Learn how to create a practical budget, track your spending, and take control of your financial health. Ideal for anyone looking to reduce stress and build financial security.
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#ActualBudget with SimpleFin bridge integration has been working mostly fine for me... Except that
1) vanguard often doesn't sync successfully and needs re-auth
2) apple card sync never worked after syncing once......
3) the envelope budgeting just doesn't work for me. Like I front load my retirement accounts, so I don't have income for a few months, and Actual budget will just freak out because I'm over budgeting every month 
It's ok because I only have retirement accounts with vanguard so I'm not gonna look at it all the time and I have very few transactions on Apple Card at the moment...
Three-fifths of Washington voters want to balance the budget primarily with new taxes on the wealthy and large corporations
Support climbs to 62% when voters are presented with the specifics of the revenue package unveiled by Senate Democrats earlier this month, with opposition staying at 31%.
NPI's Cascadia Advocate · Three-fifths of Washington voters want to balance the budget primarily with new taxes on the wealthy and large corporations - NPI's Cascadia AdvocateSupport climbs to 62% when voters are presented with the specifics of the revenue package unveiled by Senate Democrats earlier this month, with opposition staying at 31%.
This Week in Self-Hosted (7 March 2025)
New personal finance and #budgeting apps, software updates and launches, a spotlight on #SimpleHomelab, and more in this week's self-hosted recap!
selfh.st · This Week in Self-Hosted (7 March 2025)Self-hosted news, updates, launches, and content for the week ending Friday, March 7, 2025
A shoutout to @ff3 for creating Firefly III, one of my favorite self-hosted applications!
Firefly III is a personal finance management application that helps you track your expenses, manage your budgets and gain better insight into your finances—all while keeping full control of your own data. I've been using it for a while, and it's hands down one of the best tools for self-hosting personal finance. And did I mention the fact that it is free and open source?
GitHubGitHub - firefly-iii/firefly-iii: Firefly III: a personal finances managerFirefly III: a personal finances manager. Contribute to firefly-iii/firefly-iii development by creating an account on GitHub.
BUDGET BOOK-KEEPING: How to survive on a small budget! By Veronica Smith and Celia Smith
Daily writing prompt Write about your approach to budgeting. View all responsesSTEP ONE:
Make a list of all your regular “Fixed” bills. These include
Taxes (how many and what type?);
Utilities (water, gas, electricity, etc);
Mortgages, Hire-Purchase agreements, any kind of Loans;
Phone and Internet contracts;
Insurance (both personal and business, house, motor, medical, veterinary, public liability, etc)
Include everything which is “obligatory”, meaning payments that you cannot cancel.
Now, turn this list into a CALENDAR!
WHEN are the payments due for each item?
If you are paying a fixed contribution, like a contract, then include the amount to be paid on the calendar.
Where payments vary (such as taxes, or utilities based on consumption) then make an estimate, based on what you have paid in the past.
The point is to create a visual guide, to show you how much money you need to put aside – and when! – in order to meet these Fixed Bills.
So, if you have a lot of these bills falling due in a particular month or week, you know you need to start budgeting well in advance, to meet them!
STEP TWO:
Make a list of your weekly “Flexible” Bills.
These should include things like:
Food
Fuel (both the heating kind and for vehicles)
Clothing
Hardware
DIY materials and equipment
Hiring help
This list should cover any item or service, where you have a CHOICE to say “I don’t need xyz this week!” or “I can hold off doing xyz until later!”
Make a habit of keeping your receipts. I know that many stores want to stop giving paper receipts to customers but you can still request them or, if you have a customer loyalty card, you can access them on-line.
Now regularly ANALYSE YOUR RECEIPTS! This will show you your buying patterns. How much are you spending on certain items? What is the unit price between different stores? What quantity are you buying?
Keep a tally of what you are spending and on what.
If possible, make out your shopping list in advance, along with approximate price per item, so that you have a ball-park figure of what it should cost. Take advantage of special offers, when you know that they are coming up.
The point is to set yourself a weekly budget and try to stick to it, while at the same time giving yourself some lee-way in case of emergencies.
Remember to keep an eye on your Fixed Bill Calendar too, so that you know when to be extra careful.
STEP THREE:
BALANCING YOUR BOOKS!
