Debt - you never want to think about this four-letter word. But if you are trying not to think about it, trying to live in the state of oblivion, or if you’re not keeping track of your debt, then you’re perhaps not getting closer to become debt free. If you want to pay off your debt, the first step should be knowing exactly how much you owe and who your creditors are. What I feel, you can’t effectively manage your debt without keeping a good track of your entire household budget. Therefore, listed below are a few ways to create and manage your budget in a more realistic way so that you can track down your debt and manage your money in a better way.
- Spreadsheets Free personal budgeting templates from vertex42.com can prove to be a great alternative to Quicken. Since it’s not a software, rather a simple template, it is best for those people who know a little about computers. It is a very easy-to-use spreadsheet for creating and managing your household budget so that you can stay on top of your finances. Pen down all your income and expenses, and see stringently where does your money go. Once you have successfully built a fair budget, you should focus to avail a effective way to track your debts. Moreover, you can make use of a debt calculator in order to pay off your debts as quickly as possible. Again, DebtTracker from It’s Your Money is a simple-to-use spreadsheet that provides you with a list of your debts and then sort those by interest rate, type or present account balance. DebtTracker further helps you know how long it will take to pay off each debt.
- Personal Finance Software Mint.com is a free online personal finance software that pulls information from all of your financial accounts. You can make use of the goal setting option of Mint.com to create a debt payoff goal for you. Once you sets this, you can see how your debt payments are related to the total money you’re earning each month versus where your money is going. You can also access mint from your Android device or iPhone. You Need a Budget is an online free software that allows you to assign a role to each dollar you earn. This personal finance software makes it far easier on your part to import all your bank transactions, monitor ingoing and outward money and moreover, get free online financial classes that tells you about better money management skills.
- Smartphone Applications Pay Off Debt, a smartphone application, meant for iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch, provides users with an easy procedure to organize and keep track of their debt. This app specifically uses the debt snowball method and suggests payments on each of your accounts. This is a perfect solution for those folks who run a hectic schedule and wish to manage their finances through their phone or tablet. DebtTracker Pro is another enticing app for iPhone users. It also makes use of the snowball method to pay off debt. However, the app allows you to be fussy. You can pick from other built-in-payment strategies or prepare your own if you wish. DebtTracker Pro further allows you to view progress of your debts paid and also provide payment reminders.
