Pear Budget - Really Friggin Easy Budgeting

After reading on My Money Blog about how easy (and free!) Pear Budget is, I downloaded it and gave it a look-over. I was impressed - because it runs in Excel, the document size is practically nothing. It’s well thought-out, and easy to use. Unfortunately, I could also tell it wasn’t for me. I have two monthly expenses right now: my car and my credit card payment. Besides that, all I really buy is gas for my car. I keep track of all my money’s comings and goings in a Excel document that I wrote myself, and although I was in love with Pear Budget, I knew our time had not come yet.

But that doesn’t mean I didn’t find someone else to thrust it upon! While I was in LA, I set it up for The Fella. I uploaded it into Google Docs and Spreadsheets, because The Fella works from two different computers, and I wanted him to be able to access it from either. Some of the features (such as the red triangles) don’t work in Google Docs, and some of it looks a little funny, but all of the basics of the program still work.

The reason Pear Budget is good for The Fella and not for me is that he has actual expenses and income, living on his own and having real jobs and the sort. Basically, this program might not be useful for anyone college-aged or younger, but once you’re living on your own, I highly recommend it. It’s free, it’s super easy, and because of Google Docs, you can decide whether you want it to be online or offline.

I like it!