jporter12 Posted October 17, 2009 Report Share Posted October 17, 2009 So I've started a class called Financial Peace University, it's all about getting out of debt, and learning to manage your money, etc...I'm tracking our expenses and all in Excel, but I'm wanting to do more with my tracking. I want to list out each expense, then for each week list our income. Then, I want to find an easy way to put in each expense which week I want it to come out of, and have it subtract it from the week that I choose, and be able to switch it around to figure out which week is best to take it out of. Anyone have anything? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disclaimer Posted October 17, 2009 Report Share Posted October 17, 2009 I suggest Mint, Wesabe, Yodlee, Quicken Online, MS Money. http://bankling.com/2009/the-best-online-budgeting-tool-mint-vs-wesabe-vs-quicken-online/I've never used any of the online tools because I do a good job of tracking and reconciling all my bill through my local copy of MS Money 2002... it's freaky to go back and look at stuff I bought in 2002 (and prior, as I entered historical data in it too when I got it). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jporter12 Posted October 17, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 17, 2009 I've looked at the online ones and didn't like it. They want to have access to your bank account (some of them) and don't really do what I want. I haven't tried them all, but none seem to do quite what I want to. M$ Money is now obsolete. They quit selling it about a year ago. What I want to do, I know Excel can do, I just don't quite know how yet. I picture it like this:By each expense, I have a drop-down box (should be easy to copy and paste to a new row) that has each week listed, along with combinations of weeks. From that, somehow it will subtract the amount a couple columns to the right from the selected weeks income amount. I need to get my programming geek step-bro on it for me! LOL He also suggested M$ Moneym though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jporter12 Posted October 17, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 17, 2009 If I had a clue what I was doing in Access I would be able to do it fo sho, but my DB skillz are non-exist.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shittygsxr Posted October 17, 2009 Report Share Posted October 17, 2009 I dont think you need to get all super high tech. The main purpose of "expense tracking" is for people to see how much stupid shit they waste money on and start trimming expenses. The absolute best way of doing this is a pencil and paper so you can write down things while you are on the go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jporter12 Posted October 17, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 17, 2009 I know it's not needed, and it's overkill, I just want an easy way to tell what needs to come out of each week's income.The whole budget thing is new to me, and something that I NEED, and need to stick with, because I like to spend WAY too spontaneously (sp?) to survive!I found a decent budget software product called YNAB (You Need A Budget) that has a 7 day trial. I'm trying it out, as it looks like it might do what I want, but not quite the same way as I planned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disclaimer Posted October 17, 2009 Report Share Posted October 17, 2009 The whole budget thing is new to me, and something that I NEED, and need to stick with, because I like to spend WAY too spontaneously (sp?) to survive!How is a program that tracks the dumb things you buy, going to keep you from continually making the same dumb mistakes...?? Now, you're even worse off because you have a paper trail of all those silly purchases to remind you that you're a big bag of financial fail, and that's just depressing. You need more of a financial counselor than a program to fix a spending issue... no? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jporter12 Posted October 17, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 17, 2009 How is a program that tracks the dumb things you buy, going to keep you from continually making the same dumb mistakes...?? Now, you're even worse off because you have a paper trail of all those silly purchases to remind you that you're a big bag of financial fail, and that's just depressing. You need more of a financial counselor than a program to fix a spending issue... no?That's why I'm going through a program right now. He's saying that the program is 20% knowledge and 80% behavior. I understand that, and seeing where the money IS going, and where it SHOULD be going should help with the dumb mistakes part. We are closer on the income vs. outgo than I thought, unless I bust butt at work and get a bigger paycheck, but OR has put a damper on the amount of time I can actually be productive at work.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disclaimer Posted October 17, 2009 Report Share Posted October 17, 2009 Whatever you're paying for the program - stop.Give me 75% of it, and access to your checking and savings. I'll be your money nanny. Everything you want to buy, you have to ask me. Just going through that hassle should eliminate a lot of petty things - namely because I screen my calls. