Top-Ranked Personal Finance Software

As we approach a new year, it’s a great time to find good personal finance software to get control over your finances as part of your New Year's resolutions. No matter how well you manage your funds, finding easy-to-use software can help you:

• track and categorize spending
• manage multiple bank accounts
• create and maintain a budget
• manage your debt
• pay bills by sending reminders of when they're due (some even manage your bill payments).

·        1. Keeping It Simple: You Need A Budget

You Need A Budget can be operated from an app on your desktop or using apps on your iPhone, iPad or Android device. The YNAB system is based on four rules.

Rule 1: Give every dollar a job.

Your money shouldn’t tell you what to do. You’re the boss. The drill
sergeant. The maestro. When you earn money, you plan how
you’ll use it, then you follow your plan.

Without Rule One:

You see the $500 account balance, get the false idea that you’re flush with cash, and go out for sushi at your city’s finest for $100.  A few days later some bills come due and you’re in a pinch.

With Rule One:

You have $500 in your checking account.  You give each of those dollars a job by dividing the $500 into various categories:

$150	$10	$40	$100	$200
Food	Eating Out	Gas	Utilities	Car Payment
Total Budgeted: $500

Your friend invites you to go out and get some sushi.
You don’t look at your $500 account balance and say, “Wow, that’s a ton of money! Sure!” You look at your ‘Eating Out’ budget balance of $10, wince, then smile, and invite your friend over to split a $5 pizza.  A few days later some bills come due and you pay them with ease.

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Can I leave some of my dollars unassigned?

No. Every dollar needs a job. If you’re needing something for spontaneity, have a ‘Spontaneous Craziness’ category and plan for it (yes, you can plan to be spontaneous).  Worried that an emergency might crop up? Assign that money to an ‘Emergency Fund’ category.

Rule 2: Save for a rainy day.

There are no normal months. Your expenses do not occur evenly throughout the year, and if you don’t plan for the high-expense months, you’ll be in a world of hurt. Rule Two forces you to look at the larger, less-frequent expenses (car insurance, life insurance, Christmas, school tuition, VACATIONS) and break them down into monthly, manageable amounts. 

Rule 3: Roll with the punches.

When you overspend in a budget category for the month, roll with it!  You make and change plans all the time. If you plan a weekend beach trip with your kids, but the day turns out to be rainy and cold, do you still go to the beach?  Of course not!  When circumstances change, you change your plan. Your budget is no different. If you overspend in a category, look through your budget and move some money around. Remember, you’re the boss!

Rule 4: Live on last month’s income.

To be perfectly frank, we want you spending this month, what you earned last month.
This Rule is something to strive for, and likely isn’t something you can implement
right away. However, with the help of the other three rules, you’ll get there.

Pay off your debt, save more money, and break the paycheck to paycheck cycle. Together