The long awaited release of Version 2.01 is over. Version 2.01 is a major update to Budgets GetReal and is now available FREE. All users should update from Version 1.01 (all builds up to 031).

Special thanks to all the dedicated users who helped us with pre-release testing.

If you have not updated to Version 2.01 (Build 032), we suggest you take a backup of your database and update immediately. Follow the instructions within the Operation Monitor section of Budgets GetReal or Click here for instructions on how to update

Some of the benefits that Version 2.01 adds are as follows:

A. Automatic download of latest versions

Version 1.01 comprised a single program file of around 5MB that required replacing whenever a new build was released. Version 2.01 now consists of a small Kernel application and many digitally signed Libraries that are individually and automatically updated to the latest build as required.

The benefit is that updates will be easier and we can release additional features, currently in development, automatically to you.

B. “Future-proofing” your database backups.

The new Library structure maintains both forward and backward compatibility of your database from Build 032. It does this in a way that always ensures that older databases can be opened and used without requiring update to the latest version.

The benefit is, particularly for Business users, that you can open any archive without requiring to update to the latest version. So if you want to look at a document created with Build 032 in 7 years from now, say for taxation reasons, Budgets GetReal will download any old libraries you may require and open your database with Build 032.

Accountants can work on any database file sent to them, confident that any changes they make will always work when the file is re-opened on their Clients computer.

C. Free tools and support for your Accountant

Version 2.01 provides support for tools we will be providing FREE to registered Accounting and Bookeeping practices. Our aim is to reduce your costs two ways - in the time you personally take to run Budgets GetReal and the costs for any accounting services you may require.

Registered users will be provided details of this program, by email, in the near future. Look out for an email titled “Tell your Accountant where to go”

D. Cash Wallets now allow for full recording of “Cash In-Hand receipts”

E. The Transaction Register now allows to you to change the date of imported transactions

The originally imported date is maintained and can be reverted to at any time. This extension was necessary because a few banks sometimes record different dates on their printed statements from that provided in download files. This allows you to simply change the dates and manually reconcile the Register to the printed statements.

F. The Transaction Register now allows you to add one-off transactions

An Audit trail of these entries is maintained and they may be reversed at any time. There are no documented cases where this has been required. It has been provided as a “fail-safe” against possible format changes in bank statements. USE ONLY AS A LAST RESORT !!

G. A “CUSTOM” date import facility has been included

This allows to get around the problem that some banks do not use computer compatible date formats in statements e.g. “23 Janu , 2008″. Also allows you to customise the names of used for months. Provides a simple way to import monthly statements where the date consists only of the month and day.

H. The Import Wizard has been extended to notify you of any Templates applicable to your institution.

I. Extended in-program Help resources.

The HELP button [?] now allows direct access to the Introduction Video and the Budgets GetReal web site resources. Use the In-Program Help for quick contextual help. Use the Web based resources for the latest help + FAQs, user guides etc.

J. The manual entry of dates has been made more flexible

Budgets GetReal requires dates entered at search screens to be in the short date format set for your computer. Originally only numbers and the correct date delimiter were accepted. Now you can enter numbers and any of the common date delimiters (i.e , . or /) and your entry will be converted to the correct short date format.

K. A database access log has been added

File “ActionLog.txt” within your “Database” folder now records the major events - opening and close of database, backups and restore.

L. Names can now be actioned by double-click

M. Some minor errors have been rectified

Incorrect screen rendering preventing more than 5 Jobs being entered. There is no limit on the number of Jobs that can be used.

The Reconcile button did not always show with Manual entry. Transactions, did however, always process and display correctly.

These are a couple of concepts that I think are crucial to success with budgeting. There are a lot of other tips that I could have included, but I think that these ones stand out as core pillars in improving your money management, even if you choose not to keep a budget. Enjoy.

Start!

In the words of Robert Kiyosaki - “Your future is created by what you do today, not tomorrow”.