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReconRat Posted October 17, 2009 Report Share Posted October 17, 2009 I've seen a lot of Excel templates for free for financial. Maybe one will do that. Or with a little bit of modifications.I actually had a friend track all his expenses for a year. (Easy to do when you're a student.) He only wanted to determine if he was having fun on his budget. Dunno. He never did say if he was or wasn't. I think he blew all his money on drinking and didn't have anything left over. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jporter12 Posted October 17, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 17, 2009 Whatever you're paying for the program - stop.Give me 75% of it, and access to your checking and savings. I'll be your money nanny. Everything you want to buy, you have to ask me. Just going through that hassle should eliminate a lot of petty things - namely because I screen my calls.All I paid for the class was for the books, and organiztional materials, I think it was $100. It's through our church, and is much more than just budgeting. It goes into savings, retirement, planning, a little bit into investing, all sorts of stuff that make it worth it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jporter12 Posted October 17, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 17, 2009 I've seen a lot of Excel templates for free for financial. Maybe one will do that. Or with a little bit of modifications.I actually had a friend track all his expenses for a year. (Easy to do when you're a student.) He only wanted to determine if he was having fun on his budget. Dunno. He never did say if he was or wasn't. I think he blew all his money on drinking and didn't have anything left over.I've found a few excel templates that are good, but none that do what I want. I'm just going to have to do it manually, or figure out how to get it to do it on my own.And BTDT on the drinking and not having anything left over. Did that for a few years, and didn't have enough to pay the bills! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
conn-e-rot Posted October 17, 2009 Report Share Posted October 17, 2009 try checking www.technet.com you might get lucky and find something there Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jporter12 Posted October 17, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 17, 2009 try checking www.technet.com you might get lucky and find something thereI've been planning on getting a technet subscription, just haven't had the extra $$$. What I was planning to spend for it got redirected due to not having a budget in place and gathering some overdraft charges.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shittygsxr Posted October 18, 2009 Report Share Posted October 18, 2009 All I paid for the class was for the books, and organiztional materials, I think it was $100. It's through our church, and is much more than just budgeting. It goes into savings, retirement, planning, a little bit into investing, all sorts of stuff that make it worth it.If you leave the class and realize that you really don't know shit yet then they taught you well. If you leave with a feeling of empowerment then they did you a disservice. I spent alot of time in college learning about money so anything they teach you in a couple of evenings should make you a bit more organized and hopefully a bit more responsible. Once you are done with the class do some more reading and learning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chevysoldier Posted October 18, 2009 Report Share Posted October 18, 2009 I had gotten quicken a few years ago, used it a lil in the military. I upgraded to the 2009 version a few months ago. Havent really gotten into it yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jporter12 Posted October 18, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 18, 2009 If you leave the class and realize that you really don't know shit yet then they taught you well. If you leave with a feeling of empowerment then they did you a disservice. I spent alot of time in college learning about money so anything they teach you in a couple of evenings should make you a bit more organized and hopefully a bit more responsible. Once you are done with the class do some more reading and learning.Well, I have a feeling already that I can do much better than I am now, and that I've been an idiot all along and SHOULD be much better off than I am now. I do plan to continue to pursue as much information as my time will allow after the classes.I had gotten quicken a few years ago, used it a lil in the military. I upgraded to the 2009 version a few months ago. Havent really gotten into it yet.You'll have to let me know what you think about it if ya get back into using it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chevysoldier Posted October 18, 2009 Report Share Posted October 18, 2009 Well, I have a feeling already that I can do much better than I am now, and that I've been an idiot all along and SHOULD be much better off than I am now. I do plan to continue to pursue as much information as my time will allow after the classes.You'll have to let me know what you think about it if ya get back into using it.Yup. You can play with it at work if you want. THE PROGRAM, GEESH. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jporter12 Posted October 18, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 18, 2009 Yup. You can play with it at work if you want. THE PROGRAM, GEESH.Sorry, I'm not like you, chicken fucker!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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