I need help with very basic cash flow/budgeting. Can you recommend a good book/resource?
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YNAB, Mint, Personal Capital (https://www.investopedia.com/persona...ting-software/).
jfoxcpacfp will have a more comprehensive list and might be a better guide.
Welcome aboard!
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I use Quicken, I can import all my accounts at once. I use either debit or credit for just about everything which makes it easy to import the transactions and give them a label. I don't use it as a budgeting program , but it is quite useful to know where all the money goes. You can't import you stocks and mutual funds also if you need to. We never had a "budget", we just spend less that we make. But I like itemizing everything, it gives me something to do on a Sat at 6am , having a Type A OCD personality.
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I don’t have my long list here at home, but The One Page Financial Plan by Carl Richards is a simple, fairly comprehensive way to get started. I have bought these books to give away to people who were just starting out and weren’t using a financial planner.Our passion is protecting clients and others from predatory and ignorant advisors. Fox & Co CPAs, Fox & Co Wealth Mgmt. 270-247-6087
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I would recommend a program like Quicken, if you put the data in on a regular basis , it is relatively painless. Pay everything using the same card, so it imports automatically. If you do it on a regular basis you will get a good idea where your money is going. I am sure you can set up a budget on Quicken but I never tried. We swipe our card for everything, it is real easy one or two months latter to remember what the money went for unless you track it. Basic finance and budgeting is not hard, you just need to spend less than you make.
Most basic budgeting tells you to avoid the small insignificant purchases , because a cup a starbucks a day adds up to a lot. I personally would take a different approach, control your big purchases , house and car, and the rest will come easy.
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Originally posted by Random1 View PostMost basic budgeting tells you to avoid the small insignificant purchases , because a cup a starbucks a day adds up to a lot. I personally would take a different approach, control your big purchases , house and car, and the rest will come easy.
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Originally posted by CordMcNally View PostDo you mean you need an app/program to help you or do you mean you want to learn about budgeting/cash flow?
I'm sure most of it is just discipline, but I really need some help.
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Originally posted by mw82 View Post
I want to learn more about budgeting/cash flow. I am using YNAB, but my spouse and I consistently run out of money before the next pay check comes in.
I'm sure most of it is just discipline, but I really need some help.
YNAB is great for this in that you can look back and see where your spending is. Where are you overspending? You may need to allocate more to certain areas, less to others. Ultimately though, its not going to work if monthly output is greater than monthly input. If thats the case you need to increase your income or start making cuts because its not sustainable long term
EDIT: If you can, start trying to "get ahead". As in, when I get my paycheck later this week, Ill use it to budget out my necessities for February. It gets me out of the paycheck-to-paycheck mindset and keeps me a month or so ahead. Im in a position now where it probably doesnt make a difference, but earlier in my career when things were tighter it certainly offered peace of mind
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Originally posted by mw82 View Post
I want to learn more about budgeting/cash flow. I am using YNAB, but my spouse and I consistently run out of money before the next pay check comes in.
I'm sure most of it is just discipline, but I really need some help.
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I have never budgeted truly , I pay myself first and save what I need to .
I have a very good idea about what we spend every month or year. , but not on how much we spend on clothes vs grocery vs other things ?
how helpful are these apps/ sites with calculating your expenses in different areas ? Any privacy concern with all your passwords with them ? Which one do you trust most ? Thanks
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