Online Budgeting Tools: Stepping Up Their Game

We’ve been pre-occupied with all the bailouts so I wanted to go back to basics this week. I’ve found some excellent planned-spending tools that are both online and free! My problem with many of the budgeting tools I’ve seen in the past is that it is only good for tracking and not planning. So you can always see what you spent, but there weren’t many user friendly tools out there to allow you to plan your spending ahead of time and then monitor how you manage your expenses against a set budget. for most, it's pretty pointless to monitor spending that's already gone. You can see that at your typical online bank.

So what I’ve been doing is managing my budget in Excel. It can get a little tedious, plus I have to manually link my accounts in real time to my excel sheet (meaning going online to each account, finding the balances and entering them), and that’s quite taxing. Then this week I came across three nice little secure online spend monitoring programs that do this for you: Buxfer, Mint, and Quicken. Take a look at each one and you can decide which is right for you. All are very user-friendly, they just are tailored to different crowds.

Quicken
You’ve probably heard of Intuit’s Quicken, but now they offer their online service free of charge. Quicken Online is the only one of the three that has an established brick-and-mortar equivalent out there. It probably has the most bells and whistles. Not only can it follow your expenses, it alerts you of upcoming expenses (bills due, etc.) Quicken will also project your “real” balance up to a month or so in advance (by deducting upcoming bills from upcoming paychecks).

Buxfer
Buxfer is probably best designed for the organization/college crowd (those living with roommates, groups of people sharing expenses). Not only can it link all your bank accounts into one viewing location, but it also has an option where it can track group spending and can break it down to each individual. So for instance, if you’re out with a group It also lets users pay each other in a way similar to PayPal. It also allows mobile alerts when user-set spending thresholds are violated.

Mint
I have an account with Mint, which has a nice user interface (but is a bit simplistic). Mint seems to do a better drop categorizing your expenses. Similar the Buxfer, Mint allows mobile alerts and will alert you when you go over pre-set budget amounts. The power of Mint comes in when you start the analysis though. It monitors your spending and determines where you can trim spending and compares your spending (graphically) to those in the US. You can even see average monthly spending data down to the vendor. However, Mint maintains data on their servers, so there is some risk of having your data out there.

My favorite right now is Mint, because it has the cleanest interface and loads faster than Quicken. Quicken is probably the most “powerful” of the three, especially if you own a home and have property to manage. All three are very good online budgeting tools and can help keep your spending in check.

When Times Are Tough, Americans Spend Anyway

Consumer confidence may be down this summer, but it hasn't really diminished the American Shopper's desire to do (and acquire) some neat stuff. I read a very interesting article over on CNN regarding our spending plans over the next few months. Here are a few excerpts:

Nine out of 10 Americans said they are cutting back expenses or discretionary spending at least somewhat because of the current economic conditions; according to a recent study from market research firm GfK Roper Consulting.

Only 11% of Americans believed it was a good time to buy things they want or need, down from 16% a year earlier.

Here's the interesting part(s):

Many Americans are leaving the car in the garage and staying on their living room couch. A whopping 50% of Americans plan to buy an HD or flat-panel TV in the next year, the study showed, with little difference between those who are hardest hit by the downturn and those who are not. Cable and satellite TV subscriptions are also way down the list on cutbacks.

Even in these tough times, 59% of Americans plan to take a trip of 100 or more miles in the next six months - only slightly below the 61% average of recent years.

But that doesn't mean they haven't changed their plans. To grapple with the rising cost of fuel, many consumers are opting for trips closer to home. This year, they may be packing up for Epcot instead of Europe.

First, my statistics training raised a flag—50% of Americans plan to buy an HD or flat-panel TV? It sounds a bit sloppy—50% of those polled probably said that, but I think that's about as far as it goes. The travel numbers and behaviors are probably legit though. Despite the high cost of fuel, people are (hopefully) saving more and watching their spending more closely.

And I guess I need to step my game up—I haven't had the 'Well, I guess we can't make a yearly European tour this year' conversation yet. But, I think these little studies do show that there is a segment of the country that is still finding ways to enjoy themselves—many are just finding better ways to do it.

