Skip The Scary Budget Programs and Do It The Easy Way

Budgeting programs are a complete waste of money. There, I said it! Why spend upwards of $100 on a program whose entire function is to suck your time away and make you miserable? Sure, we all need to manage our money, plan for our expenses and save a little. It doesn’t have to be difficult though. I’ve always found that a simple sheet of notebook paper, or a spiral-bound notebook and a pencil take far less time to manage and have no learning curve like financial software does. The easiest way to control your finances: Set aside fifteen minutes a week, grab your notebook (and your partner if they are interested) and write out your expenses and your income. If your budget changes because of a birthday, a new loan or a new account just add it in.  When you pay a bill, check it off on the paper. Having that simple written guideline is enough for most of us. It tells you approximately what you will want to spend on groceries, school expenses, bill payments, etc. If your budget changes, scratch it out or erase it and reconfigure. That usually takes about five minutes and you’re

Cash In Hand Budgeting - Easy & Effective

DISCLAIMER* This isn’t a boring budget piece. This is an easy tip you can use to watch your spending. We know that BUDGETING sucks; this is a much easier replacement that takes less time.* How many times have you sat down and painstakingly worked out a detailed budget – or at least wanted to? Maybe you argued with your spouse a little about what should go where, but you had it under control. Maybe you even had that nice “I-did-a-budget glow” for a day or two. Then you got paid, waited a few days, and watched your carefully crafted budget give a last dying heave and splatter into nothing – with all the grace of a bug hitting a windshield. We’ve all been there. Learning to make a budget that takes everything into account is hard, and there’s a lot of trial and error involved. In fact, Darwin’s theory of budgeting is that your budget has to evolve, not dissolve. Don’t be too hard on yourself. There is a nearly fail-proof way to simplify everything, and it’s much easier than you think. The solution? Use cash. It’s just human nature. When we look at our