If your INCOME (what you earn) is more or less the same as your COMBINED Fixed and Flexible Bills Lists (your out-goings), then you are doing OK!
If your Income is LESS than your Out-Goings, then you have a serious problem because you may not be able to meet your obligatory fixed bills and still have enough left over to buy food and fuel!
The suggestion here is to go through your FIXED BILLS and see what you can cancel. What can you absolutely do without? Unfortunately, you won’t be able to avoid government taxes, but in many countries you can talk with your local civil servants, explaining your situation, and asking for their help and advice. Often, there are official schemes to help low-income groups and entrepreneurs in trouble.
It is important to take action right away! Talk with your bank too and with the utility companies, who may also be able to cut you some slack. Here in France, if you cannot pay your electricity bill, you are not cut off completely but are kept on a very low power supply, while you come to some arrangement with the service provider.
Whatever you do, don’t panic!
Most of all, DO NOT TAKE ON ANY NEW PROJECTS AND OBLIGATIONS UNTIL YOU ARE IN A BETTER FINANCIAL SITUATION!
I know of people, who have been weeping and wailing about their difficult financial situation and yet still jet off on a foreign holiday! Big No No!
The key to managing on a low budget is to stay realistic and use Common Sense!
STEP FOUR:
BALANCING THE BUSINESS BOOKS!
When you run a business, no matter how small, you must pay attention to your BANK STATEMENTS because the Tax Man and Auditors certainly will!
Make sure to trace everything that is
PAID IN
and
PAID OUT.
Issue INVOICES for your customers. There should be one copy for them and a duplicate copy for your business books.
KEEP RECEIPTS for everything you buy for your business.
Have two files:
one for your INCOME (Credit) and
one for your OUT-GOINGS (Debit).
Businesses are allowed to subtract their out-goings from their income, so long as you have invoices / receipts, to prove that you have spent money on legitimate items necessary for your business. You can include:
phone and internet fees;
stationary;
office equipment;
fuel for your business vehicle and / or necessary business trips and expenses;
materials and machinery necessary to carry out your business;
advertising and publicity, etc.
What you earn BEFORE subtracting your expenses is called your GROSS INCOME.
What is left of your Income AFTER subtracting expenses is called your NET INCOME.
Even if you employ an accountant to prepare your books for your annual tax returns, it is still useful to understand how the system works. That way, you can stream-line your finances and help your personal budget.
Good Book-Keeping!
I hear the #Louvre is in need of a touch-up. Maybe pick your battles, #Macron?
#NotreDame cathedral unveils controversial new stained glass windows https://buff.ly/40ya9YX
buff.lyMSN
I know this probably isn't impressive to anyone but me, but instead of arts and crafts time I sat down and did some adulting. I wrote out my budget for next month and I made a menu and grocery list for the next week. I'm eating so much chicken next week.
U.S. District Judge Loren AliKhan temporarily blocks Trump regime’s attempt to freeze disbursements of federal funds
The speedy ruling blocks the implementation of a vague memorandum issued on Monday by the Office of Management and Budget that could have had far-reaching and devastating ramifications.
NPI's Cascadia Advocate · U.S. District Judge Loren AliKhan temporarily blocks Trump regime's attempt to freeze disbursements of federal funds - NPI's Cascadia AdvocateThe speedy ruling blocks the implementation of a vague memorandum issued on Monday by the Office of Management and Budget that could have had far-reaching and devastating ramifications.
This has been a very expensive month so far - it's a good job there's only a few more days of #January left.
I've just had to move some savings around to avoid the credit card going into a bad place.
Hopefully I'll catch up on the budget over the next couple of months.
My wife and I sat down to plan out February's budget today. I've been priming Actual Budget with our categories and spending for January so we'd have something to talk about and a view of our spending. Not only did she find the interface super intuitive but liked the concept of envelope budgeting on the big screen and how we could plan ahead for travel and summer camps for the kids by saving incrementally every month. Highly recommend!
Not a promoted post, I actually love Actual Budget as a human being.
Doing #NoBuyYear2025 as a family of 4.
We challenged ourselves to avoid buying non essentials for the year. To decide what is essential we use a traffic light list; Green=essential, like groceries; Yellow=Think carefully, like replacing clothes; Red=Don’t buy. We do have personal allowances which are exempt from this and a budget for experiences.
