There are so many online websites and tools to help you budget your own money. People are signing up for Mint.com or Justbudget.com or Hellowallet.com or Budgettracker.com and so on. These online sites are becoming more popular each day because people in general need help with managing their own money. Just google “online budget” and you’ll get a ton of results with different websites offering tools to help you manage your budget better.

Say No To Mint, Justbudget, Hellowallet and Budgettracker

Personally, I like to manage my own budget and have more sense of control of where my money is going or spent. The tools that these sites offer are nice and helpful, but it’s really not necessary. You don’t have to link all of your credit cards and/or checking and savings accounts and such and such.

It can be very simple and take only 10 minutes a month to manage. Let me introduce you to, wait for it… EXCEL! Yeah, you’ve heard of it. A simple spreadsheet that lets you add and subtract is all the software you need. Trust me, it’s very easy. There’s no linking of accounts or anything like that.

My Budget Skeleton

For every month, I have different line item for each bill that I pay every month, including a line for each credit card, mortgage, cable, phone, utilities, water, etc. etc. I also have a line item for money coming in, such as roommate and income from my day job.  Next to each of these line items, I have a column for date when the billing cycle is over for that specific item. That way, I know when I can start thinking about paying off that bill. Personally, I like to pay off each bill as soon as it’s ready for payment, so I don’t include the bill due date column. But you may include it if you feel it’ll help you. Next to that, I have a column for expected budget for that specific item. For instance, I have a budget of $290 for my Chase Mastercard because I use that credit card for my gas purchases only. I have a separate budget for my Discover Card for all my other credit card expenses. So, as I’m paying each bill, I type in the the amount and it sums it all up for me. At the very bottom, it tells me whether I exceeded the monthly budget or in line with my monthly budget. You can download an excel template that I use for my own personal budgeting. Feel free to use it and modify it to your liking.

Hopefully, your budget will allow you to save some money every month where you can put away in a high-yield online savings account, such as HSBC, ING Direct, or Discover Bank.

There are many reviews that people have written about Mint.com. I checked it out and I like it. But for what I do, I feel that my excel template serves its purpose. Check out Doughroller‘s such review.

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