Family budget calculator - several convenient options. The best free mobile apps for managing a family budget

In order to competently and easily maintain family accounting, there is a program for the family budget called “Home Accounting”. This software allows you to manage general and personal finances from various devices with data synchronization and exchange between your computer and mobile devices, since its versions work on Android, iPhone, and iPad. In free trial mode, you can use it for 30 days, after which you will be offered to buy the software. However, for those who do not want to spend money, there are other services that are freely available that structure household expenses and income. The best programs for accounting and maintaining a family budget, which can be downloaded for free, are presented in our review.

Home Accounting Program

Since the offer from “Home Accounting” (http://www.keepsoft.ru/) can be used for free for a month, users who choose intuitive, simple and functional versions of the software can use this example to compare the capabilities of paid and free programs “in the field.” conditions." Thanks to the function of uploading data to Excel after a month, you can return to the tables if you wish without losing records.

The distinctive advantages of “Home Accounting” include:

1. Availability of using not just a list of income for each of the partners, but linking the status of several accounts to the “common wallet” - cash, bank cards, electronic money.
2. An interface in which you can see both the overall picture in one table and each of the subsections in a separate window displayed on the screen (for example, the loans and debts window).
3. The ability to create visual diagrams that at a glance allow you to assess the current financial situation in the family.
4. Additional features:
   • planning of income and expenses,
   • importing data from bank statements,
   • export to Excel, Word, Access, HTML

Unlike many free “blank templates”, here the basic part is already written out. For example, items of possible expenses are included in such detail that it is extremely rare that there is a need to add something (although there is such a possibility, as well as the opposite - deleting an “extra” item). Thus, the 16 main basic categories of expenses are divided into many subcategories. For comparison:

• in the “Car” category there are already 9 subcategories “by default”: Car wash, Gasoline, Spare parts, Tax, Repair, Parking, Insurance, Inspection, Fine.
• in the “Clothing” category – 44 subcategories.
• in “Household Goods” there are 62 options from nails and hangers to light bulbs and filters.

Thanks to such detail and even “meticulousness” of the authors, it is much easier to plan, since the menu itself seems to suggest what is usually forgotten in everyday troubles.

Separately, it should be noted the search function with details by names, categories-subcategories, repaid and outstanding debts, notes, etc. That is, by entering a marker word in a note, you can, using the search, immediately see all the movements that relate to the “encrypted” topic .

The mobile version of the service differs from the offerings of most competitors in its functional diversity, which becomes noticeable even when looking at the start menu.

“Home Accounting” has many good reviews from users with many years of experience, noting its merits, and one “disadvantage” - it is paid. The software allows you to log in, changing user names, and conduct independent budgeting. However, in a paid offer this advantage is offset, because for free use by several family members, you will most likely need to buy a more expensive license.

There are 3 main options and a monthly subscription with renewal:

1. Private license for installation on one computer – 800 rubles. during the discount period and 990 rubles on an ongoing basis.
2. Family license for two computers RUB 1,200. at a discount and 1490 rub. - without.
3. The portable (manufacturer-recommended) option for freely moving the program on a flash drive costs the same amount.

“Family Budget”: program, reviews, opportunities

“Family Budget” is a program for Android, the free version of which can be considered as a successful example of introducing a useful product to the market for free. The only downsides to using are:

• the presence of advertising that can be turned off for money,
• the ability to backup only to the memory card of a mobile device in version 2.1.11, while you can download the family budget program for free and without registration in version 2.2.5–2.2.7 (for example, here http://top-android.org/programs /1379-semeynyiy-budjet/) – general requirement: Android 2.1 and higher.

“Family Budget” is an official mobile application for Android that duplicates the functionality of a web service for accounting.

The advantage over desktop competitors is that all expenses can be entered in the mobile application, “without leaving the cash register” and without forgetting about them.

But there are a lot of such everyday petty waste and it is they that require special accounting, since, judging by statistics, the general treasury is imperceptibly melting not when buying TVs and refrigerators, but because of snacks, coffee breaks and unaccounted for beer on Fridays.

To create a new entry in the accounting history, you need to:

• select a menu item,
• enter the expense amount and note,
• mark a category (either create it yourself or select from a ready-made list).

Functionality added in later releases allows you to specify means of payment, recording the status of funds on your bank card and cash in your wallet. Synchronization with Mobile Banking is available. A separate section is reserved for planning potential expenses.

