How are you managing God’s money? Do you need help keeping track of your personal finances? Perhaps you have heard of budgeting tools like Mint.com, Mvelopes by Crown Financial Ministries, or spreadsheets recommended by Dave Ramsey. Everything we have including money belongs to the Lord. As followers of Jesus we are called to be good stewards of God’s money. It’s not the amount of money that’s important but what we do with what we have.
BibleMoneyMatters.com recently addressed this topic by posting: The Great Big List Of 75 Budgeting Tools, Finance Softwares And iPhone Money Apps
Here are some things to consider about desktop and online budgeting applications:
- Cost: Some are free and others offer free trials for a stated amount of time.
- Time: It takes time to initially get started and become familiar with the application. However, after you have everything setup, many of the online products will automatically import your financial information on a daily basis.
- Security & Privacy: Some people have concerns about giving online companies their usernames and passwords. These are needed in order to import the information from the accounts you want to keep track of.
- Tracking Options: Some tools allow you to view all of your bank accounts, credit cards, investments, retirement (i.e. IRA and 401K accounts), loans, frequent-flier miles, and real estate in one place.
- Availability: Desktop versions can relieve the concerns of having all of your information in another company’s datacenter. However, online applications offer the flexibility of being able to view your data from any computer in the world.
- Perks: Many of the online versions offer text messages, email alerts, and reminders. They will let you know when you are over budget or when big payments (i.e. mortgage and credit card bills) are due. They can also let you know how you compare financially with others in your geographical area.
- Upgrades: Unlike desktop software like quicken, the online versions do not force you to pay for upgrades every few years.