If you’re looking to start budgeting, or just improve your finances in general, there is no better day that today.

Chances are that you’re already aware of the benefits of budgeting, but you might be unsure how to start. Whilst ultimately the most important budgeting tip is to start keeping track of your income and expenses, the following tips should help you to get started with a budget.

Keep it Simple - but not simplistic

This is important if you want to succeed with your budget.

- Over-complicate your budget and it will become too hard to update and stick to.
- Over-simplify your budget and it will be too general to identify any areas where you can improve.

Where possible, work with real figures. Guesses may be easy, but guessed expenses are usually underestimated - which will leave you way out and with a lot less money than you thought you had.

Before you start budgeting it is important to determine what your actual expenses are. Without this, any budget will just be a simplistic guess.

Any software you choose to help you should be compatible with these principles.

Pay Yourself First

The idea behind Paying Yourself First is simple - when you get paid you put aside a certain amount of money for yourself before you pay anyone else.

After all, you’re the one who works hard to earn the money.

There are a couple of methods in which you can Pay Yourself First, including paying down debt, or simply putting money for you aside.  We will cover these different methods in more detail in a future post. Until then I will look at how you can use the Pay Yourself First principle to boost your savings.

A good way to do this is to put the money that you have decided to pay yourself into a separate account - preferably one with high interest & low (or no) fees.

Transfer the money soon after you get paid, don’t wait until the end of the month to put whatever is left in your account in to savings… chances are that there will be little left. If the money is not in your main transaction account, it is harder to spend it.

Paying Yourself First is a great way to reward yourself and boost your savings, because you are putting this money aside just for you. There is no way that you are going to stick to your budget if you never see any benefit out of it.

Set a Goal

In addition to Paying Yourself First it often helps to have a goal.

The goal does not have to be big, and even small amounts can make a massive difference to your finances with compounding interest.

For example, your goal might be to own your home sooner by putting an extra $20 per week down on your mortgage. This is a long term goal, but the results will encourage you to keep going, as you see your goal coming closer and closer to reality.

Something as simple as that $20 per week on your mortgage can help you to own your home years sooner, save tens of thousands of dollars on the total cost of the loan, and give you extra flexibility should problems ever arise. It’s a good reason to keep to a budget, isn’t it?

Prioritise

If you find out that you’re spending more than you earn it’s time to prioritise.

The idea here is not to deprive you of fun. The idea is to identify the things that you don’t really need, so that you can have fun, and still have money left over!

In order to successfully prioritise you’re going to have to run the figures to see what you’re spending and where. You can download a free trial of our budgeting software to quickly get an idea of what your true expenses are.

Don’t forget about cash

Studies show that up to 30 - 40% of many peoples spending is still in cash. Cash is also the hardest form of spending to track.

If you ignore cash or are unable to track your cash spending, you are potentially missing out on some easy savings. Although it is usually just a little bit here, and a little bit there, cash spending can add up very quickly. For this reason it is important that you attempt to keep track of your cash spending, and include cash in any budget you create. Without a proper ability to record cash purchases, you may end up with a big chunk of your spending that you are unable to account for.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on these concepts.

It’s been just over a year since the first public release of Budgets Get Real.

It has been a great year. We would like to thank all of our kind supporters, without whom all this would not have been possible.

During that time there have been some significant Free bonus extensions added to the basic program. These include Password Vault, Small Business edition, Cash Commitments and the Future Spending Planner.

Support for automatic OFX statement download is a new extension soon to be released from testing. This will also be free to our existing customers.

There have been some 13 builds, most of which have entailed significant extra features. If you look at the Version history you will clearly see something our team is very proud of - almost negligible bug fixes required. This is because we put so much time into pre-release testing.

 
Build 032 is due to be released shortly. Stay tuned because there are some great features to come. Best of all they’re free to our existing customers.

Once again, sincere thanks to you all from all of the Budgets Get Real team.