Three weeks in we have stopped our cycle of living week to week and are decluttering our home. #budgeting #nonconsumption #EcoFriendly
Pretty cool looking new free, open source, and self-hostable envelope budgeting app.
monetr: Take Control of Your Finances
monetr.appmonetr: Take Control of Your FinancesTake control of your finances, paycheck by paycheck, with monetr. Put aside what you need, spend what you want, and confidently manage your money with ease. Always know you’ll have enough for your bills and what’s left to save or spend.
Governor-elect Bob Ferguson releases outline of budget priorities, discusses strategies for closing shortfall
Ahead of his inauguration next week, and the beginning of the 2025 legislative session, Ferguson unveiled a document that establishes some guideposts for how he'll approach negotiations on the state's three biennial budgets - operating, capital, and transportation.
NPI's Cascadia Advocate · Governor-elect Bob Ferguson releases outline of budget priorities, discusses strategies for closing shortfall - NPI's Cascadia AdvocateAhead of his inauguration next week, and the beginning of the 2025 legislative session, Ferguson unveiled a document that establishes some guideposts for how he'll approach negotiations on the state's three biennial budgets - operating, capital, and transportation.
Don't miss out on tomorrow's BetaCodex LIVE session, in which @soundslikeryan and I will talk about the latest #BetaCodex research on org #transformation and the #RelativeTargets approach. Learn how to get rid of #FixedTargets, #Budgeting, #planning, #costmanagement and bonus systems, for good. It's the promise of #BeyondBudgeting - fulfilled!
The online session: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWkMCWKxchY
The research paper: https://betacodex.org/white-papers/paper/relative-targets-patterns-in-practice
Canadians are hoping to spend less in 2025
No-spend 2025 is making waves online, as affordability is top of mind for Canadians. In January people are trying to only spend money on essential things, like monthly bills.
#finance #budgeting #Canada #Consumer #Money #Affordability
https://globalnews.ca/news/10939180/canadians-hoping-to-spend-less-in-2025/
After backing Trump, low-income voters hope he doesn’t slash their benefits
"Voters in the struggling Pennsylvania city of New Castle backed Trump hoping he’d curb inflation. But the incoming president will be under pressure to cut [public services]."
#America'sSocialContract #Budgeting #FiscalResponsibility
In Brief · After backing Trump, low-income voters hope he doesn’t slash their benefits - In Brief"Voters in the struggling Pennsylvania city of New Castle backed Trump hoping he’d curb inflation. But the incoming president will be under pressure to cut ."
Donald Trump’s failed attempt to rig up a government shutdown on Biden’s watch foreshadows years of chaos ahead
When Trump didn't get what he demanded, namely an increase in the debt ceiling and a tax giveaway for billionaires, he and Elon Musk decided to claim victory anyway. But Trump remains angry at the Republicans who didn't go along with him.
NPI's Cascadia Advocate · Donald Trump's failed attempt to force a government shutdown on Biden's watch foreshadows years of chaos ahead - NPI's Cascadia AdvocateWhen Trump didn't get what he demanded, namely an increase in the debt ceiling and a tax giveaway for billionaires, he and Elon Musk decided to claim victory anyway. But Trump remains angry at the Republicans who didn't go along with him.
House Republicans defy Donald Trump, join Democrats in voting for new stopgap bill to avert pre-holiday government shutdown
Several dozen Republicans provided all of the votes in opposition to the measure. The rest of the Republican conference voted to pass the appropriations legislation, which doesn't adhere to eleventh hour demands made by Donald Trump and Elon Musk.
NPI's Cascadia Advocate · House Republicans defy Donald Trump, join Democrats in voting for new stopgap bill to avert pre-holiday government shutdown - NPI's Cascadia AdvocateSeveral dozen Republicans provided all of the votes in opposition to the measure. The rest of the Republican conference voted to pass the appropriations legislation, which doesn't adhere to eleventh hour demands made by Donald Trump and Elon Musk.
The Maybe Finance app now has Plaid support in the hosted version.
GitHubRelease v0.2.0 · maybe-finance/maybePlaid Integration + Multi-currency Investment Portfolio Support
We have completed the first pass at our fully automated bank syncing with Plaid on our hosted version of the app!
Automated bank sync...