Currently viewing the tag: "Budgeting"
Question: What is the best budgeting software for a personal budget & small business budgeting?
What is the best budgeting software for a personal budget & small business budgeting? I am looking to create budgets for both, my personal finances & a small business. Any constructive thoughts or advice would be highly appreciated. Thank you!
Answer:
Answer by Henry
Quicken
If You Spend More Than You Earn Then You Better Start Budgeting
Knowing how to manage money can help you make smart choices. Your money will work harder for you. You’ll be more likely to avoid traps that can undermine your ability to attain your financial goals. You’ll be in a better position to pay off debt and build savings.
Calculate how much money you earn in a month after taxes. For this budget plan, use your net pay or take home pay. Include tips, supplementary income, side-jobs, investments etc. This is your income.
Figure out your expenses. The best way to do this is to save receipts for a month or even a couple weeks. Knowing how much per month you spend on groceries or gas makes the next part much easier. If you want to start writing your budget today, and don’t have receipts, that’s OK, it’s just a bit more difficult.
Read and post messages on personal finance and budgeting topics with other people from around the world. Everything from saving money on groceries, to understanding your credit rating. This will get you some good tips on where you might be able to trim.
Break your budget up into some basic categories. You might want to organize your expenses into needs – such as your loan and electricity – and wants – such as clothing and entertainment.
List all your spending under each of these categories. Let’s take Auto as an example: 0/month car payment, 0/month insurance, 0/month on gas, /month on maintenance, 10$ /month on fees such as registration. So, your total Auto budget for the month would be 0/month. If you don’t know the exact amounts you spend, try to make good estimates. The more accurate you are, the better chance your budget has of working.
After getting an overview of your monthly expenses, look for anything that you can cut down to help you save money. For example, if you always eat out at work, try bringing left over or home cooked meal. You can also bring sandwiches and drinks. This can save you an average of 0 per month if you estimate of lunch per day.
Limit your movie watching to once or twice a month instead of four times a month. For a huge family this can be a lot of savings. Before going to the movies, eat first to cut down on food and drink expenses. Just buy drinks or bring your own if you can. You can cut down transportation fees such as fare, gasoline and toll fees if you participate in a carpool or ride sharing.
A simple budget can be written on a piece of a paper with a pencil, and optionally, a calculator. Such budgets can be organized in three-ring binders or a file cabinet. Simpler still thre are the pre-formatted household budgeting or bookkeeping forms that creates a budget by filling in the blanks. It is really easy to budget if you want to, but as most people don’t follow thier own plan most are doomed to fail.
Gav Shannon is a Network Marketing Professional who writes about different topics that he feels may be of an interest.If You want to know more about him go to http://www.gavshannon.com
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Budgeting for Commercial Painting Projects
If your maintenance budget for the current operating year has a taken a hit, you may be wondering how to get a commercial painting project accomplished along with everything else. Two possible solutions to project budgeting are purpose driven spending and changing the contracting process.
Purpose Driven Spending
The most common view of a commercial painting project is simple maintenance and facilities up-keep. Justifying painting and coating projects as preventative maintenance is relatively easy because the surface treatment can prevent damages to the underlying structure. If the budget separates preventative maintenance funds from operating costs, you could package and combine the painting project according to its true purpose to get the funding from your management team.
However, painting and coating can be a lot more than simple up-keep. In a retail setting, the appearance of a structure can a have a direct impact on the amount of business the facility is able to attract. If the current maintenance budget cannot support a painting project, perhaps the marketing budget could.
Changing the Contracting Process
As a commercial painting budget solution, changing the contracting process may seem like using a sledgehammer to crack a walnut. However, the savings from a new way of administering contracts can be significant, especially if your facility does a lot of outsourcing.
Many large organizations adapt a job order contracting system (JOC ) to handle their contracting process. A JOC system is a type of indefinite demand and indefinite quantity contracting system which relies of pre-defined base prices for services. Contractors bid by multiplying the base prices by a selected co-efficient.
