It’s a long time since I heard anyone say that “when the US sneezes, the rest of the world catches a cold.” The credit crunch and the resultant crisis have changed the prognosis dramatically. But it’s still worth remembering some parts of US commerce remain ahead of the curve.
One area that’s been bucking the trend is free online personal finance software. Did you know that over the past couple of years the demand for these money management tools has been growing so strongly in the US that companies like Mint have brought in more than 1 million new users in a very short space of time? Companies such as Geezeo and Thrive are doing well too.
Financial planning software is nothing new of course. We’ve been able to buy packages for years that help with budget planning at home. But the best free online personal finance tools in the US take financial planning to the next level. That’s because they’ve recognised that more and more financial transactions are being carried out online, so it makes sense to be able to manage your money online too. By bringing all your financial transactions together in one secure interface you can see your real financial status at any point in time in.
We reckon that online money management is the way ahead in the UK too and it’s already catching on. That’s why Money Dashboard has spent the past two years developing a free online financial planning tool specifically for the UK market. With Money Dashboard you can monitor all your accounts, tag transactions, set up budgets and track where you’re spending money. You can add in details of financial items such as pensions that can’t yet be managed online. And you can set up reminders too. Then, once you’ve got it all set up, you can stay in control of your finances with the minimum time and effort. We’ll even send you money saving alerts that are totally impartial and match your profile.
What are the basic aspects of money management software that you need to look out for?
Obviously, ease of use is the top consideration. No point in getting a soft ware that is harder to use than piloting a space shuttle is! Let us have a look at some important points below:
The major ones will be discussed below.
1. User Friendly Interface: As I said earlier, there is no point in buying software that is not easy to use. Once something is easy to use, we repeatedly go back and use the same one. Research has also shown that an easy user interface allows users to feel less stressed over their calculations.
2. Consumer Feedback – It does not take a rocket scientist to figure out that if you have a good product, you will have more consumers and more consumers will imply better feedback about your product. This feedback enables you to design your product better. Thus you enter into a good cycle of feedback and improvements.
3. Security – Since it is about your financial information, it is important that it does not fall into unscrupulous hands. Thus a good product ought to be a secure product as well.
4. Affordability – Again, most consumers want a product that is easy and safe to use yet are not willing to pay much. This means making an affordable product is very important.
5. Social and ethical values – A consideration must be given for social and ethical values in good financial management software.
If you are finding it difficult to track your own home budget, then maybe you can consider money management tool. This software allows every user the ease of use and the simplicity of home budgeting that can manage your budget so you can eventually have free money to pays bills. Finding it frustrating trying to manage where your money should go after receiving your salary? Avail of the free money management software to make your life easier, give you less headaches, and find out how you can manage your budget so you can focus on how to get money elsewhere.
With the easy-to-use wizard on the free financial management software you can be assured that you won’t get lost when trying to budget your accounts. The software is also ideal for small projects that you want to keep track of, especially those involving free money making ideas and ventures on how to get free cash. Approach your life in a more organized way by introducing the free money management software into your family’s life. Let your spouse and kids use the financial planning software so that they can manage their own accounts and activity costs without the hassle of trying to figure out how they lost money to different irresponsible or unplanned purchases.
Having the money management tool is an easy way to manage what you spend at home for your family and to stay within budget of your limited income. The financial management software can also make budgeting more understandable with its generated graphs, its filtering capability which lists expenditures by category, and by helping you manage and control your spending habits. This software will also make sure that you meet credit card and bill payments on time to protect and maintain a good credit history.
There are lots of families today that comes across strictly with their finances the way they never have done before because of the present economic condition. Everyone for practical reasoning must be cautious in spending their finances.
Financial planning software was created to help people in the world for making their finances organized. Living on a budget is really hard, most especially when you are used to life without paying attention to it. The toughest part with it is starting, that is the reason why this software that concentrates with financial plans was formed to get your finances on the right track.
There are several kinds of software for financial planning which ranges from daily or short time budgeting, and the long term financial plans. You need to have quality discussions with your family, and find out what are your needs from this software, and judge the variety of software programs out in the market.
