budget is stuck on the computer.

KatieCutie05 · November 2015

Hey guys - I'm at a loss right now and i'm not sure how to handle this. We are having a very hard time sticking to a budget because its only on my computer (can't even see it from a phone or tablet) - And i don't have time to update it regularly with our spending so even when one of us does log in- its never up to date. Theres no way we could possibly be able to use it to judge whether or not we could afford something. We just guess... then at some point in the middle of the month i'll go through and enter like 70 something transactions to see how bad we are doing. We tried cash but it was so much more of a pain then it was worth.

It seems like every way to budget is either only on a pc, or if it has an app its only an ipad app and we are google people. The only real pc i use is my work laptop which i can't install anything on. So i'm stuck. I was able to get ynab to run on my laptop - but i still can't get dropbox so its basically stuck on the computer. Everydollar only has an apple app and we can't plan in advance very well.. Excel would definitely be stuck on the computer. Mint was extremely limited and messed up alot.

All i can think is running multiple programs which would be a huge pain or buying an old ipad off ebay - maybe both. Is it just us? are we just too lazy? Does everyone really manually write down every transaction and keep a log at home that both spouses constantly keep up to date?

hoffse · November 2015

Use a google spreadsheet. Then you can see it on any computer and you guys can edit at the same time. That's what we do, and it works great.

It's basically an excel sheet, but it's for google so it's on the cloud.

brij2006 · November 2015

We went back to good ole pen and paper this summer before EveryDollar came out (we're Apple people).

We kept it hanging on the side of the fridge, and when either of us got home from spending money (even filling the car with gas), we wrote it in and subtracted it out of that category. Then there was no question on where we were standing with things.

I swear, having a new baby screws with things so much. We were really bad at sticking to the budget right after DD was born. Things were a whirlwind and our budget was never updated.

We have had to force ourselves to be a lot more mindful about it now. It just is no longer an option to not be.

cbee817 · November 2015

I update an excel sheet a few times a week after the girls are in bed. I have access to all of DH's credit card stuff and he lets me know if he takes any cash out or writes a check (which is really rare and usually for school-related things). It probably takes 15 minutes 2x a week.. just need to keep on it.

simplyelise · November 2015

We used to do google docs before everdollar and it worked great. I have an android and DH has a iphone, so we could both look at it and edit it Now that we use everydollar, I just update it with my transactions either at work or at home on my laptop.

Honestly, the bigger problem is that you have to make the time to log transactions. If you track your expenses daily, it should only take 5 minutes each night. If you really struggle with actually updating your expenses, it doesn't matter what system you use, it won't matter what you use or how you can access it. If you really want to get serious about sticking with it, maybe switch to a cash envelop system until you gain the discipline needed to plan ahead and track expenses.

julieanne912 · November 2015

hoffse said:

Use a google spreadsheet. Then you can see it on any computer and you guys can edit at the same time. That's what we do, and it works great.

It's basically an excel sheet, but it's for google so it's on the cloud.

This is what we use too. We have two separate ones... one for me and one for him, but they are shared with editing privileges with the other. So I can go in and look at his and he can look at mine (although I don't think he does). I do a lot of my budgeting work and bill paying at work, so having something I can access from anywhere is super important.

For tracking expenses, I use mint.com. It links up to all of your accounts (if you want it to) and automatically logs everything. After awhile it starts to even know what expenses go into which category (like it now knows that "Express Stop" is the highway toll company so it automatically categorizes those as "tolls"). It has a phone app as well. Obviously this doesn't work for cash expenses but if you use your debit card for everything it's great.

dragonstarjk · November 2015

I haven't a clue what any of these are, and I really do use good old fashioned pen and paper to do our budget. I write out our monthly budget and every few months we go over it to make sure we don't need to make changes. Other than that, it doesn't change.

I guess this is where having separate accounts comes in handy. H keeps track of his part of the budget and I keep track of mine. I don't log every transaction anywhere; I just know in my head, okay I have $XX to spend on groceries this week and then when I go shopping I aim to keep it under that amount.

