Budget software/app help or suggestion

[Shughart]

Hey all long time no see. I'd love some suggestions of anyone has any. Last summer my husband changed jobs and went from a 15/30th pay schedule (super easy for me have a budget in excel and I was able to basically copy and paste our budget schedule out 6-12 months and tweak as needed as all bills/needs were paid on the same schedule and little changes were needed. Now he's on a biweekly schedule and it has made budgeting more interesting/difficult because the pay checks move and the bills slide all around. Sometimes there's an extra check and budgeting is no longer as easy or fun as it used to be. Does anyone have a quick/ simple method for laying out a biweekly budget in excel (it takes much longer now) or any apps/software they use? I like to have all columns summed up at the end, matching the column next to it which is what our current bank balance is. I also sometimes borrow from the next weeks paycheck if a CC payment is due a few days before and I have the room because another payment is due after that check. I know sometimes software/apps aren't always great for that.

Any help/advice is appreciated!

 

[_19disnA]

I think Excel or other similiar spreadsheet products are great for budgeting. I like Excel since it gives me a lot of flexibility on how to arrange things and you can easily make it as simple or complex as you like. If you want to budget weekly, you can setup each column as a week and then copy/paste the recurring items. Formulas are easily applied to get totals and do basic math functions. Software specifically for budgeting can't be used for much else and often their ideas of how to arrange things don't match your intended uses.

 

[StacyStrong]

I use YNAB and I’m obsessed. It’s been amazing for my finances. It would not be great with borrowing from your future self, but it might help you stop that habit.

It does cost money though. I suggest it to anyone and everyone.

 

[mich311e]

YNAB changed my life! You can use the app or the desktop version. I have my checking account set up as a direct import, which is nice, I'd never track all the transactions on my own. There is a way to link your credit card, I haven't done that though.

 

[Shughart]

I use YNAB and I’m obsessed. It’s been amazing for my finances. It would not be great with borrowing from your future self, but it might help you stop that habit.

It does cost money though. I suggest it to anyone and everyone.

Yeah, it's a thing like, I have a CC payment column for each paycheck period and if I've got a slush/carryover (like right now we're carrying a column to hold onto money to buy my daughter a car) I will take $140 to make that credit payment which is due 2 days before payday, because now the paychecks move and don't like up nicely with all the paydays :/ and then I'll replace that slush money with part of the CC payment column after pay day if that makes sense.

 

[DLgal]

I would suggest slowly building up your checking account to have an extra month's worth of expenses in it. This way, the moving paydays don't affect that months bills. If you have a month's worth of expenses in a savings account, move it into the checking.

My husband went from bi monthly pay (1st and 15th) to the following schedule:

Paychecks on the 1st and 15th
A Paycheck every Friday (weekly pay)

There is NO good way to handle monthly bills with a pay schedule like this, so I just moved a chunk into our account that is equal to the amount of one month's expenses to have that much extra at all times.

I use Google Sheets (excel). I haven't found anything I like better.

 

[QueenofPrideRock]

Yeah, it's a thing like, I have a CC payment column for each paycheck period and if I've got a slush/carryover (like right now we're carrying a column to hold onto money to buy my daughter a car) I will take $140 to make that credit payment which is due 2 days before payday, because now the paychecks move and don't like up nicely with all the paydays :/ and then I'll replace that slush money with part of the CC payment column after pay day if that makes sense.

Another vote for YNAB!! It also changed my life in SO many ways.

If I am understanding you correctly, I believe YNAB allows you to do this. You'd be able to move the money from your car category to the CC payment category. (ETA and then "replenish" the car category after pay day.)

However, I will say that one of the ways YNAB changed my life was with the way it handles CCs. I am obsessed with not carrying a balance now, which has hugely helped when it comes to paying down debt.

There is a bit of a learning curve but I find it well worth it ... I check mine every day and actually enjoy it!

 

[MomToOne]

With biweekly pay, I find it easier to just budget based on 2 paychecks a month still. Then the 2 months that there is an extra paycheck, I target that money to something that isn't paid each month either - car insurance, car repairs, home repairs, etc. - or savings.

 

[ThereYouSeeHer]

Sometimes there's an extra check and budgeting is no longer as easy or fun as it used to be.

Your new monthly budget should be based on two paychecks only.

In months where an extra paycheck exists, it can be added as Miscellaneous Income.

As someone mentioned, those extra paychecks can go towards non-monthly, larger bills like insurance or property taxes or even savings.

I also sometimes borrow from the next weeks paycheck if a CC payment is due a few days before and I have the room because another payment is due after that check.