JOC systems are often used by schools, government agencies and other organizations to streamline their contracting process. The real savings come from reduced advertising costs, reduced administrative needs, and a quicker RFP to finished project time. According to a white paper published by Centennial Contractors Enterprise, Inc., the savings associated with a JOC system can be up to 21 percent of standard costs.
The advantage of a JOC system is that once in place to cover a painting project, the system is equally applicable to virtually every other outsourced aspect of facilities budgeting. However, if you are not currently using a JOC system, you should strongly consider hiring an expert consultant to help you implement the program.
Final Words
Facility budgets are not likely to increase anytime soon, so creative solutions are a must to find room in the budget for commercial painting, construction and maintenance projects. In the end, whether your company chooses purpose driven spending or changing the contracting process, the ability to establish a companywide logical decision-making process and get management buy-in is critical to the company’s success in managing your commercial painting budget.
Steve Parker, Sr. Estimator.
RaiderPainting.com is the preferred painting contractor for building owners and facility managers of
commercial and industrial properties nationwide. Call 877-724.3371 for a free Estimate and read my daily Blog.
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March 03, 2011 MSNBC Rachel Maddow Show MOXNews.com
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Economic Crisis Spurs Importance of Budgeting
Due to the recent economic crisis people have realized the importance of budgeting. The crisis stemmed from the fact that people where borrowing too much, spending too much, and not saving enough. People took out loans that they could not afford because the interest loans at the beginning were low. However, when the interest rates significantly increased, like they were supposed to, people could no longer afford their monthly payments. Now that the public is realizing the effects of over spending, hopefully we will come to terms with the matter and stop over spending. The importance of budgeting has become a popular topic in mainstream American as we now find that banks are not able to loan out what they once were. Budgeting is one of the most important tools we can use to responsibly allocate our resources in the most effective way possible. The over spending of Americans has brought about this crisis, so we can help to defuse it as well. If people realize that they can live they way they are accustomed to just by budgeting their money correctly, there will be a major impact on the financial markets.
The economic crisis is real, so now we must act responsibly with our money and not make any vast moves. The importance of Budgeting stems from knowing how much money you have, how much you can spend, and how much you want to save, its as simple as that. You must be aware that the goal is to make and save more than you spend. In determining how to get started with your budget you need to organize all of your accounts including checking and savings accounts, credit cards, loans, and bills. By laying everything out you will be able to clearly see how much money comes in and how much comes out. However, to many this can seem like an overwhelming task that involves far too many documents and number crunching. Relax and take a deep breath, there are many different tools and software you can use online free of charge to help you with your budgeting. These tools can manage all of your account online and alert you to when bills are due and can also track all of your spending.
There are many different factors that encourage you to budget your money, which will end up helping the U.S. economy. Taking advantage of online tools will enable you to stay organized and on top of your financial game. The importance of budgeting cannot be stressed enough for there are many more benefits that can be achieved than the costs associated. Taking the time to sort out your finances is a must that will help you in the short and long run and for the rest of your financial life. Being smart with your money is a skill can be obtained from gaining financial knowledge that can be obtained just about anywhere. Therefore there is no reason to not be smart with your money, take the time to set up a budget and you will see the results immediately.
Jeff Nelson gives advice on money management. His advice helps you to eliminate your debt faster. To make online Budgeting easy and set up your budgets for each category you are targeting, visit www.mint.com
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Budgeting Money 101 – Getting Started With a Personal Budget
Does cash just seem to slip through your fingers? Tired of eating nothing but noodles for three days before that next paycheck? For some, budgeting money seems natural. For most of us, it is about as much fun as a paper cut. While it may not be enjoyable, budgeting money is one of life’s skills that once mastered, will reap rewards.
Income versus Expenses
When the subject of income comes up, most people know down to the penny how much they make in an hour, a month, or a year. Even those who work on tips will tell you within a few dollars, what an average night brings in. But somehow, when it comes to where that money goes, things get fuzzy. Expenses are slippery. The only way to get a grip on budgeting money is to record and examine expenses. Dull? Yes. Do it anyway. Analyze three months of expenses minimum. One year is better.