There are some free of charge programs that you can find on the websites but these complementary programs are usually for the basics only. Some families started with these free website programs just to get them to the right track, when their on it, they will start to engage with other sophisticated software programs.
Some of the advantages in using sophisticated financial planning software were the tracking down of your expenses, eventually to see the tendency, improvements and with the areas the needed for the financial consideration. This software can be able to tie up with your online bank accounts and gather all your necessary information to the software every month that will save a lot of your time.
There are financial systems that offer a long term financial help like planning for the retirement. This is the right time to be responsible with our finances. It is good to know that there is good financial planning software that is very much available for those families who ask for the help.
The qualities of a good Financial Planning Software
It permits you to get a control over your own personal financial planning, together with your personal assets managing destiny; it can easily combine every financial objectives to a single and complete financial plan that covers your total life cycle; helps you to make a better well-versed financial pronouncement by the use of your own financial situation and outlook about your future; lets you modify your entire plan automatically and letting you to promptly assess decisions on how to enhance your wealth and financial freedom.
Best Personal Finance Software for you:
Helps you in making a tough long-term resolutions that were based on the broad lifetime projections which incorporates your anticipated lifetime finances; automatically handles refined computations for you so that you could center your attention to your decision in financial making; permits you to alter all assumption data and give every personal projection settings in a clearer logical graphics; and finally, mix direction, explanation and users documentation precisely where they were desired in your home financial software.
Anyone who desires a brighter financial future must make sure to live in the financial present. This requires the creation of, and adherence to, a budget. This simple yet critical step to financial freedom is often ignored. Many people feel it is overly complicated; or they believe themselves thrifty enough that creating a working budget is unnecessary. The fact is that very few of us do not need improvement with financial planning; most of us would be surprised – even shocked – to see exactly where our money goes.
Budgetary Preparation
If you want to create your own budget from scratch, begin by tracking every dollar you spend for at least a month. Credit card and bank card purchases can be monitored easily by looking over your monthly statement, which is usually available online instantly. Make sure to track all of your cash purchases, as well. It is important to know where every dollar goes. Spend a little time categorizing the purchases. You should have at least one category for savings or investments. Pay yourself first!
You can also find preformatted budget templates on financial planning software, like Microsoft Money or Quicken, or on the web. If you go this route, find a budget template with a large number of categories. You can then pare it down to suit your lifestyle and spending habits. The benefit of this is that you may see some categories that you had not thought of. If some categories do not apply to you, simply eliminate them.
Building Your Budget
Open up your favorite spreadsheet program. The top row of your budget will be your monthly income. If your income varies from month to month, use a low estimate, so that you have a cushion.
Under your income, put in each of the categories you created. Each expenditure should be subtracted from your monthly income. Refer to the “Help” button on your spreadsheet program if you are unfamiliar with how to do this – don’t worry, it is very easy. The last line will be the overage or shortage of money for that month.
Optimizing Your Budget
If you end up with a negative number at the bottom of your budget spreadsheet, you are spending more than you are making. Seeing that, you may be tempted to run to the phone to call a financial planner; but that costs money, which you do not have. You can very likely fix your financial problems yourself. Save the money.
Review each spending category and determine where you can make cuts. Create a new column on your spreadsheet. Enter in your goals for next month’s spending – be aggressive, you are striving for financial freedom. Keep adjusting until the bottom number is positive.
The next step is one that cannot be skipped or taken lightly. At the end of that first budgeted month, compare your actual spending to the numbers you set as your goals. Do this with every single category for the first two or three months. By then, you will know which areas need work, and you can focus more on them.
Budget Success
If you can get to the point where there is always a positive number at the bottom line, you will experience the sensation of “budget elation.” Resist the temptation to spend the extra money on a party to celebrate your frugality. Do not buy a self-congratulatory flat screen TV. Feel free to pat yourself on the back, though. The extra money should be saved or invested. Save for a dream vacation or for your kids’ education, without worrying where your next meal will come from. Invest for your retirement or start your own business. Financial freedom will come if you make your money work for you. The world will be your oyster soon enough, as long as you remember:
Pay Yourself First!