Organizing the family finances

[Agentskull]

Hey guys,

With two people having student loans, the baby's bills, and all the extras the come with having a household in this modern age. I am cracking down on the family finances. I am really looking forward to cutting excess bills so that way in the near future we can get a home loan. I am tired of moving every two or three years.

I have a copy of Quicken. I know it can automatically download your back information on to the computer and sort it. I am looking for advanced notice of when bills are coming due. Does Quicken allow for desktop notifications of when bills are coming due. Or some kind of warning for this. Part of doing this budget is so my fiancee doesn't go I forgot to pay this bill and we have a late fee. Every little bit helps.

Thanks in advance,

Rob

P.S. There will be funds for fun items like cigars and what not so no worries there.

 

[Phillsl]

I have tried to manage my finances with the computer before, but It just never worked for me. I use the envelope method, and set recurring reminders on my iPhone. Basically, I have an envelope for each bill, and I divide the total by 4,add 10% and round up to the nearest whole (4weeks in a month) and write that, along with what bill it's for on the front, then every Friday I cash my check and put however much is wrote on each envelope into each envelope, then when my iPhone alerts me that it is due (the alert is usually a week early at least) I take the envelope, count out the amount that is due, put the remainder back in the envelope, and pay the bill. I add 10% and round up, so that I always have a little extra incase I have a slow week or month. It's saved my ass a few times.


iPhone5 from tapatalk sent was this.

 

[jmartins]

I'm not sure about quicken having such a feature but Ive actually started with putting a reminder on when these bills come due. This has helped shed a bit of the fat but it definitely takes awhile to get there.

I know most companies will do online billing and in that case you will receive an email that the bill is available. This is another path that works. Just my thoughts brother.


Sent from my Tapatalk 2 using iPhone. Bahahahaha ass backwards.

 

[StogieNinja]

Rob,
I did this last year, after our preemie baby bills totally decimated our finances. I didn't want to have to deal with something as complex as quicken, so instead I did this:

1. I trimmed every monthly service fee I could. We cut netfilx, hulu, pandora, home phones, and any other subscription service we could do without, and added back the really important ones after we knew what we would have left to spend.

2. I put literally every monthly reoccurring payment I could (things like home internet service, cell phones, insurance, etc) on a credit card with rewards, and just pay that credit card bill off in full once a month. (I use the rewards to cover stogie purchases )

3. Anything I couldn't set up on an autopay to the CC card, I set up to auto-draft from a checking account I use only for paying bills - utilities, mortgage, student loans, charitable contributions, etc. I basically calculated what those bills run, put a set amount in there every month with a little cushion, and let the bills auto-draft from there.

4. The only thing that I pay manually are three credit card bills. I only use three - one rewards card for all our bills from step 1, a second rewards card I charge all my ongoing expenses to (gas, groceries, household items, spending money, etc), and a Costco Amex I use only at Costco. I set up a monthly calendar reminder on my phone for the day the statement ends, and again for five days before the bill is due, and just pop on online billpay and pay the amount. Because I know what all the other expenses are, I know exactly how much I'll have left over for things like gas and groceries, and so those are the only things I have to monitor.

Hope that helps!

 

[Carpenter69]

First off,ninja hope your baby is doing well. Friends had a premmie she is fine and cute as hell. Second, I applaud your organization skills. I'm gonna try some of your methods. It looks like you simplified pay bills, all except the makin' money part. Thanks for your contribution.

 

[StogieNinja]

Lol, yeah I haven't figured out how to make the money-making part any easier yet!

And yeah, my little girl is doing great, thanks!

 

[mdwest]

take a look at the Dave Ramsey method for handling your personal finances...

I dont 100% agree with everything he preaches.. but most of it is pretty good stuff...

His method for paying off bills (which ones to pay off first.. how to get them paid off faster.. etc..).. and for becoming financially indepedant is pretty solid overall..

If you have less debt.. you have more ability to save (and less opportunity to make a mistake, miss a payment, etc..)... if you have more savings.. youll get into the house faster.. youll be able to afford a nicer home.. etc..etc..etc..

My wife and I are consumers.. historically, we buy a lot of crap (most of it unnecesary)... we probably cut $500 a month out of our expenses last year though.. just by tweaking little things.. that had almost zero impact on the way we live our lives.. we got rid of direct tv and replaced it with HDTV antennas and smart boxes (we actually enjoy this better.. and we're saving over $100 a month).. We looked at our cell phone plans and realized we could downgrade them SUBSTANTIALLY and still be able to call/text/email/etc all we wanted (my wife had almost 15,000 roll over minutes banked at the time we downgraded... another $100 savings))... We dumped a gym membership that we had been paying for, for years.. but rarely used.. and started home fitness plans (still rarely using .. but another $130 in monthly savings)... etc..etc..

 

[vivalanation734]

take a look at the Dave Ramsey method for handling your personal finances...

I dont 100% agree with everything he preaches.. but most of it is pretty good stuff...

