Please Note

I use an appointment calendar to track bills and savings. Each bill is entered into the calendar on the date it’s due, along with the amount. When the bill is paid, I write the payment date along with the check number. This creates a handy and compact reference — very good for when I need yearly expense reminders, like for taxes.
Mary Emdy
Van Alstyne, Texas

I have a simple budget book. On one side of the page are fixed expenses; on the other are running expenses (ATM withdrawals, gasoline, beauty shop), copied from my checkbook. I try not to spend until the fixed expenses (rent, gas) are paid. This system allows me to look back to compare expenses with those in previous years, as well as to remember when it’s time to pay bills that are not monthly. I am always prepared to meet an obligation before it comes.
Elizabeth Stice
Austin, Texas

Technical Assistance

I use Quicken software and a color-coded line-item budget that rolls from month to month. Everything is accounted for — even an emergency stash — so that we can pay cash for everything. This system also helps me keep track of future financial goals in order of priority, so when I do have a little extra money, I know just where to put it. We can see where the money goes and where we can save.
Tracy Zizka
Katy, Texas

Online banking and money-management software are tools my husband I and could not live without. We enter all our bills and deposits, and the software keeps track of our expenses down to the cent. Every time we write a check or use the debit card, we just enter what we’ve spent. No more check registers, no more overdraft fees, no more headaches. We know how much we have and what we can spend at any given moment.
Jen Teter
Wichita, Kansas

My husband and I are both retired, so we get only two paydays a month: first his pension, then our Social Security checks. When we get them, I enter all the bills that are due that month in my checkbook, so I know exactly how much we have left to spend. Almost all our bills are automatically deducted from our checking account. I find that I don’t put off paying them that way, and they’re always on time. This also saves me a lot on postage and checks.
Vicki Beaumont
Kimball, Michigan

I manage the finances in our home, and after seven years of trial and error, I finally found the best budgeting program ever: Mvelopes.com. Similar to the paper-envelope system, Mvelopes.com imports any transactions that have cleared my bank account. These transactions appear in a register, from which I can drag each into its corresponding Mvelope. And it automatically deducts the expense from my budget, so I always know exactly how much I have left to spend in each fund. It even keeps track of my cash — no more missing money or surprise budget shortages. Because Mvelopes is a Web-based program, I can access it from anywhere. It costs a little bit of money, but I’ve found that the savings are worth it.
Jennifer Johnston
Mammoth Lakes, California