How to Create a Budget Online for Free
- 1). Head over to http://quicken.intuit.com/ - click the big red button that reads "Start Now. It's FREE" and fill out the form with the requested information.
- 2
Selecting Your Financial Institution
Here you can save a lot of time by having your online banking log-in information. Simply find your financial institution amongst the list, enter your online banking log-in information, and Presto! It auto-magically downloads your account data for you. If you do not have the benefit of online banking, you'll need to manually add your accounts and transactions (as well as look into online banking!). - 3). Now that your accounts are in place it's time to look at where your money is going. Quicken does a great job of categorizing transactions for you (dining, utilities, groceries, etc...), but it's not perfect so you may need to review some transactions in order to categorize them appropriately and get an accurate money flow chart.
- 4
The Goals Screen
You see where your money is going, now it's time to set some Goals. No dollar leaves your home until you know where it's going! (If you have teenagers this may feel familiar). Here you can assign categories of expense. While every person's situation is unique, some good starting goals may be as follows:
Housing: 25%-30% Of Your Income
Auto Expenditures: 10%
Groceries: 5%-10%
Clothes: 5%
Utilities: 5%-10%
Medical: 5%
Miscellaneous: 5%-10%
FUN!: 5%-10%
Savings & Investment: At LEAST 5%
