Budgeting Part 1

For us getting control of our finances meant that we needed to find out exactly where we were spending our money. So we started tracking our money better. We use Quicken, which I do like. It allows you to categorize your spending for easier tracking. However you have to actually set the categories when you spend the money. My bank allows me to download my transactions into Quicken so I often skipped that step. We also had problems when I would buy from more than one category at a store. For instance at Sam's Club we get food (groceries), pizza (eating out), paper goods (groceries), books (entertainment or education), pants (clothes), and gas (auto:fuel). Not really that complicated, but it took just a little more effort than I put forth.

It actually took us between 2 and 3 months to really get a good idea where our money was going. This was really an important step. Because our idea of where our money was going was far different from where it actually was going.