How much can I afford to give?

April 23, 2024July 27, 2012 by Audrey

This spring, I came across an opportunity to help a friend. This friend of mine would be living in the slums of Manila and working with women exiting prostitution, and I hoped to help her get there. There are many cool short and long term projects like this that I would love to support, but my question was “How much can I afford to give?” I wanted to give more money away, but I never knew how far my money could go.

Shortfalls of Account Balance Budgeting

As an inexperienced budgeter, I had trouble finding a balance between excessive spending and fearful thriftiness. I used to look at my checking account balance when making financial decisions. I’d see my balance, try to estimate a needed cushion plus any known future expenses, and then be willing to spend the difference. This elementary form of budgeting kept me from going in the red, but it didn’t give me a picture of where my money was going. It also kept me from making more bold and generous choices with my money.

Creating a Budget with Goodbudget

In order to determine how much I could afford to give, I decided to create a budget with Goodbudget. With each step, I became closer to my goal—

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Start Small and Build Momentum to Achieve Your Financial Goals

October 27, 2022July 13, 2012 by Steve

Financial goals can often seem large and overwhelming. But don’t be intimidated! Start with small and fun financial goals to build confidence and momentum toward larger goals. Not sure how to start? Here are some tips on how to choose a small and fun financial goal to get started.

Make a list of potential financial goals

Start by making a list of potential financial goals. Be creative when you make this list! You can start with the usual suspects like a retirement fund or a college fund for the kids, but don’t stop there. Is there a hobby you’ve wanted to try but haven’t had the cash to get started? Or maybe a trip you’ve wanted to go on but haven’t had the funds? Write those down!

A financial goal is more than just building up wealth, it’s about making choices with the money that you have. Paying down debt or saving for the future are great financial goals, but so is learning an instrument or giving meaningfully to a good cause. Think creatively about your financial goals and you’re more likely to find one you’ll really stick with.

When is it OK to use your credit card?

April 22, 2024June 19, 2012 by Steve

When is it OK to use your credit card? Some might say never, and with consumer debt topping 1.7 trillion dollars this year, maybe they’re right.* But why are credit cards so bad, and is going all cash really the answer?

Credit Cards Distance You From Your Spending

People spend more when they pay with their credit card. It’s inevitable. When you pay with cash, you feel every penny. You only have so much cash on hand and each dollar you spend is a dollar less in your pocket. This direct connection with your spending keeps things in perspective. Spend $50 bucks on eating out this week, and you’ll feel the emptiness of your wallet by the end of it.

In contrast, when you pay with a credit card the payment happens out of context. You spend $5 on a sandwich one day, $6 on a burrito the next, and nothing adds up. Not until the end of the month when you’re hit with a $300 bill that you don’t understand, and may not have the money to pay in full.

Spend, splurge, or save? Eat out on a budget.

January 10, 2022May 29, 2012 by Chi-En

My husband and I like to eat out. Don’t get me wrong — we love to cook homemade food most of the time. But every once in a while, we enjoy getting out of the house to savor a delicious meal.

Eating at restaurants can quickly add up, so how do we eat out and still stay on budget? Before we head out the door, I look at our Eating Out Envelope. I don’t look at the Envelope Balance to see how much money is in the Envelope. That might mislead me into thinking I can spend more than I really should.

Instead, I look at the little line on my Envelope bar and the comment beneath it. Goodbudget looks at my spending for the month and lets me know if I’m keeping pace with my budget. This lets us know whether we can spend on a simple meal out, splurge on something nice– or whether we should save and have a home cooked meal instead.

When to Spend

If Goodbudget says we’re ahead by $10, we have some money to spend on burritos and drinks. Yum!

Sync Your EEBA Household

April 1, 2020May 14, 2012 by Steve

Update

EEBA is now Goodbudget! Goodbudget has all the great features of EEBA (and more!) in a new and updated interface. Check out our updated article on this topic, and check out the Goodbudget Help Center for the most recent help content.

Did you know you can sync your EEBA household across multiple mobile devices and the web?

Register your household and you’ll be able to login with the same household username and password on any device. We’ll keep your budget up-to-date automagically.

If you started on iPhone…

Head to the “More” tab,
Press “Register…”
Then fill out the form to complete your registration.

That’s it! You can now access your budget on the EEBA website, or on another mobile device.

6 Budgeting Tips to Get the Most Out of the EEBA App

October 16, 2023May 8, 2012 by Steve

EEBA is now Goodbudget! You can find the most up-to-date information about using Goodbudget on our Help Center.

Angela Colley is a financial writer for Money Crashers Personal Finance, an online resource with tips for budgeting, saving for long-term goals, and planning for early retirement.

