

Eventually, I'll get a CC, but for me right now its just not needed... and I am pretty sure I have enough self control, but don't really need to find out just yet... hehe

Demiurge

Vr3MxStyler2k3 wrote: »

However, checks allow me to save more money than having cash at my finger tips...

That'll I make several thousands at the end of the year from interest, vs points...

To me, its a win win situation...

What do you mean? If my credit card bill is $1,000.00 every month I would make more in interest having that $1,000.00 sit in the bank for 30 days than I would cutting into it every time I need to buy something over that same 30 day period of time.

With a credit card you get your measly interest and card benefits. With checks you get your measly interest and that's it.

Sami

Demiurge wrote: »

With a credit card you get your measly interest and card benefits. With checks you get your measly interest and that's it.

And more importantly you're not building credit history, which might not seem important right now but is later in life. I came into this country at 28 years old and after 8 years (and lots and lots of CC bills) later sometimes reports still say "credit history not long enough".

vlam

Go with a credit card. There are way too many advantages in using credit card as opposed to check or cash. In today world, credit is everything. Credit card is evil if you don't understand how it works and is not responsible. Beside getting points and cash back, I earn interests from Credit Card company every month. I love getting $10K-$15K BT checks from credit card with 0% interests for 12-15 months.

I would never use check unless it's the last resort. It's one of the most unsafe form of payment. You do realize that all your account information is printed on your check (even your address).

I have about 30 credit card and I go through a box of check about every 5 years.

Demiurge

vlam wrote: »

I have about 30 credit card and I go through a box of check about every 5 years.

Too many credit cards is no good either.

bobman1235

30?! Holy crap. Good luck with that one.