For budgeters who hate math

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SoulRaven

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I figured I'd share a tool I've found helpful: apps for organizing receipts. There are tons of them out there, I'm pretty happy with Smart Receipts and the expense reports it generates but there are lots of both free and paid versions out there. The gist of it is you take a picture of the receipt with the smartphone, and then enter in the info for your records. More expensive ones can automatically pick up info from the image itself. All of them have the option to create an entry without a receipt or edit what info is there if you or the tech makes an error.

There are two ways I use this. The first is to simply know at a glance how much I've spent that month. I'm on SSI at their maximum of $733/month, so I know I need to spend less than that, but in the jumble of using a mixture of various credit cards (no carried balance), debit card, cash and even a check here and there I need a solid way to know when, for instance, it's halfway through the month and I need to try to make $100 stretch that far even if my account does technically have more (the rest is your cushion, silly). Or, it's 2 days until payday and I only spent $650, I rocked it!

The second way I use this is to make spreadsheets, which SmartReceipts can automatically export as, that can then track how much I spend in each category I set up. This helps me budget future expenses so I can feel confident about having enough money to go around on what's highest priority, or what has to wait or where corners can be cut. Having decent quality food and enough gas to get around freely is important to my physical and psychological wellbeing, but when a big ticket item takes precedence I'll spend the month hobbling by on less, totally miserable but at peace with my decision, as I can see my reward in the numbers.

For me, this app was a huge step up from roughly keeping track of things in my head. Hope someone else finds it useful!
 
I am old fashioned. I have a ledger book and write it all down. It is organized enough for me, and I don't have to worry about spyware from "free" apps giving my information to their owners. If the product is free, and you wonder how they are making money, I can assure they are not doing this out of the goodness of their hearts.
 
Ramblingvanman, the saying I've always heard it is "If you're not paying for the product, you are the product."

That said, I use Mint, which is an online budgeting tool with an android app. It's owned by Intuit, so if you use Turbotax at the end of the year you're already giving them a lot of information about you, so what's the harm in a little more?
 
ramblingvanman said:
I am old fashioned. I have a ledger book and write it all down. It is organized enough for me, and I don't have to worry about spyware from "free" apps giving my information to their owners. If the product is free, and you wonder how they are making money, I can assure they are not doing this out of the goodness of their hearts.

I'm glad you have something that works for you!

Like most free apps, its paid for by ad placement at the lower end of the screen. Users who like it well enough pay a couple dollars to get the ad-free version.
 
I just use Notepad, and write everything down, then save a copy to my laptop, and one to a usb stick.

I have a box to keep 7 years worth of physical receipts & paperwork in.
 
I pay everything with one credit card that I pay off monthly. I keep all my credit receipts in a weekly envelope. That way I can find the receipt easily if I need it to verify a properly charged item. Easy to find. I keep medical receipts in another envelope. And then my credit card company generates a printout at the end of the years with itemized categories. And I back check by requesting printouts from Dr., Dentist, Walmart Rx, and any other medical expenses.

That's all I ever need. Works for me.
 
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