I used to track our finances very closely. However the last few years I have had problems keeping up. With my finances a mess I had to try something.
I used Quicken from about 1995 through 2001. Starting out with a version that came with a Macintosh, I then bought a PC and bought a PC version. I even upgraded once or twice.
Then I started having troubles. My kids were teenagers and on the computer all the time. I saw a Pocket PC. I thought I would switch to MS Money. Money for Pocket PC was free, Quicken was not.
I justified the Pocket PC by saying I could balance the checkbook when the kids were on the computer. Just sync it up later. I also would not be spending $50.00 a year buying day planning calendars every year. So I bought it for $250.00. I still have it 7 years later. So I did save money but it did not help.
The problem that I was experiencing is that as good as all of the off the shelf programs are they have become too bloated and more cumbersome to use. Back when I first started using Quicken it was basic checkbook program. It offered some loan tracking and reports. Every upgrade added cool new features. Downloading data seemed great but it never worked quite the way I expected it to. I would have to edit the data every time. I gave up downloading. Then it seemed to reach a point that you had to be an expert to decipher everything available in home financial packages.
Frustrated by bloat I decided to use a spreadsheet on my thumb drive. I created a basic checking sheet. It worked but was still difficult to get the data entry required. I tried sophisticated formulas that would create a budget. My own worksheets were getting to be too much too.
Computer time, having receipts/checkbook when I needed was still a problem. I would have the checkbook and my wife would need to write a check and would grab another book of checks. So now I was missing transactions entirely. (I was guilty of this too.)
Then about two years ago, our finances fell apart. I cannot pin point what went wrong. Last year I started using GNU Cash on a thumb drive. I liked it because it was free. It is a pretty basic program and not bloated. I still do not download any thing from the bank. But it still is not perfect. Time is still the main issue. The secondary issue is too many bank accounts with debit/credit cards.
What I am releasing that simplicity is what is missing. I am more likely to balance one checkbook than five. Then add in credit cards and there are even more accounts to reconcile.
Last summer we had an experiment. We were going to be using only cash. I loved it but the cash was in an envelope in a drawer at home and not with us when we needed it. While it did cut down on impulse shopping, it was a problem when you forgot to grab gas money as you were heading out of town. We also did not like the idea of all that cash sitting around. To this day, we think a $20 was stolen by someone that was at our house but cannot prove it as we were missing receipts.
With the simplicity of cash with no receipts to enter, the idea that if the power would go out for a day or two, we would have cash. ATMs do not work without power. Bank failure is another reason to keep some cash on hand.
There is no great system that I have found. It is a matter of how much detail and how much time you want to spend with a finance tracking system. For us, less is what we are leaning towards. I would love to be able to close all of our accounts and just use cash. But this will not happen in today’s cashless society. All we can do is minimize and simplify. This is my goal.
How do you track your finances?
Just my 2 cents. Jim @ ChangeJarSavings.com
© 2009 ChangeJarSavings.com
© 2011 ChangeJarSavings.com
I use Pear Budget. It’s free, easy to setup and simple to maintain.
I would agree that less is more. I think for each person, one credit card for everyday purchases is ideal. I also carry cash with me at all times. My bank card is generally only used at an ATM.
Every time I spend money, I write up a “receipt” for it like this: “1/12/08 8.13 WAMU Visa groceries”. Or 1/13 2.00 cash donation”
I do it in that exact order: date, amount, account, and spending or income category because that is all the information I need, and in the right order, and I designed my spreadsheet around that : MY needs, not Intuit’s idea of my needs. The receipt goes in my wallet, occasionally my pocket.
Those receipts go in a jar by my computer.
When I fire the computer up, I enter the receipts in the “transactions” page of my excel spreadsheet, which is set up for the same categories. ALL transactions from ALL accounts go on the same sheet, so it is easy to enter. All of my transactions, income or outgo, for the entire year, go on one sheet.
The excel spreadsheet slices and dices them according to account and category and also happens to keep budget tallies. You might also want to add a column in the transactions spreasheet that selects Hubby or Wife as the person making the transaction.
As long as you have the transactions for one year on one sheet, it’s easy to analyze them or for an accountant to analyze.
I do not find this difficult, in fact it is much easier than not knowing what is going on. A married couple can put their receipts in the same jar and they are all there for whomever is going to enter them into the program. No slip ups this way, unless someone decides to lie about money or forgets to put the receipts in.
As to having all of the checks or receipts, it really doesn’t matter as long your accounts aren’t so low that they are in danger of overdraft or so high that they are in danger of overlimit. If your wife has a check and writes it, she just makes up a “chit” or receipt for it and puts it in the jar. So you don’t really need your check register to balance things.
my “check” entries look like this: “1/13 72.46 Al’s grocery groceries steve’s checking ck#1756″
And that goes in the jar.
My solution to the check problem would actually be not to use checks except to pay mail-in bills. Use your credit cards and write up a receipt for it to go in your wallet, and from there into the jar.
Having the jar as a repository makes it easier for the entire household to keep up on the finances as you don’t have to wait to talk to another person to give them the financial info, you just get into the habit of “going and putting it the jar”.
I use MoneyDance. The trick that works for me is collecting my receipts and bills in envelopes. Twice a month, on the 15th and the end, I update my software with all the data. Takes about 20 minutes each session. But since I have all my receipts in envelopes, it’s easy. So 40 minutes a month. It’s not hard to find that time to keep my financial sanity.
@Steve – I like your organization. And you have a really great idea for tracking checks. I did not think about using the receipts instead of the register. I think I will have to talk to my wife about this.
The wonderful resources available to track your spending, it still seems to be out of control for most people. Money management programs such as Quicken and MS Money are great tools to help you track your spending.