Budgets Get Real Support - Common Topics

These support topics are provided in addition to the in-program help of Budgets Get Real. Many of these topics have been provided as additional help resources, or for use when you are unable to access any in-program help. Where possible you should use this in-program help as the first point of reference, as it is often the most extensive help on most topics.

You can access in-program help by clicking on this image whenever you see it. You can also access additional, web-support topics by clicking on links contained within Budgets Get Real’s in-program help.

Help! I haven't received my invoice or serial number
Using Budgets Get Real on both Mac and PC
Running Budgets Get Real from a USB device
Setting up accounts
Keeping track of deductible expenses
Restoring your database
I forgot my password! What do I do now?

Help! I haven't received my invoice or serial number

When you finalised your purchase of Budgets Get Real you should have received a Transaction Reference. This 12-character Transaction Reference was displayed in your browser, after purchase, and not sent to your email. You would have been recommended to print or record this Transaction Reference.

You should have received a tax invoice, purchase receipt and software codes by email.

If you have not received this email:

Double-check your email inbox. Check your Junk and Spam folders for these emails.
If after 24 hours you have still not received these emails you will need to contact us with the following details:
- Your Full Name
- The email address you used when purchasing
- The date of purchase
- Payment method. Either:
PayPal (including your PayPal ID) or;
Credit Card (including the type of card - Visa/Mastercard, & the last 4 digits of the card)
- The Transaction Reference, if you have it

If you can not provide us with enough details to confirm your purchase, we will not be able to send you another invoice or serial number.

Using Budgets Get Real on both Mac and PC

You can run Budgets Get Real on both Mac and PC. To do this you will need to ensure that:

You have met the minimum system requirements on both Operating Systems (OS).
You have downloaded a copy of Budgets Get Real for each OS.
You have installed Budgets Get Real on each OS, but register your copy on only one of the OS.

The License for Budgets Get Real is based on the use of one database which you can transfer between different OS and computers. Attempts to use 2 or more seperate databases with the same registration details may result in your product license being automatically revoked.

You can install Budgets Get Real on multiple computers and Operating Systems, but only use the one database. The database is easy to copy between computers, as it is a single file.

Your database exists in the reserved folder 'Database' as the file 'BGRdata.vdb'.
This 'Database' folder is contained within the folder for Budgets Get Real, where you have installed it.

Running Budgets Get Real from a USB device

You can run Budgets Get Real from a number of USB devices, such as flash drives and portable hard drives.

Having Budgets Get Real on a USB device can be very useful, because it allows you to take it with you whever you go. It's especially convenient if you use Budgets Get Real on both PC and Mac, because it allows you to take Budgets Get Real with you - for example you may use a Mac at work and a PC at home, and want to use Budgets Get Real on both. You can do this with a USB device.

You can install the Mac & PC versions (.exe and libraries in the same folder) without conflict. This can be very useful, as it keeps all of your files in the one place (including your database, backups and images).

Running Budgets Get Real from a USB device:
You will need a copy of these files on your USB device:

your current database
Budgets Get Real (for Mac, PC or both!)

Copy these files from your USB device to the Desktop and then open, or you may choose to open Budgets Get Real directly from your USB device. If you choose to run Budgets Get Real directly from your USB device, please ensure that there is at least 5MB of free space available.

Due to the nature of USB hardware you may experience that Budgets Get Real runs slower when opened directly from a USB device. You can overcome this problem by dropping Budgets Get Real on to your desktop before use, and then copying it back to your USB device when you have finished.

Setting up accounts

The most extensive help on this topic can be found in Budgets Get Real's own help. Please use this as your first point of reference.

Keeping track of deductible expenses

Budgets Get Real provides you with tools to keep track of a number of deductible expenses, whether they are for work, tax or other purposes.

Budgets Get Real allows you to track these expenses through the use of 'Job' codes.

The most extensive help on this topic can be found in Budgets Get Real's own help, under 'Set & Maintain' > Jobs.
Please use this as your first point of reference.

Restoring your database

Budgets Get Real includes extensive checking of database and critical files each time the program is opened.
If, for whatever reason, a problem is encountered you will be notified when opening Budgets Get Real.

Possible problems include:

A missing or renamed database file
Moved or missing files - due to moving files between different computers
File corruption, due to hardware failure. Sometimes disks fail in subtle ways. A disk failure can corrupt a chunk of your data in such a way that you may not notice it during a session. Regular backups provide you with protection from losing your database or other files to corruption
Not having any backups. Budgets Get Real allows you to backup at the end of every session, if you choose to. We highly recommend taking regular backups, because they give you something to work with in the even of something going wrong.

For a Missing database file:

It may have been moved or renamed. Locate your latest backup file and place it in the correct folder.
If deleted, restore your database from your last backup.
In the event of a Missing database file, you should follow the instructions provided to you by Budgets Get Real.

Corrupt database file:

If you believe that your database has been corrupted, close Budgets Get Real and rename the file 'BGRdata.vdb' to something like 'BGRsuspect_12_3_07.vdb'. In this case we have included the date in the file name. Once you have done this, open Budgets Get Real again, and if necessary, restore your database from a previous backup.

Because the original 'BGRdata.vdb' file is now missing it will guide you through the process of restoring the database from a backup. Go sequentially through your backups (from your most recent, backwards through to earlier backups) until you find one that you can successfully restore from.

I forgot my password! What do I do now?

Don't panic! If you think you have forgotten your password:

Open Budgets Get Real, where you will be asked to enter your Password.
Start by trying all of the combinations that you may have used.
If this does not help, select the 'Forgotten Password' link.
A new window will open and suggest some of the options available to you.
Follow the procedure recommended in this window.

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The information appearing on this website is for general information only and should not be taken as constituting advice. Informed Choices provides no warranties and makes no representations that the information provided or linked to is correct, complete or reliable, or appropriate for your circumstances.
You should obtain independent advice on any specific issues concerning you.
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