One of the best ways to spend less money is to track how you are spending it. I have used Dave Ramsey’s free downloadable budgeting sheets for over four years. For some reason writing it down on paper makes it easier for me to actually stick to the budget.
There are a few online programs out there that might be worth checking out if you aren’t a pencil and paper type of person.
Mint.com
Mint is a FREE online money manager that I wrote about last year. I was hesitant about using it because you enter the account information for all your bank accounts, credit cards, and investments on the site and then it helps you manage your money all in one place. I have to admit I really like the idea of Mint.com, but my husband was unsure of keeping all our financial information in one place. I read through their privacy and security page and they use the same type of security that a bank uses. So if you use online banking, you would probably be comfortable with Mint.com.
Crown Mvelopes
Mvelopes is like a digital version of the paper envelope system. Unlike Mint.com it has a monthly fee ranging from $7-$12 a month depending on your payment plan. This system also coordinates all your bank accounts, credit card accounts and investment accounts and includes bill pay. (So if your bank charges you for bill pay this might be a better deal) I am a bit partial to Crown as the founder of Crown Ministries was a good friend of my parents when I was growing up.
Neither service actually holds your money, but rather helps you track the money that is in your current accounts. Both start with creating a budget, which is the most important step in getting on the right financial path. Both services seem very user friendly and will probably help you pay off debt, save more, and give more.
If you haven’t started budgeting the best time to start is now! Mint.com is free and Mvelopes offers a free trial so you can check them out and see which one is the best fit!
We recently began using Mint. It is great! I am visiting from the HHH….so glad I found your blog!
I recommend pearbudget.com
I have been using them for about 2 years and prefer them over Mint.
Found you over by Orgjunkie from Menu Plan Monday and got looking around. I use Mint and LOVE IT because it actually has a thing similar to Mvelopes from Crown.
I tried using Mint last year to get a grip on our finances. I actually found Dave Ramsey’s worksheets more useful because, like you, the seeing it on paper feeling is more helpful to me. We had some trouble with Mint not being completely accurate and, once we joined a credit union as part of DH’s new job, we couldn’t get Mint to work. It doesn’t always want to play nice with some online banking programs used by financial institutions.