Budgeting software

Good app. It sounds like the software isn't the problem. How committed are you to living your life while sticking to a budget? I was surprised in previous posts here how many people aren't. Look at conversations like "How much are you spending on non-essentials?" "I don't know and don't care. Do you mean drink, cinema, meals out? They're not non-essentials!"
 
Excel or similar spreadsheet software is all you need. Create monthly tabs and itemise your income for the month. Then itemise your monthly fixed costs e.g. mortgage payments, monthly subscriptions etc. Then list your variable monthly costs e.g. gas, electricity, phone etc. What you are left with is your disposable income. Categorise this figure e.g. day-to-day expenses, children's activities, general purchases, fuel etc. and set a realistic monthly budget for each. Set up a running total if you like (perhaps quarterly) so that there is no real issue if you are over one month and under the next as long as you are on track over the longer term.

Make sure you itemise and categorise EVERYTHING you spend or else you are wasting your time. Stick to what you have budgeted for in each category and you will start saving! Does anyone really need a take-out coffee every day? Or even every other day?
 
OP,

I would highly recommending going the old-fashioned route (at least for a few months) and writing down everything you spend into a journal - our journal is on the kitchen counter so it's a doddle to update. As you have to record your spending it acts as a big deterrent for spending money on things you don't need. We've saved a packet already.

https://www.askaboutmoney.com/threads/anyone-want-to-write-a-money-diary.209522/

Firefly.
 
I make card purchases with Revolut and only use my card. My actual banks debit and credit cards stay at home. Revolut has simple limits you can put on spending and it categorises purchases to the best of its ability. Although it’s not perfect it’s mostly great and saves manual accounting.

As well as this I use a spreadsheet to track subscriptions and bills.
 
YNAB has recently added direct import for Irish banks, so it will automatically enter transactions for you.

It includes AIB, Bank of Ireland, Revolut, PTSB, Ulster Bank.

We've used YNAB for a decade but this has made it so much better. Worth every cent.
 
Can anyone recommend software to keep track of money? We used YNAB (https://www.youneedabudget.com/) in the past but didn't stick with it. However, this is the type of product I'm interested in.

Can we ask why you "didn't stick with it??

Whether you use an app or create your own spreadsheet it will only work for you if you are going to commit yourself to the process and are willing to change your spending habits and your views on what is essential spending and non-essential spending
I've never used an app for this but like Firefly and Tallpaul I started with a spending diary/journal and now use an Excel spreadsheet
It will take a while to set up and perfect but when you do it will become like second nature but you have to stick with it for it to work

Two things that helped mine along the way were if going down the road of a spreadsheet or journal, not sure about an app
Always ask for a receipt when buying something, this takes the remembering of "what did I spend today" out of the equation
If using a spreadsheet always add a note to the figure because you might not remember what that was for in six months to a years time

I think Mathepac's point is very important when it comes to budgeting, if you're not going to make the tough decisions on what is essential and non-essential spending well then there really is no point in budgeting or wasting money on an app
 
Check if your bank offers a spending breakdown .... especially relevant now that we are using less and less cash, AIB does. If you think an app will get you into a good tracking habit it's well worth it.. using a manual notebook or excel on a laptop might make it less accessible than having it on your phone.
 
Back
Top