Existing users, 
 Budget - 5.3.4manage your bills using the envelope method |
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Information Related to Version:
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Product Description:
Tired of living payday to payday? Can't get out of debt? Finances in a mess? Try a better way to manage your checkbook. Budget is based on the tried and true "Envelope" method of budgeting - a much easier way to see where your money is, where it's needed, and where it went.
Budget is a personal finance application based on the proactive envelope model rather than the reactive register model used by other home financial programs. It helps you setup and live by your budget the way most people learned to budget. You define income sources and allocate portions to your envelopes. You write checks from each envelope when the bill is due. The main window shows at a glance if you are keeping to your budget. Budget doesn't force you to follow a budget, but it does show you exactly where you're spending your money. Budget has many more features including integration with Address Book and iCal.
Budget is a personal finance application based on the proactive envelope model rather than the reactive register model used by other home financial programs. It helps you setup and live by your budget the way most people learned to budget. You define income sources and allocate portions to your envelopes. You write checks from each envelope when the bill is due. The main window shows at a glance if you are keeping to your budget. Budget doesn't force you to follow a budget, but it does show you exactly where you're spending your money. Budget has many more features including integration with Address Book and iCal.
What's new in this version:
- Enhancements
- None.
- Bug fixes
- Fixed crashing bug when printing the history window.
- Fixed crashing bug on Intel-based Macs when printing transactions.
- Fixed initialization of setup assistant variables.
- Cleaned up money formatters in Setup Assistant and Check Printing.
- Updated ILCrashReporter to work on 10.5.
Operating System Requirements:
This product is designed to run on the following operating systems:
- Mac OS X 10.5 Intel
- Mac OS X 10.5 PPC
- Mac OS X 10.4 Intel
- Mac OS X 10.4 PPC
- Mac OS X 10.3.9
- Mac OS X 10.3
- Mac OS X 10.2
- Mac OS X 10.1
Additional Requirements:
- Mac OS X 10.2 or higher (10.3 recommended)
Screenshots:
Download Links:
Download Budget Version 5.3.4 (File Size: 5.1M)
Download Links:
Download Budget Current Version (File Size: 8.8M)
Your Installed Versions:
Feedback Summary:
| Version 5.3.4: | |||||
| Overall Rating: |   (4.0) |
Features: | (5.0) |
Support: | (5.0) |
| Ease of Use: | (3.0) |
Quality / Stability: | (5.0) |
Price: | (3.0) |
Key to Types of Feedback:
Reviews 
Troubleshooting 
Usage Tips 
Developer Notes 
Commentary 
Featured Reviews
Great program, needs major aesthetic facelift - Version: 6.0, 4/25/2009 06:08PM PST
(1 of 1 users found this comment useful)
diablitos
Brilliant - Version: 5.3.6, 4/14/2009 12:02PM PST
davemg8118
The envelope method is fantastic. I've used this for several years, and I couldn't be happier. This program doesn't have the delicious library-type eye candy (although a UI update is supposed to be coming soon), but it's so very very USEFUL that such things don't matter.
Easiest financial software I've used - Version: 5.3.6, 4/12/2009 01:43AM PST
nondual
I've had this software for a few years, but I've used it daily for about the last four months.
I can't speak highly enough about how well this software does what it's designed to do. There were a few kinks for me learning how to handle my weekly pays, but the tech support was fast and got me going again quickly.
Basically, this software replicates the 'Envelope System' your grandmother (and at least one Syndicated Radio Personality) recommends, but instead of using cash envelopes, you use virtual software 'envelopes'. You can set up where to allocate your money for each paycheck ahead of time. If your pay varies, you must allocate every dollar before it will populate you envelopes - just as you would for an all-cash system. A 'catch-all' envelope called 'Available' is where any money you don't want to allocate (yet) will go.
You can customize your envelopes with logos and colors, and movement of money between envelopes is quite simple. Envelopes have histories so you can double-check whether you paid bills from your envelopes yet.
Once the iPhone version comes out, it will sync with the Mac version and it'll be just like having your envelopes with you - you'll be able to document purchases from your envelopes on-the-fly. Currently, I save my receipts and document them at the end of every day.
I can't speak highly enough about how well this software does what it's designed to do. There were a few kinks for me learning how to handle my weekly pays, but the tech support was fast and got me going again quickly.
Basically, this software replicates the 'Envelope System' your grandmother (and at least one Syndicated Radio Personality) recommends, but instead of using cash envelopes, you use virtual software 'envelopes'. You can set up where to allocate your money for each paycheck ahead of time. If your pay varies, you must allocate every dollar before it will populate you envelopes - just as you would for an all-cash system. A 'catch-all' envelope called 'Available' is where any money you don't want to allocate (yet) will go.
You can customize your envelopes with logos and colors, and movement of money between envelopes is quite simple. Envelopes have histories so you can double-check whether you paid bills from your envelopes yet.
Once the iPhone version comes out, it will sync with the Mac version and it'll be just like having your envelopes with you - you'll be able to document purchases from your envelopes on-the-fly. Currently, I save my receipts and document them at the end of every day.
At the same time, Budget looks like a program from the days of my Commodore Amiga, with an interface that in previous versions looked out-of-date and now with this new version just looks inexcusably bad. To go from an already poor-looking interface to one that is even worse, while other possibilities for working with personal finance are abounding, is really unfortunate.
All of these are purely aesthetic concerns, and have nothing to do with the nuts and bolts of this great program, but am I alone here in wishing that Budget would just pay someone who understands design elegance to give the whole thing a facelift? It looks like a joke, and I hope that the developers will take aesthetics more seriously in the future, because underneath the hood lies something really worthwhile.