Family Budget Programs Locals Recommend
Parent: “We want to be more intentional about setting goals, saving and helping our kids invest and learn too. What programs do you use and like?”
K: I use Mint and have for many years. It’s okay to pretty good. “Reach your goals with personalized insights, custom budgets, spend tracking, and subscription monitoring —all for free.” https://mint.intuit.com/
C: I use Mint but haven’t tried anything else so can’t compare. It definitely helped us to rein things in.
B: Mint works for me. You can export the data and sort, analyse, etc. You can tag, add notes. The only downside is it tries to categorize things and gets them wrong sometimes.
L: We’ve actually found that our money is going much further now. We are intentional with our stimulus check, spending it on local businesses, but our food bills are almost exclusively from grocery stores or delivery services. Being intentional about saving and passing that on to your children is definitely important.
J: I have found nothing that beats a well set up and constantly updated excel spreadsheet.
J: In a financial group I’m in most people use You Need a Budget (YNAB). “Gain Total Control of Your Money. Stop living paycheck-to-paycheck, get out of debt, and save more money.” https://www.youneedabudget.com/
D: YNAB (you need a budget) has worked very well for us for 2 years now. And the Fans of YNAB group is spectacular. https://www.facebook.com/groups/YNABFans
S: We LOVE EveryDollar. You input your income and then expenses so that it equals 0 for each month so every dollar you make has a purpose. Then you keep track of your transactions so you don’t go over budget. You can pay for the plus which connects to your bank but we prefer entering our transactions manually so we realize how much we are spending. Been using it for 5 years nonstop and never looking back. “EveryDollar helps you create a monthly budget so you can achieve your money goals. Say goodbye to money stress and hello to confidence in your financial future. Create your first budget in less than 10 minutes. Free” https://www.everydollar.com/