Budgets and Diets

In writing this blog, we hope no one thinks we know everything about money and finances. We mostly just want to be able to help anyone who is struggling in this area. I think it's only appropriate that our first post be about how to save money (this video is worth watching).

Saving money is a lot like dieting, but in reverse. If you burn more calories than you than you eat (or drink), you lose weight. If you make more money than you spend, you save money. That's a simple explanation, but that's really how it works. The problem that most of us have, is that we don't know how much money we are making, and how much money we are spending, until the bank statement comes (or we step on the scale, as the case may be). We don't intend to spend too much. It just seems to happen. In my opinion, the for failure in both budgeting and dieting (though I won't go into dieting here) is a failure to track.

Tracking can be time consuming and difficult. Fortunately for us, though, we have technology. We no longer have to save receipts and balance a checkbook. Here are a few tools and tips that I would suggest using to make tracking easier.

Online Banking. You don't have to wait for a monthly statement in the mail. You can check the status of your finances any time you want. Bank websites are secure, but I wouldn't suggest accessing them in public places like Starbucks, school, or the airport. Also, banking sites don't update in real time - there is generally at least a one day lag. But instead of going to each of your bank and credit card websites separately, wouldn't it be great if you could see all of your financial information in one place?

Mint.com - This is where technology really comes through. Mint.com, a free service, will track your incomes and expenses for you, and help you set up budgets for individual categories, like groceries or restaurants. When you sign up, mint will ask you for usernames and passwords for your online banking and credit card accounts. Mint is secure, and your information is safe with them. Mint will also offer ideas for how to save more money, by offering different car insurance, credit cards, or bank accounts. These may be good offers, but don't be too quick to switch. Other options for free online financial software are wesabe.com and myspendingplan.com.


These tools and ideas aren't enough alone to make sure you save money. But, this is a start. The more aware you are of what is coming in and what is going out, the better financial choices you will make. If you want to track your finances on your own, I suggest GNUcash, which is free, open-source accounting software. If you know how to do basic bookkeeping, this software will be pretty intuitive, and it's free.