An intelligent budgeting spreadsheet you enjoy using

"I can't imagine a world where I don't have A Real Budget to manage my family's finances." - Ben Pitts, Chief Revenue Officer at PlanIQ

Learn a new way to view and manage your money

Start thinking outside the budgeting box

Budgeting redefined

A Real Budget provides a very new and different way to view and manage household finances. Whatever you may have learned about traditional monthly or payday budgeting does not apply.

The program uses descriptive information about your household finances to construct your budget for the next twelve months as illustrated at right. Your ongoing part of the budgeting process is to keep up with the inevitable day-to-day changes in your finances as they occur. 

A Real Budget

New concept

Budget space

A container, like a file folder, in which you keep your budget along with all of the tools you need to manage  your household finances

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Budget space

New concept

Budget

Not a new term, but, in A Real Budget is defined very differently from what you may have learned before

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Budget

Start by building a complete picture of your household finances as of now

No pressure - nothing happens until the first time you pay bills

Build your budget

Incomes

Describe when and how much you get paid from any type of income: predictable and unpredictable

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Income

Build your budget

Bills

Describe when and how much your bills are due for any type of bill: scheduled and unscheduled

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Bills

Build your budget

Credit cards

Describe when and how events happen with your credit cards

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Credit cards

Build your budget

Allowance

A weekly allowance is key to successful budgeting: choose a weekday and an amount for your spending money

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Allowance

Go live

Turn the complete picture of your household finances into your dynamic spending plan

Go live

When?

Choose a date when you will pay bills for the first time using A Real Budget

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When paying bills

Go live

Pay bills

Initialize your spending money, checking account balance and credit card activity before paying bills the first time with the automatic payments checklist

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Bills

Day-to-day budgeting

There's not much to do to keep your budget current

Day-to-day

Incomes

Make changes to predictable incomes, revise hourly work schedules including overtime, edit expected amounts for unpredictable incomes; play "what if?" with possible income changes

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Income

Day-to-day

Allowance

Get your allowance on the weekday and in the amount of your choice; you do not plan how you will spend your allowance nor do you track how you spend it; play "what if?" with possible allowance changes

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Allowance

Day-to-day

Bills

Adjust next payment amounts for bills with varying monthly payments; play "what if?" with possible changes to bills

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Bills

Day-to-day

Credit cards

Manage your charging activity with a 4-step method which includes reconciling statements monthly

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Credit cards

Day-to-day

Checking account

Record deposits and balance the monthly statement; your transaction register is maintained for you

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Checking account

Day-to-day

Net cash flow

Review your budget's twice monthly net cash flow (income minus expenses and set asides) for the next 12 months to see if you plan on spending more money that you expect to have on hand

Net cash flow

Day-to-day

Pay bills

Pay bills and set aside savings twice a month on the scheduled Budget column dates

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Sinking funds

Budget your savings

Make your savings an integral part of your spending plan

Budget savings

Sinking funds

Save up money to buy something in the future

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Sinking funds

Budget savings

Savings

Set aside money for short- and long-term savings such as emergency fund, periodic and ongoing savings, retirement

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Savings

Pay off your debt

Choose the path to freedom from debt that fits best in your spending plan

Debt

One debt

Create a payoff plan with a payment amount or number of payments that fits in your budget

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Pay off debt

Debt

Multiple debts

Build a debt snowball to pay off multiple debts as quickly as your budget can handle

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Pay off debt

Debt

Credit card

Create an automatic amortization plan that fits in your budget for a credit card with a large balance

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Credit card debt

Be comfortable with your money

Join the growing world-wide group of financially savvy users of A Real Budget

A Real Budget has changed our lives for the better. We can now see exactly where our money is going at a glance and set funds aside every month without a complete lifestyle change.

We never had a manageable way to keep a handle on our finances and the impact of our choices. The picture that A Real Budget creates helps us to make well informed and objective decisions. Love it!

I really love the ability to forecast out to plan. Compared to what I was used to in terms of dwelling in the past of what was spent, I like the
future focus and
preplanning aspect of A Real Budget!

Get started today

The sooner you start, the quicker you will become comfortable with your money

A Real Budget

The anxiety, lack of sleep or failed relationship that you blame on money won't go away or get better until you get off your butt and take charge of your household finances.

A Real Budget makes managing your money easy. Get started today on your own financial peace of mind.