For years, I kept track of my financial budget on a piece of paper in my desk drawer. It was an okay system, but it didn’t allow me to track my financial goals. I just didn’t have the time to compare my spending with my budget each month.

Then I got a smartphone and discovered the Easy Envelope Budget Aid (EEBA) app. Now I stay on top of my finances, stay within budget, and always have enough money for what I need. It took me a while to work out a budgeting system using the EEBA app, but now I have great system, and you can too.

Here are some tips you can use to get the most out of the EEBA app:

1. Create Plenty of Envelopes
A well-organized tracking system makes it easier to make a budget, and to know exactly where your money goes. The EEBA app utilizes “Envelopes” as a method of creating budget categories. When I first started budgeting, I used one Envelope for my house, one for necessities, and one for extras. Now, I have 10 Envelopes to cover everything I buy through this Envelope Budgeting System.

The EEBA app helped me to understand that I need to spend less money on extras and dining out. You can quickly add Envelopes using the EEBA app to help you stay on budget. Use all of the Envelopes you think you might need when you start using the Easy Envelope Budget Aid, and don’t hesitate to add more as you need them.

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Embrace those Rainy Days

May 6, 2019May 7, 2012 by Chi-En

I’m a California girl through and through. I love blue skies and sunny weather. But in my corner of “Sunny California,” it rains 1 out of every 5 days. Rain isn’t an unexpected crisis; it’s just a fact of life. And so when I go out I bring my rain jacket with me. If it … Read more

FAQ: How Can I Track My Debt in EEBA?

April 1, 2020April 24, 2012 by cmchien

Update

EEBA is now Goodbudget! Goodbudget has all the great features of EEBA (and more!) in a new and updated interface. Check out our updated article on this topic, and check out the Goodbudget Help Center for the most recent help content.

Q: I’ve decided to finally pay off my credit cards! How can I use EEBA to keep track of how much I owe, how much I want to pay, and how close I am to achieving my goal?

Paying off debt is a great financial goal. You may feel the pinch in the short term, but in the long run you’ll save money and enjoy greater peace of mind. With EEBA, you’ll have two options when keeping track of your debt.

Option 1: Track the Balance of Your Debt (Plus/Premium)

If you’re on the Plus or Premium plan with EEBA, you can use Accounts to keep track of the balance of your debt as you pay it off. Here’s how:

Step 1.Create a Credit Card Account for Each Debt
Head to the Accounts page to create a new Credit Card Account for each debt you want to track. Enter the balance of the Account as a positive number, equal to the current balance that you owe.

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FAQ: How to Start In the Middle of the Month

April 1, 2020April 17, 2012 by Steve

Update

EEBA is now Goodbudget! Goodbudget has all the great features of EEBA (and more!) in a new and updated interface. Check out our updated article on this topic, and check out the Goodbudget Help Center for the most recent help content.

The best time to start a budget is now. Whether you’re just tracking your expenses, budgeting off your income, or using Accounts in EEBA to manage every dollar, you can get started with EEBA today. Read on to learn how.

I just want to track my expenses in EEBA.

Start by creating your Envelopes and then funding them on the Add Money / Receive Income page. You can fund your Envelopes to full, or fund them partially based on when you’re starting in the month. For example, if you’re starting half-way through the month you could fund your Envelopes to half their budgeted amount.

As you record transactions you’ll be able to track your expenses in EEBA. When the month ends, fund your Envelopes again to start the new month.

I want to budget off my income.

For budgets based off income, it’s best to start from your last paycheck.

Start by creating your Envelopes to represent your budget.
Then, head to the Add Money / Receive Income page and choose “Specify” to fund your Envelopes from your last paycheck.
Finally, record the transactions that have happened since your last paycheck, and continue to record transactions as the month goes on.

FAQ: Track your Bills in EEBA

April 1, 2020April 11, 2012 by Steve

Update

EEBA is now Goodbudget! Goodbudget has all the great features of EEBA (and more!) in a new and updated interface. Check out our updated article on this topic, and check out the Goodbudget Help Center for the most recent help content.

Q: How can I track my bills in EEBA?

Between utility bills, insurance premiums, service charges, loan payments, and who knows what else, keeping track of “the bills” can be a headache.
Thankfully, EEBA can help!

Use Scheduled Expenses to Track Your Bills

Link: https://eebacanhelp.com/scheduled/edit-recurring.php

Available on the Plus and Premium plans with EEBA, Scheduled Expenses can help you track your bills through the month. Follow the link above to head to the Scheduled Expense page. There you can:

Create an expense to keep track of each of your bills.
For bills that vary in amount you can enter an estimate for now.
Set the expense to repeat whenever the bill comes due.
Finally, check the box to “Remind me by e-mail” so EEBA will remind you before the bill comes due.