I guess we are WAY more basic when it comes to budgeting. I write out my bills bi-weekly (H does his monthly, but I prefer to do them by paycheck).

As an added bonus, since we put as much as possible on our credit cards to earn points, the credit cards automatically put stuff into certain spending categories, so if I ever needed that information I would have it.

You asked if it was just laziness so I am going to answer your question, and I hope you don't get mad--but yeah, I kind of think it is. If the excuse that you can't stick to a budget is because you can't access the app or log transactions or whatever, that's a poor excuse. Get a notebook, write down your expenses, and don't spend more than that.

als1982 · November 2015

We update our Excel budget weekly. Also, 70 transactions in a month seems like a lot!! Are you really making more than two purchases a day, because that might be the bigger problem...

simplyelise · November 2015

als1982 said:

We update our Excel budget weekly. Also, 70 transactions in a month seems like a lot!! Are you really making more than two purchases a day, because that might be the bigger problem...

Agree completely. Most of our expenses are fixed (rent, utilities, phones, insurance) then we do a big grocery trip once a week and maybe pick something small up on the way home 1-2 times a week. Then we each buy gas whenever needed. And we have 1-2 dates a month. That doesn't amount to very much tracking at all, just a few each week.

KatieCutie05 · November 2015

thats counting fixed expenses - Fixed expenses and income all still need to be recorded and theres a ton of that. plus gas 2-3 times a week, groceries/household about 3 times a week, lunches out 2-4 times a week. takeout a few times a month, baby stuff a few times a month, and a few extras.

Xstatic3333 · November 2015

Here's what we do. We also have separate accounts for convenience sake but do consider all money "ours." I have a higher take home but pay more bills out of my checks so we have equal money for "fun."

-We create a budget spreadsheet for each individual paycheck on our computer.

-All bills for the paycheck are paid on payday, and all savings or debt transfers are made immediately so all that's left is basically gas, fun money, and groceries. This is why I loathe autopay and the few bills that require me to use it. I like making accounted for money go away asap.

-I email the spreadsheet with the budget to H each of his pay days so he has a list to refer to of what bills he needs to pay and where he needs to transfer money to. He does often refer to this on the go.

-Our fun money is only $100, so we basically each keep mental tabs on it. If we end up a little under on gas, using the small difference on fun is okay in our system.

AprilZ81 · November 2015

Do you have smart phones or tablets that you keep with you?

There are some good (free) budget apps out there. I have Good Budget (virtual envelope system), I've used it for four years now and just decided to upgrade to get more functionality.

No matter what system you use, it won't be effective unless you actually use it. I know you have a new baby and you both work, but writing down a transaction doesn't take that long if you stay on top of it. I usually enter the expense in my app as I'm standing at the register, or as soon as I get into the car.

kmurphy2131 · November 2015

KatieCutie05 said:

thats counting fixed expenses - Fixed expenses and income all still need to be recorded and theres a ton of that. plus gas 2-3 times a week, groceries/household about 3 times a week, lunches out 2-4 times a week. takeout a few times a month, baby stuff a few times a month, and a few extras.

I just counted out of curiosity - we had a total of 79 inputs in you need a budget in october. That's all fixed expenses, all transfers to various savings accounts (4), plus all our other expenses. A week of grocery shopping can sometimes be 4-5 transactions - I shop at multiple stores & usually make one extra trip mid week to get something I was afraid I would go bad. I guess this doesn't add to the discussion much except to say that 70 doesn't seem that crazy to me.

simplyelise · November 2015

kmurphy2131 said:

KatieCutie05 said:

thats counting fixed expenses - Fixed expenses and income all still need to be recorded and theres a ton of that. plus gas 2-3 times a week, groceries/household about 3 times a week, lunches out 2-4 times a week. takeout a few times a month, baby stuff a few times a month, and a few extras.

I just counted out of curiosity - we had a total of 79 inputs in you need a budget in october. That's all fixed expenses, all transfers to various savings accounts (4), plus all our other expenses. A week of grocery shopping can sometimes be 4-5 transactions - I shop at multiple stores & usually make one extra trip mid week to get something I was afraid I would go bad. I guess this doesn't add to the discussion much except to say that 70 doesn't seem that crazy to me.

