This weekend I bagged my Excel budget sheet for BudgetPulse. We've been using it for the last few years to track our budget - Kevin made up a really good budget tracker about 10 years ago, but there comes a time when you outgrow it (either program some more or find something else! we probably outgrew it a while back, but I just haven't taken the time out to do research). And no, I don't have time to program.
Anyways, I came across BudgetPulse.com recently and decided to make the switch from Excel last Friday. I think my top reasons for using this online financial management tool are that 1) it's FREE 2) it does not connect to our bank accounts - some do that (quicken and money) but we prefer the high security of not giving out our account numbers and having automatic downloads and 3) the interface is fairly easy to use and easy on the eyes, but it has some quirks that hopefully the developers will fix in the next scheduled update/release (or so they say). It is just in its beta-testing stages, but did its job nicely.
So, to my (and especially Mr. Kevin's) satisfaction, I am able to pull up a summary of our categorized and sub-categorized expenses on demand (all accounts combined!), and see how much we're saving (or not saving :)) or how much is left in the budget, print out by month or by quarter, etc. Lots of great features. I love it!
Anyways I also did my last grocery shopping trip for the month of February! I have been busy couponing (started last year) and loving the savings (just under $700 since January!) and more food storage! Some really good deals I've come across: 16 4-pack rolls of toilet paper (64 rolls), bread, eggs, and ham for FREE, biscuits and other things for practically nothing. Seeing the savings from the coupons has made me want to see how much more my grocery bill can go down. I beat my last month's grocery bill by $120, so we'll see how much less it will be in March. I wish I would have started both BudgetPulse and couponing a lot sooner!
Anyways, I came across BudgetPulse.com recently and decided to make the switch from Excel last Friday. I think my top reasons for using this online financial management tool are that 1) it's FREE 2) it does not connect to our bank accounts - some do that (quicken and money) but we prefer the high security of not giving out our account numbers and having automatic downloads and 3) the interface is fairly easy to use and easy on the eyes, but it has some quirks that hopefully the developers will fix in the next scheduled update/release (or so they say). It is just in its beta-testing stages, but did its job nicely.
So, to my (and especially Mr. Kevin's) satisfaction, I am able to pull up a summary of our categorized and sub-categorized expenses on demand (all accounts combined!), and see how much we're saving (or not saving :)) or how much is left in the budget, print out by month or by quarter, etc. Lots of great features. I love it!
Anyways I also did my last grocery shopping trip for the month of February! I have been busy couponing (started last year) and loving the savings (just under $700 since January!) and more food storage! Some really good deals I've come across: 16 4-pack rolls of toilet paper (64 rolls), bread, eggs, and ham for FREE, biscuits and other things for practically nothing. Seeing the savings from the coupons has made me want to see how much more my grocery bill can go down. I beat my last month's grocery bill by $120, so we'll see how much less it will be in March. I wish I would have started both BudgetPulse and couponing a lot sooner!
5 comments:
Yeah, I remember that you used to make fun of me and my coupons and only buying groceries that were on sale! Now, you know... gotta love those savings, especially when you end up getting stuff for free...
Girl you know not just "on sale" but "best clips" because that means it will still be cheaper than walmart without a coupon.
Cool. :) Jeffrey and I have been using an Excel spreadsheet that we made, but I am going to have to check this website out. Thanks for sharing your secrets!
It's nice to know I'm in good company. My family make fun of me with my little coupon organizer. My savings are not up to par with yours but every little bit counts right? You are amazing!
Thanks for the post Rinna, we've been using an excell spread sheet for years as well and are ready to move on to something hopefully easier to manage and more effectivie. Great timing for this post. Just curious about your coupons. I've never been a coupon fan, do you get them in the news paper or grocery flyers or have special online sources. Thanks, Isabelle
Post a Comment