• At the beginning of the month, the total amount of upcoming expenses is calculated and indicated.
• The amount is listed by category, indicating the part planned for food, utilities, loan repayment, etc.
• The end of the month shows savings or a negative balance.

As in the previous software, this application provides a search, the ability to leave notes, and also generate a report on movements in the family wallet in the form of diagrams.

"AndroMoney", "CoinKeeper", "Expense Manager"

AndroMoney

Similar to the previous and another multifunctional application AndroMoney, which is also used for household accounting on Android devices. The goal of the developers was to create an interface for housewives - an intuitive menu without sacrificing functionality.

There is a free version and a Pro version (about $5). The advantages include: choice of “step” (day, month or year), narrow budgeting for individual categories and the ability to create copies both in the device memory and in cloud storage services (Google Drive, Dropbox). Data can be password protected and, if necessary, converted into CVS format for use on a PC.

CoinKeeper

The difference between the shareware (a test version is used for the first half a month) CoinKeeper platform and others is that it allows both “manual management” of your finances and an automatic mode, for which you must first indicate your monthly income. The work will be made easier by the fact that each menu item is explained, thanks to which the platform has one of the most intuitive interfaces among similar products.

Allowed: synchronization with other devices, storage in cloud services, setting a password. But, compared to others, this application has few reports, does not have a “desktop” version, and slow animation.

Expense Manager (from Bishinews)

In Expense Manager (from Bishinews), in addition to the limited functionality of the free version (the full version also costs about $5), the absence of the Russian language is considered a relative disadvantage. In the English-speaking environment, multi-million downloads demonstrate the popularity of this software. Here you can plan the ratio of income and expenses, change settings for yourself, display a detailed schedule of expenses, and store information in the cloud or on a memory card. The interface looks minimalistic, but this only simplifies the work of both the user and the gadget.

Automation of the family budget is a noble cause and allows you to save a lot of time. In the mind of the average person, a calculator is a way to quickly perform arithmetic operations. We will not stray far from this concept.

1 Online home budget calculators

There are a huge number of different free services that are designed specifically to make it easier for the user to track expenses and income. The sites offer a meager list of mathematical software tools, which, however, get the job done without any problems or complaints. For the family budget, data for the year ahead is important; this information allows you to imagine the overall picture of income and expenses over a long period of time.

The program automatically calculates annual values ​​for all categories of expenses, calculates the balance in the current month and the average annual one, provided that the picture of budget income and expenses does not change critically. A very convenient and incredibly simple program to quickly estimate the possibilities of your budget at your current salary.

Perhaps Permians are very concerned about their financial affairs. The official website of the Perm City Administration has published a very interesting calculator, which will be useful primarily to local residents due to the ability to calculate taxes online, but also for residents of other regions of Russia, some of the functions that this simple family budget calculator offers will be useful.

A simple program can be very convenient Family budget for calculating expenses and income, which can be downloaded for free on the endless expanses of the Internet. The program has many nice little features that make the process of summing up your monthly results easier. A simple expense table and a clear interface are all you need for your household.

2 How to keep track of your home budget using a calculator?

An ordinary calculator, familiar to everyone from childhood, is also a very useful tool in managing a home budget. A small device is always at hand. For those who do not communicate with a computer on a first-name basis, it will be much easier to operate with a notepad, pen and calculator.

In this case, you need to adhere to certain rules for keeping track of expenses and income, and also do not forget about the need to take into account taxes and fees, which are also included in your expenses.

We suggest keeping a very simple table in which you simply write down all your expenses for the month. Unfortunately, categorizing expenses in our case seems to be an almost impossible task, but for keeping track of household finances in real time, such a table is the best solution. It’s very easy to draw it even in a notepad; you don’t need anything other than a calculator to keep notes.

In general, the tasks of home accounting, even in its simplest form, will always be:

• Distribution of finances;
• Accounting and control over expenses;
• Income accounting;
• Summing up the reporting period.

To do this, you can keep a tight accounting book or simply have a notebook in which you need to record all the sequential financial transactions of the family during the day. The sign will look something like this:

As you can see, this is a simple way of keeping track of all income and expenses, which our grandfathers used. You can calculate interim and final monthly totals using a calculator or even the most ordinary accounts. Have you always wanted to feel like a real accountant from the times of Ilf and Petrov? Perhaps in our time it is archaic, but it is stylish and still reliable!

