New divorced mom needs to learn budgeting and financial managment! Help!?

Question

I'm newly separated with a little in savings and I'm starting a new job. The problem is--I have no clue how to budget. I would like to use my computer to keep track, but my computer skills are rusty, can anyone give me detailed information on how to get started with Microsoft financial information? I have Microsoft money(I think) but it is asking me to convert(does that cost money) and I have no clue how to get started on any financial program. please help.

Answer 1

I have designed a template for a personal budget. It is most basic, but it is helpful, even, in more advanced situations. The worksheet was designed with Lotus123, and I can easily convert it to MS Excel.

It is good that you desire to manage your money. The alternative is to let your money manage you, and I have a hunch which alternative you prefer! Remember... you pay for food, clothing, shelter, transportation, fun, etc, but when do you pay you? Remember to pay yourself, first!

Feel free to visit my website for more information or to request additional information, including my budget template. Go to http://www.phillipfostercpa.com/money.html and send me an email with your contact information, and I will see what I can do to help you get started.

Phil

Answer 2

I used to use Quicken and hated it and I am a computer nerd. What I didn't like is it separated out too much and too time consuming and it only did expenses. Maybe the software has changed (quicken, money, etc are all very similar).

I do it in Excel. I list all my categories (mortgage, to day care, to food to pocket money) and put what I have to pay each month on each bill and how much money I allocate to food, gas (variable items), etc. and at the end of the month I should have zero. Some of the money goes into savings for emergencies (that is how I end up with "zero").

I suggest you read The Total Money Makeover by Ramsey on a full picture on how to budget. His website has budget forms and I used them as a guide and modified them to my specific categories (instead of phone it says Verizon, etc)

Back to the computer programs. I assume they want to convert your investments into the program...if you watch your investments on line. Some banks also allow for such a transfer but I never did it.

You should be able to start the financial program without converting anything. You just put in the correct figures manually.

Good luck and I am sorry about the separation.

Answer 3

Managing money can be extremly hard especially when their are major changes in your circumstances as you have...I don't know if I can help you with your computer programes (though excel is a great way to keep track of your money) there are heaps of sites on the net that help you work through these times. I found great inspiration from some yahoo groups if you go to groups in the menu of yahoo and type in frugal,budgeting etc it should come up with a list of groups that have that information for you I am in several and I get good Ideas from all of them.

You can also find some blogs on the net that are helpful also in learning how to budget your money this one here I find interesting

http://www.bloggingawaydebt.com

Also there are work sheets avaliable on various other sites just put in a search and go from there

good luck with it all and I hope things work out for you soon

Answer 4

I would recommend checking out Dave Ramsey's website. He is an expert when it comes to finances, and I think he could point you in the right direction as far as how to develop a budget. I don't know much about Microsoft Money, but you might do a yahoo search and see if there are any guides on it. Sorry I can't help more.

Answer 5

I happen to really like MS Money. What you want to do is create an account for each account you have at the bank, plus an account called Cash. Nothing's worse than having tons of cash withdraws and you don't know where the money went. When you withdraw money, you would put it into Money as a transfer from your bank account to your cash account. Then use your receipts to put in what category you spent your cash in.

The best way to start a budget for the first time is to stop using cash, sign up for online banking at your bank (normally free), and spend a sensible amount on things you normally spend money on. Keep track of what you're using for about two months before you try to make huge changes, just to make sure that the month you happen to watch isn't a fluke.

If you categorize things properly in MS Money, it'll make a budget for you with "AutoBudget." It'll look at what you've spent and fill in the blanks for you. You normally spend x on rent, you normally spend x on food, etc.

Make sure you check the numbers, because it might have some strange things. If you happened to do this in December, for example, it might think you spend thousands of dollars each year in gifts.

I personally use a combination of financial software and an Excel spreadsheet. My spreadsheet is a weekly cashflow spreadsheet, where I can break down the 200 we spend on gas into 50 in each of four colums, for example. Then I know things like, "I pay rent and car insurance in week 1, and my car payment in week 3, so therefore the money that's going into savings should be in week 2 of this month."

If you'd like to see the Excel spreadsheet that I use, I can email it to you if you send me a message with your email address.

Answer 6

Meet your new friend Flylady. She has helped me with everything and for free. Check out her website flylady.com there is a special section for finances. I included the link below. She will show you how to control your finances and face your way of thinking. I personally was one to always whine and say I don't make enough money so why try and get my finances in order. I frequently bounced checks. I have not bounced and have actually had money left in my account (even tho only a few dollars) every month. She has been a saving grace in every aspect of my life. Good luck.

Answer 7

You need a budget worksheet. I created one in Excel that's very simple to use. It has the budget by month and year on one page. It's easy to add or delete items as well as make changes to the $ amounts as new info comes available.

If you'd like a copy, email me! I'm more than happy to send it to you!

Answer 8

I'm a single mom, and what I do is; I see how much money I make a month..
I subtract that by my rent,food, gas,child care,etc.. and then see what u have left over.. If u have a lot left over put a little away in your savings each month... I hope this helps u..