Get organized to get a better picture of your family finances.
Welcome Maureen Rieder, guest writer...
Wow! I’ve had a few big projects in my day, but none stack up to the importance of managing our family’s finances. I have been a stay-at-home mother for just over two years. One of the tasks that came along with my new role included the management of our family finances including our budget, savings and retirement strategies. I hate to admit it, but my husband and I had a divide and conquer strategy in place until our beautiful baby girl arrived. As I was making the case for quitting my corporate job to stay at home, I realized that we did not have a good overall picture of our finances. Within the first few weeks of being at home, I decided to purchase Quicken. I do not profess to be an expert on the various software available to help you manage your personal finances, but I really don’t think there is a bad choice!
Let me be clear, there is some substantial upfront work that is needed to get all of your financial information loaded into the software. For example, I have loaded our bank accounts, mortgage, credit cards and ALL of our investments (401K, 529, etc.) into the software. I spent the bulk of my time uploading our investment information, but I would say it has also been the most rewarding to be able to track. At my house, we have deemed the last day of the work week as “Finance Friday”. I simply schedule a weekly update after the markets close on Friday evening and have an update of our finances within minutes. I hadn’t seen our bottom line net worth until I completed the initial upload to the software. I found it motivating to continue to challenge ourselves to grow the net worth line! While I could write a book about all of the things you can do with the software (bill pay, setting a budget, categorizing expenses, tax prep, etc.), it’s really up to you and what you want to get out of the experience.
So, I’d love to hear from all of you…. What do you use to manage your finances? Do you find the information to be empowering? Leave your answers and comments in the comments section below!
Maureen Rieder is a guest blogger, wife and mother of two. She earned her MBA from the University of Dayton and worked for almost 10 years in marketing before becoming a stay at home mom.
Thanks to Maureen for taking the time and offering her insight!
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Comments
Mint.com is probably the best financial software around. Best part; it's free!
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