I've always been a frugal person (that is - until I see a spectacular deal on kids' clothes or something like that). In the past, I have compiled all of my bills/income onto an excel spreadsheet at the end of the year so that we could see where we were spending our money and where we could improve. This was a good tool but it didn't offer much in the form of month to month adjustments. It just took too much time to do it monthly. I've never been able to make a "budget" where I say I will only spend x number of dollars in each category each month. I have always just avoided spending money on anything that wasn't necessary and then taking advantage of good deals to "stock up". So one month I may spend a small fortune on food but the next I may spend next to nothing. This method is a bit hap-hazard and I have wanted to feel like I was more knowlegable about where my money was going and how I could be a better money manager.
So - my mom mentioned an incredible service that I want to pass along. Mint.com is a FREE financial organizer. At the risk of sounding like an info-mercial - here goes. On this website you register all of your bank accounts, credit cards, investments, ect. Then it automatically categorizes all of your expenditures into categories that would be in a typical budget. You can add your own categories and you can change anything they have listed. It then can show you a pie chart so you can see where you are in your spending and it will compare what you are currently spending to what you have spent in the past. You can also plan a budget and you will get e-mail alerts when you are over what you have set for your budget.
I am letting you know about this service because I think it will help me immensly with keeping track of my spending on a month to month basis and it gives my husband and I a way to both track our finances in real time with out having to have a long "back to basics" discussion once a year. We can both be aware of where we are at all times and can make better financial decisions.
When our financial house is in order - we are better able to prepare ourselves for the future by having a surplus of edible food and supplies and being able to create our own "rainy day fund". So - here goes - I've registered myself and am excited to finally feel like this part of my house is in order!
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