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IV. Building the Budget Habit These days, building and maintaining a budget habit doesn’t have to be an onerous task. In addition to a multitude of templates to pick from, there are online programs and mobile apps that do much of the work for you. They will link to your bank account(s) download, analyze, and categorize your spending. They provide tracking tools which enable you to manage your finances from your desktop, laptop, tablet, or mobile device. From simple, basic budget programs to full service programs that track income and expenses, investments, IRAs and 401Ks, there’s a budget website or mobile app that will work for you. Bank. A good place to begin building the personal budget habit is with your bank. Banks have free budget tools that customers can link to their checking and savings accounts to track and categorize spending and cash flow. Many can be set to alert the account holder when they are exceeding their budget. One drawback to utilizing a bank-based program, is that the budget will not link to accounts at other banks or financial institutions, such as an IRA, if it’s with another institution, or 401K. But if your goal is strictly budgeting — monitoring your monthly income and expenses — an excellent, easy-to-use and free budget tool is right under your nose. Personal Finance Websites. There are many budgeting, personal finance, and money management programs online. Some are free, some have a small monthly charge. They provide financial planning tools, savings and investing information, and debt management and budgeting resources. Many enable the user to link of their accounts — checking, savings, 401(k), investment accounts, IRAs, and CDs to the budget. Monthly expenses are automatically recorded and available in real-time. Daily, weekly, and monthly spending and expenses are tracked to the penny. Some good programs are Personal Capital, Mint, and Spending Tracker. Personal Finance Mobile Apps. With a personal finance mobile app you can keep an eye on your money and savings goals from anywhere at any time. Personal finance apps sync with your bank accounts and credit cards , and have lots of tools, charts and infographics to help you stalk and manage your money. A few are Mint, Wallet, HomeBudget with Sync, Level Money, Wally, and BUDGT. Explore these apps, then download one that you like and get into the habit of using it. Feeding Frenzy The average cost to feed a family of four is between $553 and $1075 per month. Fin Lit Trivia Fin Lit Trivia Fin Lit Trivia PRODUCT PREVIEW
THE BIG PICTURE
A personal budget is a basic but essential money management and wealth building tool. A budget helps you meet your financial goals and protects wealth. A budget makes it easy to know where your money goes and what it does every month. A budget alerts you to potential financial problems as well as opportunities to tackle waste. While budget-making has gone high tech with amazing programs and mobile apps that track goals, income, and expenses, budget principles are unchanged. You need to have more money coming in than going out — or at least break even. Explore personal money management programs and mobile apps. Select one that is easy to use and suits your budget needs and lifestyle. Make a personal budget a lifelong financial habit.
Chapter 14 | The Beauty of the Budget 268
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