SimpleD Budget
by CI Staff
SimpleD Budget is a personal finance application that helps users track expenses and budget their income accordingly. It helps users figure out how much is required to budget for each aspect of their lives and assist in income dispersion. It is an easy way to input all your bill amounts into one place and track how your money is spent.
After downloading SimpleD Budget, select Begin New Document to start a budget. Your income can be broken down into sections by clicking Add Income Source. Once total income sources are added, the next step is adding categories to budgeting. An example could be adding categories for bills, entertainment, mortgage, etc. Each category is given a specific budget amount, so the program can calculate how much of your income is required to meet the budget. A bar is placed next to each budget to display how much of your income percentage is allocated to each category. Each category has the option to be “fixed,” such as rent or car payments, as opposed to a category that may fluctuate, such as entertainment. A total is given at the bottom of each budget category. This shows how much income is budgeted to specific categories as well as what is left over. Another option is to automatically have leftover cash flow distributed to unfixed budget categories. That way you will know when you have more money to spend shopping or going out to dinner.
In the Expense tab of the Budget Document, categories from the previous tab transfer over. On this page, the user adds the bells and whistles to each category. An example would be if you have “bills” as a category, on your expense page you add how much you spent on each bill. Then the program calculates how much of your budget you have left. This is an efficient way for an individual to see how much money they need to save each month for certain activities or bills. Perhaps if you are constantly cutting it close to your budget, you should increase the required budget percentage of your income. When inputting the specifics on each expense, make sure to include the date.
The last page of the Budget Document is Balance. This tab breaks each category down into a pie chart to display how much has been spent in comparison with how much is left for the budget. At the top, a pie chart of total expenditures displays total income and how much has been used. Next to the pie chart, a line graph is constructed based on each category and dates provided. This feature will allow the user to track fluctuations in their budget, based on date.
The program is extremely simple, and an efficient tool for basic budgeting and income allocation. And best of all, it is free. Due to the simplicity of the program, however, the “Help” button is essentially non-existent, which is the only downside.
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http://www.aaii.com/download-library/download?DL_ID=739
System Requirements: Windows NT/98/Me/2000/XP/Vista
Size: 2.27 MB
Price: Free