I guess I spent that much

Posted at 7:50 on Monday August 14, 2006 | Filed Under Saving

I guess I spent that much this month

How many of us end up each month saying, "I guess I spent that?"

I've done it many, many times.

Budgeting is really hard, and although every one nags us to set one up, few of us do. I think less than 5% of my peers have an up-to-date budget.

That's ok. Well, actually, it sucks and you're probably losing tons of money on crap you don't know you're spending on, but I'm not going to preach. Instead, I'm going to make a new piece of software to track your spending, compare it against other people like you, and set savings goals.

We've already started building it. If you want to be a beta tester when it's ready, sign up for my newsletter.

To post this image on your blog, MySpace, etc:

See Part 1 and Part 2 of this series.

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Comments (18)

1.: Hello Ramit,

The application you mentioned sounds quite interesting. If you need any extra help developing it, feel free to contact me. I have quite a bit of experience in developing LAMP applications and I'd certainly be interested in helping you out.

Posted by Patrick Konsor at August 14, 2006 08:14 AM

2.: I would like to beta test, however I wouldn't like to sign up to your newsletter.

What gives?

Posted by Ryan at August 14, 2006 09:07 AM

3.: Then, wait, I guess...I'll also release some invites on the site--especially to frequent commenters/contributors. But they'll go out to the newsletter first.

Posted by Ramit Sethi at August 14, 2006 09:28 AM

4.: Are we talking free as in beer or a commercial app?

Posted by Andrew at August 14, 2006 10:22 AM

5.: Hi Ramit,

I've always wanted to develop an application like this for my personal use, but the idea never get off...
So, if you need some extra programming hands, I'd love to help!

Posted by Eduardo at August 14, 2006 12:28 PM

6.: What exactly does the program do? Does it differ so much from accurately tracking your expenses in Quicken / Money? The only way to really know how much you spend is to track each and every transaction.

Posted by Ken at August 14, 2006 01:01 PM

7.: I hope whatever you are coding can be ran on GNU/Linux!

Posted by Doug Breault at August 14, 2006 03:51 PM

8.: Oh, I love this! Quicken is such a pig for what I need to use it for.

I'll tell you the #1 thing that this software has to do for me; allow me to interface with my bank to download transactions. I currently use Quicken for it, and as I use a debit card and don't keep track via a check book registry (I update Quicken nightly), this really is THE killer feature for me. Everything else is gravy.

Posted by BrianS at August 14, 2006 04:21 PM

9.: Andrew: It'll be free to use the basic features, and there'll be an advanced (for-pay) version.

Ken: It'll be online, simpler, and easier to use. I really want to like Quicken/Money, but they're just too complicated. Plus, there are some specific money issues that young people care about, which Quicken/Money don't address.

Doug: It won't at first, but who knows about later?

BrianS: I agree. Also, as we've discovered, that's pretty hard. More to come on that...

Thanks also for the offers to help. I hope this answers some of the questions, but I'll post more as we get closer to it.

Posted by Ramit Sethi at August 14, 2006 06:18 PM

10.: Off topic, but on post -- the pictures. Love the addition. Somewhat 'Creating Passionate Users'-esque (the blog), but the placement of the text annoys me. I'm guessing that you're trying for a, "this is what's they're thinking" kind of statement, but all you end up doing is covering up their faces. Those people are visual and emotional cues to us, but that's blocked by the text. Put simply, can you move the text, and not put it over people's faces?

On topic, look forward to seeing the app.

Posted by MyNameIsMatt at August 14, 2006 07:59 PM

11.: Big congrats on the BusinessWeek mention!

Well deserved recognition!

Posted by Kimber at August 15, 2006 04:36 AM

12.: You say it's "online" but won't run on Linux?

Posted by Andrew at August 15, 2006 05:01 AM

13.: Thanks, K.

Andrew: Good god, I am a moron. I don't know why I typed that. You're right--of course it will run on any machine since it's an online app.

Posted by Ramit Sethi at August 15, 2006 07:45 AM

14.: Hey Ramit, I'm interested in helping you test it. I find that Money/Quicken are usually too complicated for what I need. I usually just use a simple notepad instead. I like the type of budget that is in this article: http://www.jongasm.com/wealth.pdf

Posted by Jonathan at August 15, 2006 10:00 AM

15.: http://www.gnucash.org/

Posted by Chris at August 16, 2006 07:35 AM

16.: When the wife and I began keeping a budget, it totally opened our eyes to how much we actually spent (vs. how much we think we spend).

It's easily the best tip for anyone trying to save/make money.

Posted by makingitbig at August 16, 2006 10:53 AM

17.: Not to burst your bubble, love your blog, but try mvelopes. It uses the transaction logs from your checking accounts, and I always know how much ive spent on what, the day off.. unless your planning on making a free version of that of couse

Posted by johnny at August 22, 2006 09:24 AM

18.: Ramit -- I'd happily test your app. I'm not much of a computer geek, but by day I'm currently making a living doing user-end testing on software. I'd love to test something I actually care about.

Posted by Eleanor at August 23, 2006 12:02 AM

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