3 Create a simple calculator on your computer

You can create a family budget calculator using MS Excel, which is found on almost all modern personal computers running Windows. Using Excel workbooks is quite easy. Automating processes will be quite difficult, but for a simple calculation of all income and expenses we will not need to come up with millions of formulas. Simple addition and subtraction will suffice.

You can also use our tips from previous articles about Excel tables. Our calculator will also be a good tool for summing up investment activities, without which you can’t go anywhere today. Detailed accounting of all investments is a very important component of maintaining family accounting and managing household finances in general. Even MS Excel templates have appropriate tools for calculating profits and dividends.

We always encourage readers to pay attention to PAMM investing, believing that they are sufficiently liquid and transparent for your investments to quickly earn and increase without your participation. On the other hand, if you pay attention to ours, you will notice that diversification of deposits is very important for positive results. More accounts mean more numbers and values ​​to consider.

In our small table, we tried to take into account all sources of income and make automation simple and understandable. Apart from the operations "SUM" and subtraction, no formulas were used. Everything is very simple! A good and convenient calculator for your personal budget!

Programs for maintaining, accounting and planning a family budget, are reliable assistants for effective management of the family budget. Why? Because they allow you to automate many processes, which greatly simplifies the process of maintaining home finance.

In addition, this software has a lot of auxiliary functions that allow you to identify the strengths and weaknesses of your relationship with money, and will open your eyes to seemingly obvious things, but for some reason not used in everyday life. Programs for maintaining a family budget greatly facilitate and help create a holistic picture of our relationship with finances.

Purpose of the review

• Determine from the variety of specialized software the best price-quality ratio;
• Select the most optimal and easy-to-use program for maintaining a family budget;
• Determine the main characteristics of the proposed programs for maintaining a family budget;
• Identify the simplest and most understandable solutions for beginners, as well as select more serious and complex products for advanced users;
• Determine the degree of convenience in working with each program;
• Select the most pleasant design and management software;

Criteria for evaluation

I will evaluate all programs for managing a family budget according to five main criteria:

• Simple and intuitive interface;
• Ease of use;
• Functionality;
• Family budget planning;
• Reports and analysis.

Why exactly according to these criteria? Because these are the cornerstones of any special software for accounting and planning a family budget. Many programs today have much more complex capabilities. But they are needed only if the utility suits the criteria listed above.

If the product is difficult to learn or difficult to use on a daily basis, then the user will not need all the bells and whistles that the developers have stuffed into their product.

What programs for managing a family budget will be reviewed?

Today, these are one of the most popular programs for maintaining a family budget on a computer. I do not take into account online services for keeping track of personal finances online. In the future, I plan to regularly monitor new products and add reviews of them to my blog.

What the review will look like

I decided not to do a general review of all the programs, since it would be too large and inconvenient to understand. Therefore, a separate report will be prepared for each program, with screenshots. In the blog, I will create a special section called “Software”. In this section, you can familiarize yourself with the list of reviewed programs. There will also be a link to a detailed review of each product and the cost.

The final stage will be the publication of a brief report on all programs, and a table with assessments of the main parameters of the program will be posted. There will also be an overall score below, based on which you can understand which product, in my opinion, deserves the highest ratings.

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To protect yourself from big expenses and save up for a small house somewhere on the seashore, you don’t have to deny yourself everything and tightly sew your savings into a mattress. Sometimes it’s enough just to use personal assistants that fit into a regular smartphone. website collected 10 applications for saving, counting and increasing your income.

Zen mani

A convenient tool for budget planning with recognition of SMS from all the largest banks in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and automatic creation of transactions. You can work on several devices - the data will be automatically synchronized. In addition, the program analyzes costs and makes forecasts. It's quite easy to understand here.

CoinKeeper

Very convenient for quickly recording expenses directly at the checkout. The main screen of the application looks like a large coin holder. Income, wallets and expenses are presented as stacks. To record a waste, just move a coin from one stack to another. In addition, the application analyzes income and expenses for different periods, helps make forecasts and has many other useful functions.

