Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Bulsajo]

So, what software are you using?

I need to start balancing my checkbook (properly, that is- I missed a mortgage payment through sheer stupidity- too many bank accounts and too much moving money around).
I've seen some family budget spreadsheets but they're pretty simple.
I'm not sure if I need something like Quicken or not as I don't have a diverse high flying stock portfolio or anything.

So what do y'all use?

I've seen monthly budget spreedsheets that look decent enough but they're based on monthly summaries- I'm looking for something a little bit more detailed with regard to dates, something I can punch in all my accounts along with regular inflows and outflows, and then have it tell me on any given date what my projected balance should be.

[Bulsajo]

Upon further investigation it looks like I'll be forced to bite the bullet and buy one of the following: Quicken Cash Manger (the basic Quicken version) or Microsoft Money.

If anyone has experience with either of these programs I'd love to hear your opinion of them.

[mindmetoo]

I just use Excel. Here's my 2,000,000 won a month budget. I start the month with my estimates. I try to over estimate. The remainder is the cash I give myself to spend. I used to save 1,000,000 a month but now that I have a GF, I can't live an ascetic lifestyle anymore The woman loves Movenpick...

Month Estimate

Apt 150,000 est
Gas 35,000 est
Cable 0
Cash
Save 800,000
Internet 45,000 est
Phone 0
------------------------------
Remainder: 904,000


As I take money out of my ATM, I update my bank book and then in the empty Cash cell, I record how much money I've taken out. The Remainder cell always tells me how much party cash I have to spend until the end of the month. If you keep on top of this when you take out money, you always have a good idea how much cash you have in your budget and you adjust your lifestyle accordingly. "Crap, 10,000 won and 4 days to payday!" or better "Yi ha! 80,000 won left and tomorrow is pay day!"

Month Actual

Apt 109,020
Gas 38,120
Cable 0
Cash 855,400 (see below)
Save 800,000
Internet 44,640
Phone 0
------------------------------
Remainder 86,820

my cash cell in excel looks like this:

=100600+100600+50000+(6*50600)+100600+50000+100000+50000

So I took out 100,000 won + 600 atm fee, then i took out another 100,000 won + 600 won atm fee...

The 0s for cable and phone are due to the fact my school pays those. But I keep them there because you know hagwons and how they change their minds...

Any remainder I have at month's end I then draw off into another cell that keeps a running total of monthly remainders (or gasp red ink). After I build up a nice surplus I use that to buy the occasional toy like an MP3 player or a trip to Busan.

The secret to any balancing system is staying on top. You have to keep tabs on how much you are spending on a nearly daily basis. If you follow the "if there are still checks in the checkbook, there must still be money in the bank" philosophy, you have no hope under any kind of system. It's the daily act of calculating how much money you have to spend until next pay day that limits your spending habits.

[Bulsajo]

I used to be able to do that, but life has become much more complicated and proper software is now required. Am currently leaning towards Money 2005, but the differences between its features and Quicken's are minimal so I'll be probably base my decision on price and reliability. Quicken is slightly cheaper if you don't count Money's mail-in rebate, but according to customer reviews it seems that Money is garnering less disatisfaction. However most of the disatisfaction seems to be from long time /quicken users who are unhappy with recent automated bill payment changes, and I don't think this will be applicable to me.

[Gollum]

Have tried Money, but not Quicken.

My dad seems to really love Microsoft Money. He's been addicted to it for 4 years now. He likes it so much, he enjoys tracking my credit cards on it... man, he needs help. hahahaha (but actually, I am thankful)