The Beauty of Simple Budgeting

Everyone seems to have their own proper way of budgeting. Some advocate tracking every penny that goes in and out of your bank account so that nothing falls through the cracks and all of your money can be utilized to maximum affect. Others believe that a flexible spending plan with loose guidelines makes it easy to save plenty.

Apparently a tool I recently discovered has been widely publicized, but I had never heart of it (I’m out of the loop?!). I immediately did some experimenting and loved it, I may even use it on a permanent basis. It’s called PearBudget, an excel spreadsheet that allows you cleanly track your expenses.

It’s recently moved on to an online format (for 3$/month), but I like the spreadsheet just fine. It breaks your expenses down to variable, irregular, and regular expenses. This allows you to say “I need this much for rent and utilities, my grocery bill changes from month to month.” You can then plug in all of the numbers, and track them using the calendar provided. Each day has a list of possible variable and irregular expenses that you incur.

Personally I think it’s great simply because it pops out my monthly expenses numbers. I love trying to tweak downward what it takes income wise for me to live on. I figure the less I’m used to living with, the more I can save even if I’m bringing in more money.