Just curious... how does everyone keep track of their household finances??? Has anyone ever used one of those software programs you can buy at like Staples that help organize your budget and so on??? Trying to find a new way to get things organized at home, any suggestion would be appreciated :p
I don't use a computer program, since I am not the greatest with computers. I do keep track of my finances though!
I use a spiral bound book, about 8X10 in size. I write down each bill for a two week period and the dollar value for the current bill. As I pay them, I write "paid" next to each one and file the actual bill, also marked paid. This works well for me. I don't miss a payment(ever!) and I keep things filed and organized.
Depending on what "finances" you are talking about. For taxes, I use Turbo Tax, and for daily finances, I use Quicken/Quiken Deluxe now... These are simple, easy, and affordable. Yu can go get them at the local Staples for a pretty good price. But the important thing is that they are easy. You may or may not want the deluxe version of Quicken, just tell the service assistant what you need it for, and they will help you decide which version to get. Good luck though.
We've used Quicken for years and years, and we love it.
One piece of advice if you are choosing money software:
BACK UP OFTEN!!!!!!!
There's nothing worse than redoing 3 months of data entry because of some computer fluke. Trust me. Back up often and make a diskette backup as well as a hard drive one!
Oh, what a nightmare... HAHA. I will tell you what, besides for the scary erasure of data, I think Quicken works very well, heck most of them do. I am more scared about some young kid messing mine taxes up at one of the tax places... I think that quicken or turbo are the way to go, they are cheap, around 20-40 buck, and you can get them easily, staples, online, etc. Simple, affordable, trustworthy... as long as you save often...LOL
>Just curious... how does everyone keep track of their household finances??? Has anyone ever used one of those software programs you can buy at like Staples that help organize your budget and so on??? Trying to find a new way to get things organized at home, any suggestion would be appreciated >
When my bills come in the mail, they immediately go into a "Bills Box" on top of my china cabinet affer I've opened them. On the last day of the month, I write the bills. There are about 3 straggler bills that come in and are due before the next month, so they get paid when they come in. I live alone, retired senior, so I am in control of the money and how it is spent.
I really can keep track of my money in my head! But, I check my balances online almost nightly.
On my Word Pad, I have a file "Mo Bills" for Monthly Bills. It is alphabetical with columns for name of company owed, amount due, date due, balance if appropraite. I printed out a copy and keep it in my Bills Box. This helps to show if a bill has not come in.
I have another file on my Word Pad "Groceries 2008". I put in the store where I purchased the groceries, what I buy, the date, how much purchased, how much saved with coupons and store specials, and how much I spent. For more than one month, I"ve purchased $500 - $600 and spent $100. I do stock up. Friends give me coupons so I have multiples, match them up with advertised specials and find unadvertised specials in the store on which I can use coupons.
I like writing checks as that is a good record of what I spent.
My 4 drawer old Army filing cabinet holds a lot of records. A lot of the manila folders and green hanging files were obtained free at a thrift shop. I worked for the Army as a civilian. They taught me to document everything and keep good records. One way to do that is file your bills in their own folder each month. Just keeping the last bill doesn't always show the whole story if you have a problem, so I keep them for a long time.
I love Turbo Tax. I have been using it for years. Remember you can write the cost of it off on your taxes. Also can write the money off it cost to file your taxes thru the internet. Our state has a free website for the State Tax. I use that every year. Look on your state tax book you get in the mail. Just look under the section --File tax returns. They will have the site listed if they have one. All you need usually is a drivers license # or social security #.
I use a trusty notebook to keep my finances in order.
We use an excel spreadsheet for both our checkbook and monthly bills. The montly bills are all logged by date due in a separate workbook. Bills that have not been paid are in red and bills that have been paid are in black. For our checkbook, I have columns for debits & credits and I've set it up so that the program automatically calculates the debits & credits and then gives us the running balance (very much like quicken).
DH would like us to get on a budget and I think with the spreadsheet we are on our way, just need to get myself under a little more control
I use turbo tax for our taxes - I love the "its deductible" portion to help determine values for all the stuff we donate to charity.
I do keep track of my finances though!
Back up those files! 
