I actually do it by hand, which feels easier than firing up a program and opening a document. I have a paper notebook where I record bills due and date paid, and keep a running list of out-of-pocket expenses. I tally up at the end of the month.

For checking accounts and debit transactions, I double-check by downloading my bank statement into Microsoft money. I haven't really gotten into the predictive/budgeting functions of that, though. I really just like having most of it happen in my head, rather than automatically. It forces me to really know where things are.

I use a simple spreadsheet based on my checking account. I try to pay for everything using my debit card (I carry very little cash mainly because of drainage due to all the coins), and I don't use credit cards at all.

Therefore, my most important number is my checking balance. Since my bank puts all this account information online, keeping up is fairly straightforward.

The columns are
date of scheduled income
net income -
miscellaneous income -
income adjustment - (primarily short term loan payoffs)
Savings -
Rent -
Support -
Cash - (ATM)
Groceries -
Eat Out -
Medical -
Misc -
Phone -
Clothes -
Bus pass -
Student Loans -
To date (what's left of this period's income)
Balance (To date + previous period's balance)

This works for me because I can extend it out into the future with all known incomes and expenditures and plan how much I can save each month. Also, everything that occurs in my checking account during a payperiod is in a single row. This makes it easy to copy all the formulas into subsequent payperiods.

What hasn't worked? Hmm, I have been using this system for almost 20 years and very little has changed over the last 16.

The biggest problem I recall at the beginning was working out the expense categories and then getting all the columns to fit on one screen without scrolling. I built in a bunch of miscellaneous columns (misc1 misc2 ...), because I found that many expenses simply did not need tracking (entertainment, towels, tools, etc.) and other expenses that I thought were trivial should actually be tracked (in my case, clothes in that I did not buy enough).

The most helpful function for me was box shading. My current checking balance has a red background. Previous end-of-payperiod balances are pink. My current expenditures row is yellow, and my stats and analysis is blue.

I found that the best placement for stats (for charts) is in the top rows. I maintain column totals and column averages.

oooh awesome, can't wait for some good tips. are you mac or pc? i use google spreadsheets because I can use it on any computer. I'll post a screenshot when my ftp works.

Though for balancing my bank accounts i'm using a free mac app called cashbox

Seconded--great stuff, mischief. Unfortunately I've tried something similar to miko's method and I'm just too...undisciplined? scatterbrained? for it to work for me or for me to stick to it or something. I'm hoping the geek appeal will keep me using this, especially since I need to track my hours no matter what, and then the workbook's already open. I'm on a PC, and am using Excel because I'm really familiar with it. I talked to my dad (who's been bugging me to do this for ages and has been doing it himself for years), and in his experience the more specific the software, the less likely it is to fit your particular needs properly. Hence setting up a custom workbook. He started out programming his own spreadsheet in DOS back around '81, though, so his method is uber-complex and unfathomably intricate.

FYI here is the screenshot: link

I just filled it with some dummy data. Everything is automated so all I do is fill in expenses and add bills as I get new ones and I know how much to put into savings and how much I will have in checking.

I have it calculating 20% into savings ATM.

I do wish I'd use it more often though, sometimes I forget to check.

oh, you can import and export excel spreadsheets in google spreadsheets btw.

geek appeal

hehe!

the more specific the software, the less likely it is to fit your particular needs properly

Agreed. That's why I don't like using Mic. Money for all its fancy functions.

The mister does ours in Excel and it's very similar to what mischief does.