A Look at Budgeting Software Programs

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In today’s era of great technology, it is easy for people to keep track of their personal finances with the many different personal budgeting software options that are available. Both management and keeping track of one’s personal finance becomes and easy task with the different software programs for such endeavors that are currently available. Here is a sampling of three versatile budgeting software programs: You Need a Budget, Mint, and PearBudget.

You Need A Budget

The aim of the You Need A Budget software is to teach fiscal responsibility. The software walks its users through the steps of creating a budget, explaining the benefits of having a budget along the way. The four basic principles that the You Need A Budget software teaches, also known as the You Need A Budget Method, are: give every dollar a job, save for a rainy day, roll with the punches, and live on last month’s income. The You Need A Budget software is particularly useful for beginnings and those just stepping into the world of managing finances for the first time. Many users find this software well worth the $60 cost. It’s useful for basic budget advice and getting yourself out of debt; however, it does take some time and repeated use for this software’s effects to come into play, and you must be willing to manually enter your figures.

Mint

Mint is a free online budgeting software. It can be accessed from any computer or mobile device. Every time you visit the Mint website, your financial information is automatically updated. The presentation of your information is easy to read and pleasing on the eyes, with the use of many graphs. Many users appreciate the weekly email summaries, text and email alerts, and goal setting graphs that mint offers; conversely, things to be aware of with the use of Mint include lack of advanced features, lack of customer support, and lack of an easy way to generate reports.

PearBudget

PearBudget is a budget spreadsheet created for use in Microsoft Excel that is available for free. PearBudget requires its users to enter both their funds and expenses into the spreadsheet daily. It has the ability to track fixed, irregular and variable expenses either together separately, depending on the users needs and preferences. Users must manually enter their transactions, which can lead to more mindful spending and a stronger of idea of how the users money is spent. The pros of PearBudget include its compatibility with both Mac and PC platforms and its offering of detailed budgeting details for users, while cons of PearBudget include the amount of manual entry that it entails.