Rubbishmoney

The application has 4 laconic directories: expenses, income, movements and exchange. You can make a shopping list and then audit it: what was bought, what was not, how much was spent. The application allows you to create both short-term and long-term budgets. You can plan to buy, say, a sofa, and the “Drebemoney” will diligently count how much is left to save. The application has a multi-user mode - you can connect all family members to the system and monitor the overall budget.

Spendee

The application has fairly minimalist functionality, so adding a purchase to the database will take no more than a couple of seconds. Those who are strong in spirit can take a look at the expense statistics section. After this, many are guaranteed to begin to refrain from unnecessary little things that they usually grabbed from display cases without thinking.

Toshl is quite similar in functionality to Spendee and, rather, is its eye-pleasing alternative, since you will be keeping track of expenses under the supervision of cute cartoons of Asian origin. The downside: you can’t specify multiple accounts, but you can separate them with tags.

Daily Budget

If you want to start saving money for something more meaningful than lunch, this app will help you take control and calculate your daily expenses. First, you need to enter your monthly income, indicate the amount of standard monthly expenses (for example, utility bills) and indicate the percentage of your total income that you want to put into the piggy bank. After a little thought, the application will give you an amount that you can safely spend during the day.

HomeMoney

A convenient and widely appreciated application for home accounting. Allows you to record expenses, income, transfers from account to account, and evaluate account balances. It is possible to view the entered information in the form of graphs - and it immediately becomes clear where the holes are in the budget.

Last update: 02/17/2019

The purpose of all home accounting programs– simplify the accounting of income and expenses.

The user of the program can set more specific goals: tracking savings, monitoring timely payment of loan payments, etc.

Some programs are specifically designed to help the user set and achieve financial goals.

When choosing a personal finance accounting program, you need to pay attention to two main criteria:

• functionality;
• program manufacturer.

Home accounting software features include:

• creating reports on income and expenses, on the dynamics of the balance of funds, accounting for different accounts;
• loan and deposit calculator;
• budget planning, calendar of future expenses.

The following options will be useful:

• fast transaction entry;
• recognition of SMS from the bank;
• multiplayer mode;
• synchronization of mobile and computer versions.

Among the software producers there are both beginners and developers with more than 10 years of experience.

Below we will consider 10 options for managing a family budget in 2019.

Excel spreadsheet for maintaining a family budget

Entering data into a spreadsheet is the first step from calculating in a notepad to modernizing family budgeting. Excel has ready-made templates for maintaining estimates of income and expenses, but you can download a more convenient template on the Internet or build your own table.

Advantages of an Excel spreadsheet for keeping track of family expenses

• No installation of additional software is required - work is done in a program from the standard MS Office set or free analogues;
• The ability to independently determine the components of accounting - categories of income and expenses, family members;
• All family members can use the program;
• You can store a data file on a USB drive and have access to accounting from any computer.

Disadvantages of an Excel spreadsheet for controlling family spending

• There is no special interface for the family budget - pictures for categories, options for categories of income and expenses;
• You can only work from a computer or laptop; there is no synchronization between different PCs (although you can configure it using any cloud storage if you wish).

An alternative to an Excel spreadsheet is Google Sheets

Google Sheets is part of the Google Drive service. You will need to create an account once and then you can use all the features.

Advantages:

• can be used for free - this is a significant plus, because we talk about saving money in the family;
• There is synchronization via the Internet + you can install the application on your phone.

Personal Finances

The program, formerly known as Personal Finances and now called Azlex Finance, has been around since 2006 and is constantly being improved.

Advantages of Azlex Finance / Personal Finances

• Possibility of accounting by several users. Each family member can create their own personal account with their own password and the ability to hide some transactions from other family members;
• There are versions for iOS and Android with synchronization of mobile and computer versions via the Internet. You can enter information directly in the store from your phone so you don’t forget anything;
• Convenient, quick transaction entry;
• Ability to edit spending categories, family composition, contractors;
• Convenient creation of reports on spending categories, accounts, family members, the ability to view financial dynamics;
• The presence of a planner that allows you to reflect future and regular expenses in the calendar;
• Nice design with the ability to assign icons to expense categories.

Disadvantages of Azlex Finance/Personal Finances

• Not all features are available in the free version;
• The program is very detailed, which requires time to familiarize yourself with all the features.

Review of Easyfinance.ru

EasyFinance Ltd has been operating since 2009 and offers paid applications for iPhone and Android or free family budgeting directly on the website. A computer version is not provided.

