About a month ago, I got a package in the mail. I was really excited to open it up and see this
Organizher Expense Tracker.
For a little over a year, I've been an Excel Spreadsheet budget tracker,
but I don't have Excel on my laptop, the computer I use the most, so it
was kind of a pain for me to move over to our big desktop computer to
do my budgets and pay the bills. That extra step meant I wasn't as
vigilant as I could be. Having a paper copy, where I could keep a running list of what needs to be paid, and what I've already taken care of this month, is really helpful.
In the planner, each month has a few pages to help track expenses. First, you get a pocket page for bills on one side, and receipts on the other. I keep the bills in our
file folder system (to pay, to scan, to shred), so I don't use that side, but I like to keep the month's grocery/household receipts so that if we go over budget, I can look back and see what we spent the extra on, so I like that feature. Instead of having receipts shoved in my wallet, on the counter, and on my side table, they're all filed neatly in one spot.
Next to the pocket page is a list page. The bottom half is nice to list out all the bills that need to be paid for the month, along with columns for the amount and the date paid. This is pretty similar to what we had in our Excel spreadsheet, so that was familiar territory for me. The top has space for any miscellaneous things you might want to note for the month. I've been using it for extra expenses that aren't every-month kind of things (oil change for the car, birthday present for nephew, etc.) That way we know if we have an extra expense for the month.
The next couple pages are more detailed expense trackers with pre-printed categories. I have to admit, I'm not really a fan of those, because half of them we don't use, but that could be helpful for someone who has expenses in most of those categories, to see the breakdown of where their money is going. I just skip over those pages.
All in all, I really like this system. I've always been more of a handwritten girl than a digital person (call me old-fashioned, but it works for me!), so having this by my side has made it really easy to keep track of the finances. And the 3-ring binding works just like a 3-ring binder, so you can add more pages and take out the old to keep using the system!
If this looks like a budgeting tool that would be helpful for you, you're in luck! Organizher has graciously agreed to give away an expense tracker just like this one to one of my readers!
To enter, simply complete one (or more) of the entry options below, leaving a comment for EACH entry separately. The giveaway will end at 11:59AM CST on Wednesday, August 21. The winner will have 48 hours to respond to the winning email, or a new winner will be selected.
- Comment and tell me how you track your finances. Do you keep an electronic list of your bills, a calendar with due dates, or just pay them as they come?
- Go to the Organizher website and tell me which product would help keep you organized.
- Like Organizher on Facebook and leave me a comment telling me you did (or already do).
I received a budget tracker from Organizher as compensation for this post. As always, all opinions expressed are my own.
