Free Budgeting Tools: Learning to Budget Doesn't Have to Cost Money

Free budgeting tools abound on the internet. There are only a few that I personally recommend. Some of them are trial versions or Beta versions (test versions which are offered for free while they develop them more fully for public release).

The first free budgeting tool you may want to try is PearBudget . Pear Budget is a simple budgeting and expense tracking service. It is perfect for you if you are new to budgeting, or if you feel overwhelmed by your finances. Simpler and easier to use than Quicken or Microsoft Money, it is totally free while in beta; after that, it will only be $3 per month.

Mint.com offers award-winning money management software for free. Set-up takes five minutes. Once you've done that, you'll be able to keep up-to-date with your finances, track your cash purchases more easily, and even compare your spending with others.

Another free budgeting tool (well, it is practically free) is simply a pen and paper. That's right, you don't necessarily need a fancy-schmancy budget slicer dicer. As long as you know what your expenses are and in which categories they fit, you are cooking with gas.

You can also organize your check register (free with your checks) according to budget categories and keep a running balance of each. On the first line, write down the payee and the amount as usual. Then on the second line, write the budget category and the balance for that category. Calculate your new balance by subtracting the transaction amount from the category balance. Be sure to transfer all of the balances over when you change registers.

A special note here: Rich people always write down what they spend. You will find that forming this habit will enable you to keep a mental tally of your cash flow. It is all about talking the talk and walking the walk, after all.

Okay, last but not least on the list: An Excel spreadsheet. If you don't have this proprietary program already factory loaded onto your computer, I will be very surprised. However, if yours is a trial version, you may want to try the Microsoft look-alike software from Sun Microsystems before forking over hundreds of dollars on the name-brand. You can download a copy of OpenOffice.org Calc for free. It works (and looks) almost exactly like Microsoft Excel.

Once you have a spreadsheet program, you will of course need to learn how to use it. I would be glad to give you a few pointers. Check back in the near future for a tutorial on how to input the formulas you need to set up your own budget using this simple but powerful platform.

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