Quick Start
So, where to begin? This program is formatted in a logical,
step-by-step manner. Consider this to be your electronic file-box.
There are a series of folders inside that can be filled out and
maintained to provide a complete picture of your financial situation.
First, create your accounts with their starting balances in the
"Personal Profile" tab. You can also create specific transaction
types, budget categories, and sub-categories on this page, but that
is optional at this point. You can always come back and add, edit,
or delete any of these items.
Next, move over to the "Assets / Liabilities" tab. Here you can
compute your net worth by filling in the amount fields for the assets
and liabilities listed. You can customize these lists however you
wish. Observe the "Net Worth:" value when you are done. If it is
red, you need to work on reducing your debts and building up your assets.
Then select the "Estimated Budget" tab. A quick way to start your
first budget is to enter the amount you earn on a monthly basis
(gross) into the salary field under "Gross Monthly Income." Hit
<Enter> and you will be prompted to bring up the "Guideline
Editor." Select "Yes" and you will see a window with recommended
percentage allocations to various expense categories. Change these
if you wish, or just hit "Use Defaults" and then "Save Guidelines."
Close the window and then select the "Use Guidelines" button near
the top of the page. This will fill out the estimated budget for
you according to the guideline percentages you selected. And there
you have your first, rough-draft budget!
At this point you can skip over to the "Summary" tab to view your
current budget as a pie chart. Leave the settings as their defaults
and press "Display Chart" and you will see a pie chart with your
budget shown by percentages. Eventually, when you have entered
enough transaction data, you can begin graphing your estimated vs.
actual expenses (via pie and bar charts) to get a picture of how
closely you are adhering to your budget.
Use the "Transactions" tab to record your daily expenditures and
income under the categories and accounts you create. This is like
your account register. You can filter and sort your transactions
in just about any way imaginable. The "Income Allocations" page
can be used to designate your income transactions towards various
expense categories. By doing so, you will be well prepared when
the bills arrive. Any excess income can be allocated to the savings
pool. In the "Savings" tab, you can create any number of savings
goals and start designating your savings allocations towards them.
And in the "Debts" tab, you can amortize loans in many different
ways and determine optimal payment schedules.
Begin exploring the various pages and utilities and just experiment
with the features to learn more about the program. More detail
about each one can be found in the "Help" menu. Some buttons will
display a pop-up with some explanation as to what they do if you
simply hover over them for a few seconds.
We hope you find this tool to be very helpful in managing your
personal finances. Please return to the web-site regularly to
check for updates and to provide feedback that we can use to make
the program even better. Best wishes and happy budgeting!
Back to Top
Back to Topics
|