Gathering a full understanding of your budget can be quite challenging but it does not have to be. It is about setting some time aside to use helpful tools which will point out your financial stands.
Here is a list of the best online budget calculators that will help you to identify your budget and when used as a starting point, it will provide you with priceless information.
You probably have many new ideas and approaches personally and maybe even with your business which is completely fine but of course, it helps to know all of the numbers, be it negative or positive. Leave no stone unturned and get all of the required bills, receipts and statements to include within your budget calculations.
Use these calculators and determine your individual budget and in case you have an accountant, ask him or her to look over your calculations.
A good online budget calculator can help you keep things in order.
Even the greatest online budget calculator is no longer private; the best ones are often ones that are for public use. An online budget calculator has multiple uses; some of which include saving you money and assisting in debt reduction. Not using a budget calculator is a huge mistake. Often times a computer will make less calculation mistakes than a human calculating a budget will. The quality of the online calculator is something that someone should keep their eyes peeled for. If the calculator is not programmed correctly, it could make a monstrous mess of your perfect budget. Budgeting is most definitely one of the best ways to keep your finances on track; and an online budget calculator will help with budget creation. Using such tools will also enable you to properly prepare for your future economic endeavors. There is no reason for you to not start using one of these tools today. It could save you money and most importantly time. These three that we have listed below may just be the best option for you.
Before we list out what calculators we’ve picked, it would be wise to tell of just where we’ve found them. These calculators below were found using several different sources. One of the ways that we utilized was being referred to the calculators via email. Awhile back on our social media accounts we asked our users to send in recommendations for their pick of the best calculator. Every recommendation was written down and taken into account when determining the final list of three. We also searched ourselves, reading through articles and adding the calculators to a master list. We have even received a few recommendations through word-of-mouth at conferences. The longevity of these tools were also important in our search for the top three and of all three of these calculators, we’ve heard of numerous success stories.
Of the hundreds of online budget calculators, there were many differences. However, there were just a few universal specifications by which we sorted them by. The very first thing that we looked for in a particular application was the value and ‘bang for your buck’. It was very important that these calculators were free to use so that many people can utilize them. Another major key that we searched for was the usefulness of the calculators. What would be the point of listing them if they were not even a tad bit useful to our readers? Flexibility was the third factor that we used to determine the best of the best. The calculators need to be able to be used on multiple different devices, including computer and smartphone. It is also a bonus if these calculators are able to be edited to your needs with ease; such as adding additional financial fields. The final thing that we were looking for was the trustworthiness of the source. These calculators need to be secure do to the nature of the information that they’ll be processing.
ONLINE BUDGET CALCULATORS
Schwab MoneyWise: Monthly Budget Calculator
Schwab makes some of the best financial tools in the industry. If you are looking to do any type of financial calculation, it would be wise to use Schwab’s MoneyWise line of free online tools. The majority of the tools supplied by Schwab are free of charge; however some tools may require for you to have an account. This tool is great because it offers a wide expanse of fields to add information too. Some of these fields include: Income, education, health, and more. Another great addition to this tool that is rare to see on other calculators of this sort is Schwab’s addition of a percent of total box. One drawback to this great tool is the inability to add custom fields and expenses. There are just a set amount of fields to fill and that is all you get, no more, no less.
You can see from this picture an example of one of the online budget calculators. It shows a variety of fields that you just have to customize a bit and put in your budget calculations. Keep in mind that this particular calculator has a limited number of fields so, while you are looking around for the best budget calculator for your business, make doubly sure that there are enough fields for you to complete your business budget calculations before you begin using any business budget calculator. There is nothing more time consuming than configuring your budget and nothing will make your life easier than the ease of the right budget calculator for your needs. You should be sure that you have enough fields before you begin so you do not waste your time entering information into fields and then later figure out that you do not have enough entry fields for your particular budget.
The screen-cap above is of the Schwab Monthly Budget Calculator. This is undoubtedly one of the cleanest looking calculators in the field. With several different fields to put your finances into, calculations are accurate and a breeze.
Bankrate: Budgeting Calculator
This tool by Bankrate can be found on the savings calculator area of the Bankrate website. This particular tool that they offer is free of charge. There are several things that are great about this tool; although it is not the absolute best. One major advantage of this tool is the longevity of it. In 5 years if you find yourself needing a tool of this nature, you’re sure to find that the Bankrate calculator is still up and operating. However, this is also a drawback. The tool is quickly becoming outdated. The calculator itself is created in basic HTML and is not keeping up with the standards.
This particular online calculator may not be the best for your business as it is very basic and geared more towards personal use but, if your business is small or you are just starting out, this may be an option for you. Some of the perks that come with this calculator is that it belongs to a large banking institution and it will always be found and available to use for free. While it is free to use, again it has limitations but, it is also possible that it gets an update if the bank receives enough requests. You can use it they way it is for now, upgrade to a model that is better for you when you outgrow it but remember to check back after some time to keep looking for the best budget calculator that works for you and your business.
Federal Student Aid Calculator
The third item on our list is the Federal Student Aid Calculator made available at the education government website. The calculator is 100% free of charge and is made available to anyone who wishes to use it. This particular calculator is so great because it is created and distributed to the public via governmental websites. This means that is is almost guaranteed to be more accurate than any random calculation device that you find online. Much like the calculator made by Bankrate, this online budget calculator is becoming outdated. In order to use the tool, you must have JavaScript enabled in your browser; creating some potential security threats.
This online budget calculator is pretty basic but the good news is that it is always free to use. At the moment it is also an older version, using JAVA for its scripts so just keep that in mind when trying it out. If you have a newer browser on a newer computer, this may not be the right budget calculator for your needs. As with any big business, the Government tends to work a bit slower in replacing older technology only when it is deemed necessary. Keep checking back to see when they replace this if the new version works good for you or your employees. It might be a good idea to share your budgeting ideas with your employees while it is likely that they have not had help in this area before and could benefit from help in this area of their lives. I wish I had someone show me how to properly use an online budget calculator when I was younger and working for someone else.
Governmental Financial Aid Calculator
Finally, the online budget calculator provided by the United States government. This calculator is in dire need of an updated interface, but the power of it is still there.
With all of this information spewed out onto the table, where does this leave you? You will need to determine which one you should pick. You could even potentially use multiple online budgeting calculators, but we would not advise you to do that because it opens you up for human error. You should pick the calculator that fits the needs in your life. Remember that the negatives of the three calculators listed above may just be an advantage to you; it all depends on how you look at it.