This Week's 5 Hot Links

1. An ATM scam story has made small ripples across some places in California, where a “skimmer” is attached to ATM machines and can steal your card info. It’s doesn’t appear to be all that serious, but Cali readers should be on guard.

2. If you haven’t noticed, those much-publicized economic stimulus checks are already arriving in bank accounts electronically for those of you who received tax refunds via direct deposit.

3. And already, (as we mentioned before) tourist locations and stores are offering deal, after deal, after deal to make sure you don’t hold on to it too long.

4. If the economic slowdown is really hurting your budget, The Street suggests stocking up on non-perishables. If you’re single, it might not make much difference, but hey it depends on you.

5. And the blogger over at the highly recommended Free Money Finance gives some high-school based tips for shopping smarter.

Enjoy your week guys. Spring is finally arriving here in New York.

Check's In the Mail in May - Your Plans?

The Stimulus and the Response

President Bush and the Congress has signed the Welfare for Everyone er, Economic Stimulus Package that will go out to some 150 million Americans starting in May. Most taxpayers will receive $600 if you earned more than $3,000 in 2007, $1200 for married taxpayers, and $300 per child under 17, according to the package details. Here are some more details via WhiteHouse.gov that you probably didn’t know:

- For 2008. Taxes on the first 6,000 you earn ($12,000 for married couples) will not be taxed (previously the tax rate was 10% ). Your adjusted gross income should be less than $75,000 ($150K for couples), including salary and bonuses to receive the full check. Phase-outs begin above these income levels.

- The total spending will be to the tune of $100 BILLION+. Most of us don’t understand the concept of how much money $100,000,000,000 is, but it is a lot of money being sent out to Americans.

So, why is the government doing this? Besides it being an election year and the slowing of the economy, the government seeks to try to soften the blow to the economy by giving you a cushion of cash to fall on. The theory is that if you give people money, they will go out and spend it on American Products that will directly affect the US Economy.

Is it a great idea? I don’t think it’s the best idea, considering some of the news on the ground about how people actually plan to spend their checks. From a Bloomberg article we find that Americans have other plans rather than spending the money on the good old USA:

The stimulus plan Congress approved this month may provide less of a jolt to the U.S. economy than intended, as most Americans plan to save rather than spend their tax rebates, a Bloomberg/Los Angeles Times survey shows.

Only 18 percent of respondents said they will spend their rebate on purchases, while slightly more than three in 10 said they prefer to use the money to pay off debt, and a third said they'll pocket it.

``People in Washington assume that about 40 percent of the money will be spent,'' said Douglas Elmendorf, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, a Washington-based research organization. ``Much less would be disappointing.''

I bet it would be. Do "People in Washington" lose consciousness after they enter the Beltway?

There are so many things in this little snippet that I find rather surprising. Less than 20% plan to spend the money—which, honestly, I have to see myself. Expect a huge “Economic Stimulus Sale” Blitz from US companies in May and June to compete with consumers' discipline to save and pay off debt. Then, consider the fact the most of the products you’ll be buying—clothing, computers and other high-end electronics, go to other countries, most likely China. I'm not going to lie to you--I'm blessed to be in a fairly decent spot financially, and that check is going to a splurge purchase--I got my eyes on a new TV or an airline ticket for my family's summer family reunion. I bet I'm not alone.

Lastly, remember that the US Government doesn’t have billions of dollars stored up in a bank somewhere to dole out when times get bad. They will most like follow the China Boon Economic stimulus plan, which is described below:

1. Borrow money from China for the US Economic Stimulus Package and give to Americans to spend.

2. Americans spend money at companies that send most of the profits back to China.

3. The US Government pays back the original money, with interest.

Sound good? Well, it’s probably the most likely scenario. I’d be pleasantly surprised if we use our Federal government check to pay off debt and save for later. The Feds would be happy if you spend the money. Personally, I think the best option would have been to spend the money on improving our Country’s infrastructure and educational pursuits. It would have taken longer to make an impact, but I think we would be better off than we would in say, 6 months from now when we find out the economic stimulus package didn’t go according to plan.

See you next week.