Yeah, it's a thing like, I have a CC payment column for each paycheck period and if I've got a slush/carryover (like right now we're carrying a column to hold onto money to buy my daughter a car) I will take $140 to make that credit payment which is due 2 days before payday, because now the paychecks move and don't like up nicely with all the paydays :/ and then I'll replace that slush money with part of the CC payment column after pay day if that makes sense.

Budgeting by Month in a spreadsheet is our official method of budgeting. However, in the same spreadsheet, we unofficially use the Budget by Paycheck method. We map out a quick plan of which paychecks will pay which bills, and then we officially record it in our budget as we progress through the month.

If you find yourself borrowing from a future paycheck or another fund, even for just a few days, it means that bill needs to be paid from the paycheck before the due date, not borrowed from the paycheck after the due date.

For example:

Paycheck April 12th (plan to save CC payment from here)
CC Due April 24th
Paycheck April 26th (don't plan to borrow CC payment from here)

This requires some rework to move bills back a paycheck, but it's worth it to make sure you have your paycheck 'in hand' before spending it.

It'll get easier as you make some adjustments along the way!

 

[BGbarbaraBG]

Hey all long time no see. I'd love some suggestions of anyone has any. Last summer my husband changed jobs and went from a 15/30th pay schedule (super easy for me have a budget in excel and I was able to basically copy and paste our budget schedule out 6-12 months and tweak as needed as all bills/needs were paid on the same schedule and little changes were needed. Now he's on a biweekly schedule and it has made budgeting more interesting/difficult because the pay checks move and the bills slide all around. Sometimes there's an extra check and budgeting is no longer as easy or fun as it used to be. Does anyone have a quick/ simple method for laying out a biweekly budget in excel (it takes much longer now) or any apps/software they use? I like to have all columns summed up at the end, matching the column next to it which is what our current bank balance is. I also sometimes borrow from the next weeks paycheck if a CC payment is due a few days before and I have the room because another payment is due after that check. I know sometimes software/apps aren't always great for that.

Any help/advice is appreciated!

Ramit Sethi - read his book!

 

[OrangeBirdGirl]

I also just use Excel. And, I budget on 2 paychecks per month (per each of us as we both work). I sometimes have a budget out there for 2 months but mostly it's just current month. Because bills do get adjusted as to what check they are pulled on based on the due date vs our pay date. Our bills are pretty much set, we aren't adding any loans and we have no debt so nothing will fall off. So I don't see a reason to bother budgeting out months in advance. I am basically using this to remember to log various auto-pays (cell, netflix, youtube, etc) in Quicken which I use for my registers. And, manual bills like water which isn't available on autopay in my town, I need to go in and have a check sent for that so I know when to do that.

For example for May, our first check is the April 28th check. But then the last check for May is May 19th, then May 26th is the "extra" one. You just have to do what is right for how your bill schedule would work.

 

[lockets]

Add my vote for YNAB. That’s what I use now and I love it.

Prior to this I used excel in detail for years however I never budgeted by paycheck. I calculated the approximate annual amount for everything and divided by 12 for a monthly budget. Then I reforecasted quarterly. Need some padding to do this though. Won’t work if it’s a paycheck to paycheck situation.

 

[EllieJedi]

Another vote for YNAB. One of the things I love is that they’ve really continued to add new features based on feedback from users. The educational content and community is really supportive as well.

 

[maux]

Hey all long time no see. I'd love some suggestions of anyone has any. Last summer my husband changed jobs and went from a 15/30th pay schedule (super easy for me have a budget in excel and I was able to basically copy and paste our budget schedule out 6-12 months and tweak as needed as all bills/needs were paid on the same schedule and little changes were needed. Now he's on a biweekly schedule and it has made budgeting more interesting/difficult because the pay checks move and the bills slide all around. Sometimes there's an extra check and budgeting is no longer as easy or fun as it used to be. Does anyone have a quick/ simple method for laying out a biweekly budget in excel (it takes much longer now) or any apps/software they use? I like to have all columns summed up at the end, matching the column next to it which is what our current bank balance is. I also sometimes borrow from the next weeks paycheck if a CC payment is due a few days before and I have the room because another payment is due after that check. I know sometimes software/apps aren't always great for that.

Any help/advice is appreciated!

Not really a budget software reply, but can you reach out to your credit card company and see if you can move your payment due date? I’ve done it before to make my budget dates work.

maux

 

[RamblingMad]

What is YNAB?

 

[lockets]

What is YNAB?

It stands for You Need A Bidget and they have an app or it can be used online. You can link your bank accounts so that everything you charge is automatically added to the budget for you and then you simply have to assign where it gets allocated, or you can use it manually if you want to keep your info private. The theory behind it is that you only budget what you have so you don’t overspend. I use it to easily track everything these days.