And I just can't hide it
I paid to use TurboTax for this year's return (yay, $525!) and, with that, got a free pass for Quicken Online. At this point, I can't say enough about this new thing I've discovered.
In the past, I've had serious trouble with budgeting. I can balance a checkbook, I just don't like to; keeping all my receipts and then entering them has apparently been a serious weakness for me. Quicken Online not only pulls my transactions directly from my bank records, but it recognizes spending patterns and tells me when I'm in danger of overdrafting within a pay period. It recognizes and predicts my regular bills, it is customizable for new expenses, and...well, basically, it tells me within any pay period what I have left after each paycheck for things like sushi and new clothes. :)
For normal people, this would be easy. Figure out bills, subtract them in a timely manner from pay periods, and go from there. But I suck at budgeting; I've tried, several times, and it just isn't in my genes. My bills hit more or less on the same day every month, but I have like 12 automatic debits and a paycheck that hits every two weeks, regardless of timing. Whenever my car payment and rent coincide within the same pay period, I'm basically screwed. But not anymore :) At this point I might actually have enough financial willpower to find some spare change to put in my IRA. That, at least, is the goal.
In less than six months, I plan to have enough to go to PAX 10 and contribute to my eventual retirement. I'm extremely excited about this new control I have over my life, and I plan to extend that even further in the near future. Stay tuned...
In the past, I've had serious trouble with budgeting. I can balance a checkbook, I just don't like to; keeping all my receipts and then entering them has apparently been a serious weakness for me. Quicken Online not only pulls my transactions directly from my bank records, but it recognizes spending patterns and tells me when I'm in danger of overdrafting within a pay period. It recognizes and predicts my regular bills, it is customizable for new expenses, and...well, basically, it tells me within any pay period what I have left after each paycheck for things like sushi and new clothes. :)
For normal people, this would be easy. Figure out bills, subtract them in a timely manner from pay periods, and go from there. But I suck at budgeting; I've tried, several times, and it just isn't in my genes. My bills hit more or less on the same day every month, but I have like 12 automatic debits and a paycheck that hits every two weeks, regardless of timing. Whenever my car payment and rent coincide within the same pay period, I'm basically screwed. But not anymore :) At this point I might actually have enough financial willpower to find some spare change to put in my IRA. That, at least, is the goal.
In less than six months, I plan to have enough to go to PAX 10 and contribute to my eventual retirement. I'm extremely excited about this new control I have over my life, and I plan to extend that even further in the near future. Stay tuned...