budgets
Money
BudgetSketch Creates A Workable Budget For The Future
2:40AM Adam Pash | Web application BudgetSketch is a free personal finance budgeting application focused on collaboratively budgeting for future months rather than tracking your spending from the past. More »
Money
1:30PM Angus Kidman | Not sure where all the money goes? Online application Weekly Envelope can help you manage your finances. More »
Weekly Envelope Helps Plan Your Budget
1:30PM Angus Kidman | Not sure where all the money goes? Online application Weekly Envelope can help you manage your finances. More »
Money
1:05PM Angus Kidman | There are plenty of services offering to help get unmanageable debts under control, but a shadow shop by Choice suggests that most won’t offer an appropriate solution. More »
Why Debt Relief Services Won’t Help With Debt Reduction
1:05PM Angus Kidman | There are plenty of services offering to help get unmanageable debts under control, but a shadow shop by Choice suggests that most won’t offer an appropriate solution. More »
Money
10:30AM Angus Kidman | After the Loaded column looked at ANZ’s Money Manager application recently, I was curious as to what process was being used to develop the categorisation rules used to sort transactions (it generally does a good job, but there’s the occasional missed opportunity as the screenshot shows). As one commenter suggested, Money Manager is using Yodlee’s aggregation technology for its site, and this is how the process works, according to an ANZ spokesperson:
We sent Yodlee a list of major retailers and their categories to manually load into the database. As more users sign up and add their accounts, the database becomes more accurate for the Australian market. For example, if multiple customers change a transaction at Coles Express from ‘Groceries’ to ‘Fuel’, the database is updated to make fuel the default category for Coles Express transactions. If an individual user re-categorises Coles Express as ‘Petrol’ in multiple instances, the database will start to automatically categorise Coles Express as ‘Petrol’ for that customer, and ‘Fuel’ for all other customers.
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Money Manager Expanding Australian-Centric Rules
10:30AM Angus Kidman | After the Loaded column looked at ANZ’s Money Manager application recently, I was curious as to what process was being used to develop the categorisation rules used to sort transactions (it generally does a good job, but there’s the occasional missed opportunity as the screenshot shows). As one commenter suggested, Money Manager is using Yodlee’s aggregation technology for its site, and this is how the process works, according to an ANZ spokesperson:
We sent Yodlee a list of major retailers and their categories to manually load into the database. As more users sign up and add their accounts, the database becomes more accurate for the Australian market. For example, if multiple customers change a transaction at Coles Express from ‘Groceries’ to ‘Fuel’, the database is updated to make fuel the default category for Coles Express transactions. If an individual user re-categorises Coles Express as ‘Petrol’ in multiple instances, the database will start to automatically categorise Coles Express as ‘Petrol’ for that customer, and ‘Fuel’ for all other customers.
More »
Money
10:30AM Angus Kidman | While there are plenty of webapp options for tracking how you spend your cash (including locally-oriented sites like previously-mentioned ANZ Money Manager, for some people using spreadsheet software remains the simplest option. If you’re in that category, the Microsoft Excel blog walks through how you can use its table and advanced summation functions to quickly calculate and categorise expenses — a neat trick for spreadsheet jockeys.
Simple Expense Tracking With New Excel 2007 Functions [Microsoft Excel Blog]
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Using Excel Tables For Expense Tracking
10:30AM Angus Kidman | While there are plenty of webapp options for tracking how you spend your cash (including locally-oriented sites like previously-mentioned ANZ Money Manager, for some people using spreadsheet software remains the simplest option. If you’re in that category, the Microsoft Excel blog walks through how you can use its table and advanced summation functions to quickly calculate and categorise expenses — a neat trick for spreadsheet jockeys.
Simple Expense Tracking With New Excel 2007 Functions [Microsoft Excel Blog]
More »
Money
2:49PM Angus Kidman |
One of our more frequent complaints here at Lifehacker is that Web-based applications for money management like Mint and Wesabe have poor (or non-existent) integration with Australian banks and other financial institutions. In recent weeks, several readers have emailed us to sing the praises of the ANZ Money Manager site, which offers similar features — automatically importing financial data from your online banking accounts, tracking spending, and helping plan budgets — and works with a wide range of Australian financial institutions. More »
ANZ Money Manager Organises Accounts From Multiple Banks
2:49PM Angus Kidman |
One of our more frequent complaints here at Lifehacker is that Web-based applications for money management like Mint and Wesabe have poor (or non-existent) integration with Australian banks and other financial institutions. In recent weeks, several readers have emailed us to sing the praises of the ANZ Money Manager site, which offers similar features — automatically importing financial data from your online banking accounts, tracking spending, and helping plan budgets — and works with a wide range of Australian financial institutions. More »
Money
3:30PM Angus Kidman | An increasing percentage of the average budget gets spent on technology-related purchases. Is that an inevitable function of the modern world we live in, or an area ripe for some savings?
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Is Too Much Of Your Budget Being Spent On Tech?
3:30PM Angus Kidman | An increasing percentage of the average budget gets spent on technology-related purchases. Is that an inevitable function of the modern world we live in, or an area ripe for some savings?
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Money
Plan For Your Wants To Make Budgeting Enjoyable
1:00PM Jason Fitzpatrick | Budgeting, while necessary, is viewed by most as a form of denial. A budget after all tells you what you have and where it is going. Budgeting for your wants is just as important. Phil from the financial blog Wisebread has this to say: More »
Money
4:37PM Angus Kidman | In troubled economic times, being organised with your finances is more crucial than ever — and there’s plenty of sites that can lend a helping hand. Here’s some Lifehacker favourites worth considering. More »
Useful Sites To Get Your Money Under Control
4:37PM Angus Kidman | In troubled economic times, being organised with your finances is more crucial than ever — and there’s plenty of sites that can lend a helping hand. Here’s some Lifehacker favourites worth considering. More »
Work
9:33AM Angus Kidman | It’s June 30 and the financial year is officially coming to an end. Any day now you’ll be getting your payment summary from your employer, possibly planning a meeting with your accountant, and trying to work out if you’ll be getting a nice refund from the Australian Taxation Office. Whatever your situation, the right software can help make this process a bit less tedious — and you don’t necessarily have to spend a fortune to get it. Check after the jump for our fast guide to the three key tools you’ll need for a pain-free tax experience.
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The software you’ll need as the financial year ends
9:33AM Angus Kidman | It’s June 30 and the financial year is officially coming to an end. Any day now you’ll be getting your payment summary from your employer, possibly planning a meeting with your accountant, and trying to work out if you’ll be getting a nice refund from the Australian Taxation Office. Whatever your situation, the right software can help make this process a bit less tedious — and you don’t necessarily have to spend a fortune to get it. Check after the jump for our fast guide to the three key tools you’ll need for a pain-free tax experience.
More » 