Predictable Patterns
People are creatures of habit. That might mean a weekly movie, football night at the sports bar or a haircut every other Wednesday. Learn where your patterns fall. Add up what they cost. Budgeting money starts to boil down to comparing income against needs and making conscious decisions. Once you begin to understand your personal patterns, changes can be made.
Making Mistakes
It’s inevitable. If you are human, at some point a financial error will be made. Part of budgeting money is recognizing that soon or later, you will goof up. It can happen on either the income side of the equation or on the expenses side. It matters not. What does matter is whether you prepare for a slipup by having a small amount of cash set aside. Raid this fund for a midnight pizza run or that really cool new game and it won’t work. Budgeting money also means choosing to behave responsibly.
Tips and Tricks
Just like taxes that come out of a paycheck, money that you don’t see can’t be spent. Use direct deposit to make contributions to savings or retirement funds. Don’t carry large amounts of cash. It’s more difficult to accurately track expenses and spending patterns unless there’s a paper trail. Set aside time once a week to review whether you’re on track to pay every bill on time for the month. If not, make adjustments. Budgeting money is about not getting painted into a corner.
Payoffs
Ever wonder who qualifies for the best loan rates on things like cars, homes and credit cards? It’s the people with good credit. Those who have mastered the art of budgeting money are never late paying bills, live within their means, and prove they can be trusted to use credit wisely. Being wealthy is not required. Being smart with budgeting money is.
It’s never too late to become an expert at budgeting money. All it takes is the discipline to carefully monitor expenses compared to income, make informed choices and have a little savings for the normal mistakes we all make. With practice, budgeting money is like brushing your teeth. Just a good habit.
Maximize your household budget with easy budgeting tips. Our personal finance budgeting tips and money saving tips will help you to spend less, save more and enhance your quality of life
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Make Personal Budget With These 3 Personal Budgeting Strategies
Do you have specific financial goals or do you spend most of your time daydreaming about what it would be like if you had extra money every month. The fact is most people live paycheck to paycheck and find themselves in a never ending cycle of wondering where all there money went. The way out of this financial nightmare is to make personal budget and take back control of your money.
Making a personal budget is the first step to regaining control of your cash flow and it allows you to actually start meeting your financial goals because it gives you and your money a plan. Becoming debt free or saving money for a down payment on a home or new car are all goals that can be met simply by making and following a budget.
Almost all successful people and business have a money plan that shows that at a moments notice exactly what their money is doing. This gives them complete control of their finances and allows them to make smart decisions with their money. If a cash flow budget works for wealthy people and fortune 500 companies then it can work for you.
Many people talk about setting up a budget but in many cases they do not follow through with their plans because they think it is harder then it actually is. But if you follow these 3 personal budgeting strategies you’ll find that creating a cash flow plan is actually easier then you may think.
1. Income – As hard as it is to believe many people do not actually know how much money they make on a monthly basis. This step is just as important as the other three because your money is your most valuable wealth building tool and you need to know how much is coming in so it can be allocated properly.
2. Expenses – This is the part everyone hates; figuring out your monthly expenses. And for good reason because this shows exactly where your money has been going and it’s not always pretty because you need to write down every expense you have. From your mortgage to that soda you bought at the convenience store.
3. Set your Financial Goals – With your income and expenses in front of you start looking at ways to make those goals happen.
Once you have this information in front of you you can figure out how much money you have coming in and not only how much is going out but where it is going. You can then start tweaking your expenses as you put together a plan to start working towards your goals. Instead of money just leaving your accounts with no direction your new budget allows you to allocate where your money is going before you ever spend it. In this way you can start paying off debt, save for a rainy day, and start investing in your retirement and future. So when it comes time to make personal budget there is never a better time then now to get started.
If you seriously want to take back control of your money you need to build a Personal Budget. To learn more about creating a budget please visit the website Household Budgets by clicking here.
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