Online budgeting tools

Many of us worry that with the New Year, we'll be bombarded with credit card bills reminding us of how much we 'indulged' during the holiday season. Why not start off 2009 right with a resolution to sort out and keep control of your personal debt?

There are several different online tools available to you to help track your spending habits. Here are a few that are readily available and free for you to use.

Mint – This is a free, online budgeting tool to help you manage your money in a 'safe, reliable' way. It allows you to see all of your credit card and banking transactions side by side. This feature allows you to see exactly what you are spending your money on by viewing each transaction as it takes place. Mint says 'we make it easy for you to track down erroneous charges or bank fees, and keep a closer eye on your money.' Mint also allows you to categorize each transaction, for example if you need to expense it to for business. One of the best features of this program is that it allows you to see your cash vs. debt ratio by downloading the purchases you make directly to your Mint account. It does all the work for you!
http://www.mint.com/ (Note: Mint is currently only available in the US, but is looking at adding Canada in the future).

Billster – This is also a free, online budgeting tool. Billster is geared towards helping you organize your personal, as well as your shared expenses. Let's say that you decide to buy a joint gift for a co-worker or family member. This online program keeps track of who owes what and when. You can even keep track of reoccurring bills that you have each month, and set a reminder for yourself, so that you will not forget to pay them. With the bill tagging system you can categorize and group your bills to help keep track of where your money is going, and where it has gone.
http://www.billster.net/