His method for paying off bills (which ones to pay off first.. how to get them paid off faster.. etc..).. and for becoming financially indepedant is pretty solid overall..

If you have less debt.. you have more ability to save (and less opportunity to make a mistake, miss a payment, etc..)... if you have more savings.. youll get into the house faster.. youll be able to afford a nicer home.. etc..etc..etc..

My wife and I are consumers.. historically, we buy a lot of crap (most of it unnecesary)... we probably cut $500 a month out of our expenses last year though.. just by tweaking little things.. that had almost zero impact on the way we live our lives.. we got rid of direct tv and replaced it with HDTV antennas and smart boxes (we actually enjoy this better.. and we're saving over $100 a month).. We looked at our cell phone plans and realized we could downgrade them SUBSTANTIALLY and still be able to call/text/email/etc all we wanted (my wife had almost 15,000 roll over minutes banked at the time we downgraded... another $100 savings))... We dumped a gym membership that we had been paying for, for years.. but rarely used.. and started home fitness plans (still rarely using .. but another $130 in monthly savings)... etc..etc..

This. My wife loves him. Luckily we never had any debt other than our mortgage, but his method is pretty solid, especially for budgeting and what not. He can be a little dogmatic, but overall his methodology is great.

 

[derwood]

I've been getting by with a spreadsheet and online banking reminders, but it sure would be nice to automate it more. Some great info here. Have been looking at cutting back on expenses as well, (Being a little smarter at the grocery store, cheaper cell plans, downgrading cable) as the little one is due here in a month or so, and things will get a little tight for a bit....

 

[Highlander]

I used quicken for years. Yes it has email notifications or warnings that pop up.
I stopped using it when wells fargo bought wachovia and wants to charge me like 13.00 a month to use quicken. I use the online banking they provide and the bill pay feature which as far as notices go is as good as quicken.

For major Items like Mortgage, car loans etc., I have them set on autopay one or 2 days prior to the due date. Smaller things I just tell it to pay. Car insurance is on a draft.

As far as controlling spending, quciken is a good tool. To use the budgeting tools, define the budget on paper first.

It can get a little overwhelming trrying to track everything. You can enter all recepts but after awhile it gets tedious. If you use cash instead of a debit card you will need to if you want detail. Other wide the detail comes in from the bank and you can epense it out them much easier.

 

[Heath]

I am in the same boat as you. We are sick of moving and renting and dealing with landlords that are nice to your face. We are sooooo close to being able to buy our own home I can taste it. Hahaha good luck to you. What ever you do just stick with it and you'll be fine.

 

[blueboy714]

I just started using Quicken this month to figure out my spending patterns. I haven't figured them out in many years, so I figured I better see if anything has changed.

 

[Lipher]

Besides quicken which really exposed my families spending habits, learn to control spending on a credit card (or credit) is really the key. Since cash typically nets zero benefit i rarely use it. Find a credit card that has a zero annual fee and provides cash back rewards (or something like cash back that you can use). To be honest, i purchase most consumables via amazon and have prime. With prime and scheduled transactions (and amazon mom) i save 20% off the top and get 2 day shipping on most things. With my amazon visa rewards are 2x or 3x so i get revolving credits that i can spend the following month. For new parents or ones having another baby on the way (like myself) i find amazon's prices much cheaper then any b&M or wholesale store (and the 2 day shipping is killer).

Another big spender (not in my house) is typically eating out (or going out to drink). Cooking at home and growing your own food also made a huge difference.

 

[MoJo]

I haven't used it, but mint is suppose to help organize your finances, might want to give that a look

 

[Splatt]

take a look at the Dave Ramsey method for handling your personal finances...

I dont 100% agree with everything he preaches.. but most of it is pretty good stuff...

His method for paying off bills (which ones to pay off first.. how to get them paid off faster.. etc..).. and for becoming financially indepedant is pretty solid overall..

If you have less debt.. you have more ability to save (and less opportunity to make a mistake, miss a payment, etc..)... if you have more savings.. youll get into the house faster.. youll be able to afford a nicer home.. etc..etc..etc..

My wife and I are consumers.. historically, we buy a lot of crap (most of it unnecesary)... we probably cut $500 a month out of our expenses last year though.. just by tweaking little things.. that had almost zero impact on the way we live our lives.. we got rid of direct tv and replaced it with HDTV antennas and smart boxes (we actually enjoy this better.. and we're saving over $100 a month).. We looked at our cell phone plans and realized we could downgrade them SUBSTANTIALLY and still be able to call/text/email/etc all we wanted (my wife had almost 15,000 roll over minutes banked at the time we downgraded... another $100 savings))... We dumped a gym membership that we had been paying for, for years.. but rarely used.. and started home fitness plans (still rarely using .. but another $130 in monthly savings)... etc..etc..

My wife and I use his program also. It has turned into a kinda hybrid envelope/auto bill pay system but we have manged to save a ton of money and eliminate all debt but our mortgage.