Does anyone use Quicken to budget? We NEED to set ourselves on a budget now if we ever want a house. So, I was thinking of buying Quicken, continuing normally for a month and then sitting down with all the info and seeing where we can cut. Does anyone have any feedback on the program, or maybe another that you like better?
LoriH
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Re: Quicken
Never used Quicken but this is what FH and I started doing and it seems to work really well.
We do all of our banking online. We have a Joint Checking account that our paychecks go into and all our bills go out of. We also each have our own checking accounts that are linked to the joint account.
I created a list of every monthly bill. I took this information and created an Excel spreadsheet that listed when each bill was due and when the paychecks come in. If it was a bill that fluctuates (Groceries Electric ect) I used the highest amount that we have paid in the last six months as the figure.
I allocated weekly money to each of us that I have automatically transferred to our individual accounts. This is our shopping money, going out money ect.
I also have a certain amount automatically transferred into our savings for the wedding. I can't believe how much money we were wasting it's sick… I wish I would have done this ages ago.
MrsERod
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Re: Quicken
my DH swears by Quicken!!!
Jan05Bride
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Re: Quicken
We use MSN Money. It's not perfect but it helps me see where things are. I have an excel spread sheet I made up to layout exactly what we make, what we have asset wise, what we owe in debt and what our monthly bills are ... from there we were able to see where we needed to cut, how much we were able to save and what a realistic goal is ... if you want me to send you the excel file, just FM me your address!
