Home Budgeting Tool

[dbcrow]

Hi,

Does anybody know of a good home budgeting tool? Preferably free, but would be prepared to pay. Is MSMoney any good?

 

[arrowman]

Well, the only tools I have ever used are my own spreadsheets, and more recently, MS Money (because it was included with my new computer).

Money is a bit complicated and non-intuitive in parts, but if you're prepared to persist and start with the basics (don't try and get into every aspect all at once) it can be quite reasonable, depending on what you want to achieve.

 

[utility]

A well-designed spreadsheet should satisfy most needs of home budgeting.

 

[arrowman]

A well-designed spreadsheet should satisfy most needs of home budgeting.

I agree, although it depends on what you want to achieve and how much of an expert you are in spreadsheet functions - eg if you're totally comfortable with the database side of spreadsheets (DSUM etc functions). If your knowledge is basic, and you don't want to spend a lot of time learning more, and you want to categorise your spending to a fair bit of detail, something like Money is more likely to do the job.

As I said before - I count myself as a bit of an "expert user" with Excel, but I found (after a bit of effort) that Money is easier to work with. I still use a spreadsheet to record quarterly summaries, do tax calculations etc.

Depends on what you want to achieve.

 

[dbcrow]

Thanks guys, have just bought MS Money off ebay. Appreciate your feedback.

 

[arrowman]

If you want any tips, I'd be happy to help.

 

[karikature]

i use Ms Excel, takes care of all the formulas and easy editing, easy updating of numbers, very convenient..

no wonder microsoft is still in business, its cause of Excel!

 

[utility]

no wonder microsoft is still in business, its cause of Excel!

I prefer Open Office.