There are 3 tariffs with different functionality.

Advantages of easyfinance.ru

• Availability of the main functions of the budget program - reports, schedules, planning;
• The entire amount of funds for the month is shown in the form of a tachometer, where the arrow indicates the amount of money at the moment. It’s convenient to monitor expenses and avoid falling into the red zone;
• Possibility of linking a bank card to an account (not for all banks). When paying for goods and services with a card, the transaction will be automatically entered into the program, and you will not have to waste time entering it manually;
• The program specifically places an emphasis on long-term planning, which allows you to save about 15% of your income for major expenses and dreams;
• Availability of a calendar with reminders about the need to make regular payments;
• The program monitors the financial situation in the country and offers profitable solutions for opening deposits and loans.

Disadvantages of easyfinance.ru

• The free version only works on the website. Not everyone wants to post all the information about their income on the Internet, although the site is protected;
• Paid versions are presented in the form of various tariffs from 99 to 250 rubles per month.
• There is no multi-user interface - the program is focused on personal, not family finances.

Review of Drebedengi.ru

Another online service operating since 2007. Presented as a computer program and mobile applications in free and paid versions.

Paid once a year at a rate of 599 rubles.

Advantages of www.drebedengi.ru

• Availability of multi-user mode;
• Availability of applications for computer, Android, iOS, Windows Phone and the ability to synchronize data on different devices;
• Availability of a planner, reports, tracking the dynamics of balances;
• Possibility of processing bank SMS by the program for automatic entry of transactions;
• Shopping list function. You can make a list in the program before going to the store. It’s convenient that different users can make a list and make purchases - a wife can make a list on a computer from home, and a husband can see it on his mobile while in a store - and there’s no need to dictate anything over the phone;
• Data backup by sending backups by email;
• Nice minimalistic design with images assigned to categories.

Disadvantages www.drebedengi.ru

• The free version has a minimum of features: no multi-user mode and synchronization, no budget planning, no report templates.
• The free version also contains advertising.
• In fact, the free version only allows you to record transactions.

Mybudget.ws

A relatively young service, operating since 2013. Offers home accounting on a computer, tablet, phone through the website. There is a free trial version and two paid plans - 249 and 299 rubles per year.

Advantages of mybudget.ws

• Keeping records of several accounts: cash, cards, savings;
• Availability of synchronized computer and mobile versions;
• Convenient creation of reports in the form of graphs and tables;
• Financial goal. The program helps you set goals and move towards their implementation;
• Ability to assign labels to categories.

Disadvantages of mybudget.ws

• Lack of multi-user interface;
• Poor features of the free version.

Zenmoney.ru

Zen Money is a free online service that has been operating since 2010. There is a mobile version, which is sold on Google Play for 590 rubles.

Advantages of zenmoney.ru

• Multiplayer mode;
• Mobile and computer versions with synchronization;
• The mobile version has a function for recognizing bank SMS. When an SMS from the bank arrives on your smartphone, the program automatically reads the purchase information and enters the data into the desired category - no need to waste time manually entering information;
• There are many opportunities for financial analysis, there are various tables and graphs, comparison of income and expenses by period.

Disadvantages of zenmoney.ru

• There are errors with data synchronization;
• Not everyone will like the minimalist design without category labels.

Internet banking

Some banks offer financial accounting as part of the Internet Banking service.

Advantages of accounting via Internet banking

• All transactions are entered automatically when paying for the transaction by card - you do not need to create transactions yourself, nothing will be forgotten;
• The data is stored on the bank's server - it will not be lost, and you can always access it from any device.

Disadvantages of Internet banking

• It is impossible to enter expenses in cash;
• No multiplayer mode;
• Few functions for analysis and budget planning.
• In the long term, it is problematic to obtain all the cost statistics.

Rating leaders - who is the best in 2019?

Let’s summarize what program or service will be most convenient for keeping track of your family budget/personal finances.

1. Personal Finances programs (1st place)
2. Home economics (2nd place).
3. Google Sheets (if used instead of Excel), then third place.

You also need to consider that these assessments for some items may change over time and are subjective. If you notice an inaccuracy, you know a good program/service, then write in the comments, I will definitely add it.

It would also be interesting to know alternative options for keeping family money records. Write below in the comments.