Comments on: Use BudgetSketch To Make A Household Budget That Works http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/make-a-household-budget-that-works-with-budgetsketch/ Cool Websites, Software and Internet Tips Fri, 10 Feb 2012 23:43:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Judith O http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/make-a-household-budget-that-works-with-budgetsketch/#comment-414430 Judith O Mon, 26 Oct 2009 23:54:43 +0000 http://www.makeuseof.com/?p=26779#comment-414430 Oh so nice of you to reply. It's nice that you guys are receiving feedback and thinking about them. Keep up the good work.... and remember... Keep it simple and you'll beat your competitors. Oh so nice of you to reply. It’s nice that you guys are receiving feedback and thinking about them. Keep up the good work…. and remember… Keep it simple and you’ll beat your competitors.

]]> By: Dewayne http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/make-a-household-budget-that-works-with-budgetsketch/#comment-414384 Dewayne Mon, 26 Oct 2009 20:16:42 +0000 http://www.makeuseof.com/?p=26779#comment-414384 Thank you for your detailed suggestions. We're currently working to improve the recurrences model within BudgetSketch so that you'll be able to schedule entries weekly, bi-weekly, quarterly, and annually to name a few. We think that would give you the functionality you desire from your first suggestion. We're working on this as we speak and hope to release this new functionality very soon. The rest of your comments center around expense tracking against your budget. First and foremost, BudgetSketch is intended to be focused on budgeting, but we know there are some aspects of expense tracking that can't be ignored such as, how you coined it, "how I'm doing". I can assure you adding the appropriate expense tracking features are on our development list, but we intend to implement them in such a way as to not loose any focus on the centric nature of BudgetSketch, which is simple, collaborative budgeting that is forward looking in nature. Expense tracking features will happen, but our primary focus right now is to get the budgeting system exactly how our users wish it to be, with support for more recurrence types being the number one priority. We like Mint and Quicken Online as expense tracking tools, but budgeting always seems to be an after thought. We too were looking for the ideal budgeting tool and were unable to find one, so we decided to make one. It is feedback just like yours that will help us make BudgetSketch be that ideal budgeting tool, so I thank you for your honest impression. If you have any other suggestions, we would love to hear from you. Please feel free to contact us on our web page, and I can guarantee a reply! :) Best regards, Dewayne President - BudgetSketch http://budgetsketch.com/ Thank you for your detailed suggestions. We’re currently working to improve the recurrences model within BudgetSketch so that you’ll be able to schedule entries weekly, bi-weekly, quarterly, and annually to name a few. We think that would give you the functionality you desire from your first suggestion. We’re working on this as we speak and hope to release this new functionality very soon.

The rest of your comments center around expense tracking against your budget. First and foremost, BudgetSketch is intended to be focused on budgeting, but we know there are some aspects of expense tracking that can’t be ignored such as, how you coined it, “how I’m doing”. I can assure you adding the appropriate expense tracking features are on our development list, but we intend to implement them in such a way as to not loose any focus on the centric nature of BudgetSketch, which is simple, collaborative budgeting that is forward looking in nature. Expense tracking features will happen, but our primary focus right now is to get the budgeting system exactly how our users wish it to be, with support for more recurrence types being the number one priority.

We like Mint and Quicken Online as expense tracking tools, but budgeting always seems to be an after thought. We too were looking for the ideal budgeting tool and were unable to find one, so we decided to make one. It is feedback just like yours that will help us make BudgetSketch be that ideal budgeting tool, so I thank you for your honest impression. If you have any other suggestions, we would love to hear from you. Please feel free to contact us on our web page, and I can guarantee a reply! :)

Best regards,

Dewayne
President – BudgetSketch
http://budgetsketch.com/

]]> By: Judith O http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/make-a-household-budget-that-works-with-budgetsketch/#comment-414326 Judith O Mon, 26 Oct 2009 17:56:47 +0000 http://www.makeuseof.com/?p=26779#comment-414326 So I looked at budgetSketch... like it because its simple. However, I noticed a few quirks that can prevent me from using it. For starters.. Most people get paid or have recurring expenses at other frequencies other than once, and monthly e.g bi-weekly, insurance bill twice a yr.. If the only options are once and monthly, it means that for every paycheck i get, i have to manually add. Also sometimes, you set a budget, but you either exceed or underspend. I guess you have to manually update it each time. I still havent found anything that is the ideal budgeting tool. Mint and Quicken Online are nice but they are just too much. Software that can allow me 1. Set Budget 2. Enter income and expenses towards the individual budget items 3. Give me an overview of how im doing 4. Goals will be nice as well will be just perfect really. As I said, Mint and Quicken attempt to do these, but since its based on my actual transactions and categorizations, it doesnt work as well. So I looked at budgetSketch… like it because its simple. However, I noticed a few quirks that can prevent me from using it. For starters.. Most people get paid or have recurring expenses at other frequencies other than once, and monthly e.g bi-weekly, insurance bill twice a yr.. If the only options are once and monthly, it means that for every paycheck i get, i have to manually add.