We had 62 in October. I just meant that it's easier for us to do fixed expenses because you don't have to have receipts or anything because you already know the amounts. It's payday? Log it and the tithe (autodraft). First day of the month? Log the rent. The only things we have to keep track of varied expenses for are groceries, gas, our one date night, and toiletries. When we drop it down to that, we're at about 40 transactions.

kmurphy2131 · November 2015

simplyelise said:

kmurphy2131 said:

KatieCutie05 said:

thats counting fixed expenses - Fixed expenses and income all still need to be recorded and theres a ton of that. plus gas 2-3 times a week, groceries/household about 3 times a week, lunches out 2-4 times a week. takeout a few times a month, baby stuff a few times a month, and a few extras.

I just counted out of curiosity - we had a total of 79 inputs in you need a budget in october. That's all fixed expenses, all transfers to various savings accounts (4), plus all our other expenses. A week of grocery shopping can sometimes be 4-5 transactions - I shop at multiple stores & usually make one extra trip mid week to get something I was afraid I would go bad. I guess this doesn't add to the discussion much except to say that 70 doesn't seem that crazy to me.

We had 62 in October. I just meant that it's easier for us to do fixed expenses because you don't have to have receipts or anything because you already know the amounts. It's payday? Log it and the tithe (autodraft). First day of the month? Log the rent. The only things we have to keep track of varied expenses for are groceries, gas, our one date night, and toiletries. When we drop it down to that, we're at about 40 transactions.

Okay that makes sense. Just different ways of looking at the same thing. I honestly was wondering what we were doing wrong to have so many transactions!

vlagrl29 · November 2015

brij2006 said:
We went back to good ole pen and paper this summer before EveryDollar came out (we're Apple people).

We kept it hanging on the side of the fridge, and when either of us got home from spending money (even filling the car with gas), we wrote it in and subtracted it out of that category. Then there was no question on where we were standing with things.

I swear, having a new baby screws with things so much. We were really bad at sticking to the budget right after DD was born. Things were a whirlwind and our budget was never updated.
We have had to force ourselves to be a lot more mindful about it now. It just is no longer an option to not be.

We are Mac people as well. I had never heard of this. Just downloaded.

hoffse · November 2015

Out of curiosity I just counted, and we have 22 things on autopay. I stick as many as I can on a CC though because I hate real money being pulled out of our account automatically.

With the autopay/fixed expense items they should be the same (or mostly the same) each month, so there's no math to do there. TBH I record them all at the beginning of the month just to remind myself how much money is committed to them. There is one student loan payment, our mortgage, and H's life insurance that are drafted from our bank account on the first of the month. For those, I will fund December's payment in November and just count it in November's cash flow because I am using money we earned in November to set aside our December payments.

Then all you have to keep track of is groceries, gas, shopping. We had 62 non-fixed transactions last month across 4 credit cards - about 10 of them were reimbursable, so we have to keep track of that in a separate column. You just have to make a point to do it. As part of my morning routine at work I update the google spreadsheet from the day before.

formerlyGDaisy09 · November 2015

we use google docs to track everything. that way H and I can both access anytime. honestly, it's been a while since I've looked at our actual budget, that said, we pay everything on our credit cards and our monthly balances have been pretty much right on for total spending, so I don't feel the need to go in and get nit-picky about "oh well, we were under on groceries, but over on eating out, and Hey you spent over on your fun money and I had no fun last month"

when we have had months where the credit card bill seems high, I go in and investigate the cause, so we can determine if it was a one time thing we should be pulling from one of our earmarked funds, or if it's a bigger problem that we should be dealing with like too much on groceries or eating out (most the time I know the answer before I look, but H likes to get the run-down). honestly for the latter part of this pregnancy I've been in more of an "i don't care place" as far as food-spending goes, I've had so many food aversions that it matters more that I'm eating something than if our food budget is spot-on.

budget is stuck on the computer.

Re: budget is stuck on the computer.

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