Need help budgeting Itaposs free online

February Search baltimoresun.com Web enhanced by Login or register Subscriber Services Need help budgeting It s free online Eileen Ambrose Personal Finance Eileen Ambrose November Article tools E mail Share Digg Del.icio.us Facebook Fark Google Newsvine Reddit Yahoo Print Reprints Post comment Text size It s the time of year to start thinking about New Year s resolutions and if you re like many of us dieting and budgeting will make your list. Neither word conjures up fun. And even with the best of intentions behind them both resolutions stand a good chance of being broken before too long. Eileen Ambrose Recent columns Keeping to a budget and sticking to it might become more important though. Sure we ve gone through worse economic times without having to change our spending. But the days of easy credit appear to be over. We re going to have to gulp live within our means. If it has been a while since you attempted a budget it s now easier to do than ever. A number of newer mon! ey management Web sites are quick to use and less clunky than a lot of the budgeting tools in popular financial software programs. Among the top sites are Mint.com Geezeo.com and Wesabe.com all launched within the past year. They gather information from online bank and credit card accounts and then show you through graphics just where your dollars go. The information is automatically updated so you can check your progress daily. Even better these sites are free. And what can be better for a budget than that Of course software programs have been around for years to make budgeting less of a chore. But many complain that s not often the case. The programs can be time consuming to use and expense categories may not neatly match up with your spending habits. It s a nightmare says one of my colleagues who struggled with a program. I might as well be running a Chapter S corporation. Jim Bruene editor of Online Banking Report says there are at least two dozen budgeting sites. Some ! are more sophisticated than others. Bruene says Quicken or Microsoft Money customers aren t likely to abandon their software programs that can do complicated tasks such as tax planning and asset allocation. These free sites though will appeal to young consumers who just need basic budgeting he says. Gary Ploski an assistant director of academic computing at Sarah Lawrence College in New York has been using Geezeo for about six months. The year old previously used Quicken. But his banks charged a fee to automatically download his information to Quicken. Ploski had to input the information himself. Another drawback he says Quicken wasn t free. And he would have to shell out money for later updates. I don t want to spend another he says. Ploski added his bank credit k and Roth IRA accounts to Geezeo. Geezeo also allows him to track his goals such as saving enough so he and his wife can drop private mortgage insurance. Geezeo allows you to decide how much you want to spend each month on different items. It gives color coded warnings when you re ne! ar the limit or go over it. We create financial awareness says Peter Glyman the year old co founder of Geezeo. Our philosophy is to keep things fairly light and not to get too bogged down on budget details. Just seeing where your money goes can be the gentle nudge you need to change your spending habits he says. It also can help you avoid hefty overdraft fees. Geezeo and Wesabe offer a social network where members can discuss their goals share tips ask each other for financial advice or give encouragement. Even in this social setting privacy is maintained the groups say. Nobody ever sees your spending says Jason Knight co founder of Wesabe. The three major sites don t ask for Social Security numbers or other personal information. You can t use them to move money from account to account. The data is collected on a read only basis. Bruene says he hasn t heard of any security problems with the sites. I m sure they have taken every precaution possible he says. It would kill the! ir business if a breach ever occurred he says. Mint.com earns money by recommending products such as an offer for a lower rate credit card. They collect a commission if a member accepts a product. Geezeo plans to add similar product recommendations by year s end. Wesabe expects to begin offering premium services for a fee next year while still providing budgeting for free. So if you re among the many who don t know where their paycheck goes check out one of these sites. After all a budget is the foundation of good personal financial decisions Knight says. And no financial adviser would argue with that. Questions Comments Want to share your own financial tips with readers Contact Eileen Ambrose at or by e mail at eileen.ambrosebalt sun.com. more in business investing Copyright The Baltimore Sun Would you recommend this Rate it Classified Place an ad Jobs Cars Real Estate Apartments Celebrations Boats Personals Pets Grocery Coupons Radar rain alert Weather Traffic News Maryland Sports Lifestyle Business Real Estate Money LifeBridge Health Center! 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