Also sometimes, you set a budget, but you either exceed or underspend. I guess you have to manually update it each time.

I still havent found anything that is the ideal budgeting tool. Mint and Quicken Online are nice but they are just too much. Software that can allow me

1. Set Budget
2. Enter income and expenses towards the individual budget items
3. Give me an overview of how im doing
4. Goals will be nice as well will be just perfect really.

As I said, Mint and Quicken attempt to do these, but since its based on my actual transactions and categorizations, it doesnt work as well.

]]> By: ILoveFreeSoftware http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/make-a-household-budget-that-works-with-budgetsketch/#comment-412065 ILoveFreeSoftware Fri, 16 Oct 2009 23:20:47 +0000 http://www.makeuseof.com/?p=26779#comment-412065 This seems like a very well designed, and pretty useful software. This seems like a very well designed, and pretty useful software.

]]> By: Ryan Dube http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/make-a-household-budget-that-works-with-budgetsketch/#comment-412023 Ryan Dube Fri, 16 Oct 2009 21:25:18 +0000 http://www.makeuseof.com/?p=26779#comment-412023 Great - thanks for the response and I'm glad you liked the review! I think that it's a fantastic thing when a group of folks work on a project like this and share it with the public, asking nothing in return. You deserve major kudos for your efforts. Keep up the great work. Great – thanks for the response and I’m glad you liked the review! I think that it’s a fantastic thing when a group of folks work on a project like this and share it with the public, asking nothing in return. You deserve major kudos for your efforts. Keep up the great work.

]]> By: Dewayne http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/make-a-household-budget-that-works-with-budgetsketch/#comment-411944 Dewayne Fri, 16 Oct 2009 18:04:56 +0000 http://www.makeuseof.com/?p=26779#comment-411944 Thank you Ryan for the gracious review of BudgetSketch. I am the owner and creator of BudgetSketch and I think you nailed it on the head of why we think BudgetSketch is a different approach to personal finance management. All of the tracking tools you mention are great for telling you where you spent your money, but they aren't designed to help you develop a plan for what you will spend in the future! We always say, if expense tracking is the cart, then certainly an effective budget plan is the horse! The expense tracking tools should only help you evaluate how well you are sticking to your budget plan. We are a small team dedicated to building BudgetSketch the "old fashioned" way, slowly and economically which are the financial principals we hope to encourage through the use of BudgetSketch. If anyone has questions or comments, we would love to hear what you think of BudgetSketch. Feel free to use our contact forms on the website, or email be directly at dewayne@budgetsketch.com Thanks again Ryan!! Thank you Ryan for the gracious review of BudgetSketch. I am the owner and creator of BudgetSketch and I think you nailed it on the head of why we think BudgetSketch is a different approach to personal finance management. All of the tracking tools you mention are great for telling you where you spent your money, but they aren’t designed to help you develop a plan for what you will spend in the future!

We always say, if expense tracking is the cart, then certainly an effective budget plan is the horse! The expense tracking tools should only help you evaluate how well you are sticking to your budget plan.

We are a small team dedicated to building BudgetSketch the “old fashioned” way, slowly and economically which are the financial principals we hope to encourage through the use of BudgetSketch.

If anyone has questions or comments, we would love to hear what you think of BudgetSketch. Feel free to use our contact forms on the website, or email be directly at dewayne@budgetsketch.com

Thanks again Ryan!!

]]> By: Leisureguy http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/make-a-household-budget-that-works-with-budgetsketch/#comment-411937 Leisureguy Fri, 16 Oct 2009 17:49:29 +0000 http://www.makeuseof.com/?p=26779#comment-411937 You're welcome. BTW, the workbook is not particularly good at expense tracking---it's mainly to build the budget, which can then be used in other tools (such as BudgetSketch or others). The benefit comes when you start to realize the expenses that you will inevitably encounter but may not have considered (mainly replacement expenses). You’re welcome. BTW, the workbook is not particularly good at expense tracking—it’s mainly to build the budget, which can then be used in other tools (such as BudgetSketch or others). The benefit comes when you start to realize the expenses that you will inevitably encounter but may not have considered (mainly replacement expenses).

]]> By: Aibek http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/make-a-household-budget-that-works-with-budgetsketch/#comment-411923 Aibek Fri, 16 Oct 2009 17:18:40 +0000 http://www.makeuseof.com/?p=26779#comment-411923 thanks for sharing thanks for sharing

]]> By: Leisureguy http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/make-a-household-budget-that-works-with-budgetsketch/#comment-411544 Leisureguy Thu, 15 Oct 2009 19:45:49 +0000 http://www.makeuseof.com/?p=26779#comment-411544 Also take a look at <a href="http://www.lulu.com/content/1581272" rel="nofollow"><b>this free Excel workbook</b></a> that helps you construct a realistic budget that includes implicit expenses. Also take a look at this free Excel workbook that helps you construct a realistic budget that includes implicit expenses.

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