Budget calculator

[Famalam13]

DH and I are always confused as to where our money has gone at the end of the month and with DS now on the scene and buying a house in the new year I am keen to get a handle on this. Can anyone recommend a good, detailed budget planner? I am happy to pay a little if it's a good one that will help us to plan things going forward.

TIA :)

I've set up a spreadsheet that works for DH and me. Every payment that's made is logged on it. Each month there's a budget for different categories and if the payments are more than the budgeted amount it goes red. Can see through the month how our spending is going and whether anything needs to be cut back on.

Also have worked out the amounts that get paid yearly and transfer money to save for them. Also Christmas and birthdays. Have been doing this since march now and it mostly seems to work.

I used the one on money saving expert - it was free & really easy to use. I was at how much I should be saving each month!

You also need to analyse what you have spent, especially on purchases rather than direct debits.

It's easy to say that the mortgage is X and the bills are Y so we should have Z to spend, but all those little purchases day to day can add up to a lot (eg. coffee every day while at work could easily cost more per month than your electricity bill). You also need to account for annual and unpredictable expenses like insurance, Christmas and car repairs.

I'd always recommend YNAB - you need a budget. Really great software. Free trial for 30 days.