Keep Track of Personal Finances with Home Accounting Software

I know most financial gurus say that everyone should create a personal budget and stick to it. This is something I've always meant to get around to, but have always put off because it seems like such a hassle. I don't know about you, but the last thing I want to do on the weekend is sit around listing all my monthly bills and expenses or tracking every single penny I spend. I just figured as long as I don't overdraft my bank account, I'm doing fine. But now that I've got specific financial goals I want to achieve in the near future (like saving for a house and beginning a retirement fund), I think it's time to purchase some home accounting software to help get my money situation under control.

There are several different home accounting software programs on the market today, with varying degrees of sophistication. Some programs appear to be little more than spreadsheets that allow you to input various data about your spending habits and your income so you can determine whether you operate in the red or black every month. Though this is a bit on the simplistic side, I guess it's sufficient for some folks.

Other home accounting software, including well-known titles like Microsoft Money and Quicken, allow you to link to your bank accounts and set up automatic bill payments right from your computer. Thus, every time you make a deposit or withdrawal from your bank or schedule a bill pay, the amounts are automatically updated for you. This could be beneficial to folks with a lot stuff going on in their financial lives, but I don't think I need my home accounting software to do all that!

I would be comfortable with home accounting software that falls somewhere between those two extremes. In the very little bit of research I've done thus far, it seems that there are a couple of freeware programs that might provide what I'm looking for. I plan to download those sometime soon and see what they can do. I'll also check out some demos for programs that I'd have to pay for if I like them. I'd rather get free home accounting software if possible, but I'm not entirely opposed to paying a reasonable price for a product that is easy to use and performs all the tasks I require of it.

My personal finances aren't that complicated, but I am definitely beginning to understand the importance of getting all of my spending under control so I can start planning for the future. Since I'm not exactly an expert when it comes to creating and sticking to a budget, maybe a good home accounting software program can help put me on the path to financial responsibility.