Household Budget

Try contacting your local branch of Neighborhood Housing Services. I don't know if they do exactly what you are saying, but they can probably refer you to someone who can. They are a non-profit company that help people with financing for homes, but I think they do other stuff, too. Go to www.nhsofkcmo.org.

Hi A.! I think it is wonderful you are starting the New Year with a BANG and getting your finances in order and organized! My husband and I are followers of Dave Ramsey and he offers ideas on budget, curbing spending and increase savings. His website is www.daveramsey.com

We have also participated in his Financial Peace University which are classes located in communities all over the country! It has been a blessing..
Best of Luck to you!
C.

Check into Finanacial Peace University through some of the local churches. Dave Ramsey is a no-nonsense type of guy who has been there, done that. He tells you to give a name to every dollar. It really works. Don't know where you are located, but Breakpointe Community Church in Overland Park is starting a class the last Sunday in January. Their number is ###-###-####. There is a charge for the materials, ($100) but once you have gone, you can go again and again.

No experience with MS Money, but Quicken is a great tool to see where your money is going and helps to budget in as much detail as you want. It also allows you to download bills, bank statements, etc.

My sister helps us with our budget. She is working toward her CPA. She helped us pay off almost $22,000 in debt in 2008. She might be willing to help you????

Please respond to this if you are interested and I will talk to her.

We use MS Money and it makes things a lot easier to keep track of. We used to try to do it all with just an Excel spreadsheet and Money is so much easier. You can download your bank statements right into the program and there are all kinds of tools that you can use to see where your money is going and project how much money you will have after you pay all the bills and everything. It also helps you keep track of when all those payments are due. You can also go to www.providentliving.org for some tips on how to budget and eliminate debt. They have a basic budget worksheet that you can use to get started.