You do all you can to improve the state of your personal finance. There are lots of outside influences that can complicate all that hard work. Here are some factors to consider:

–         Gas price

Admit it, we cringe every time we see gas go up to 1.50/litre (Cdn) or 3$/Gal (US). It’s not easy to explain why gas prices fluctuate like that. Taxes, gas reserve available, climate change, more demands for gas, transportation fees (pipeline), fluctuation between currencies, they are some of the variables that can influence gas prices. We don’t control any of it. The only thing we can control is how and where we drive, be careful.

–         Interest Rates Going Up

You need to renegotiate your mortgage in the next couple of months, there is a good chance that the interest rates will have gone up. Your usual mortgage payment is sure to go up also. You need to be ready for this increase. There is a good possibility that your personal loan interest rates or your margin of credit interest rate may go up at the same time. You should prepare by adjusting your interest rates in your personal finance software and make simulations to know if you have enough money to be ready for this increase.

–         The Inflated Neighbour

Your new neighbour is boasting about his new 1400$ BBQ, he dangles in front of your face the keys of is BMW bought mostly on credit. Be careful of the trap of the inflated neighbour. There is no competition here. Respect your budget, your 299$ BBQ probably will do for the six times you may use it this summer. External influencers, sometimes unconsciously, from someone close or a neighbour, can detract your personal finance. Add the multiplication of publicity that surrounds us that make us consume more than we need and it’s a mix for disaster. Do you really need it? That is the important question you should ask yourself before the cash register rings.

–         A “Rich” Friend

Each individual follows its own way of life. It’s very nice that your friend is a plastic surgeon and his wife a renowned radiologist. This should not be an example on how to manage your leisure budget. You can accompany them occasionally to their favourite restaurant but mostly you should suggest your own favourite place and more affordable place to eat. Don’t be obliged to bring a 60$ bottle of wine if you are invited to their manor. Rich or poor, friendship, has nothing to do with the depth of your pocket.

–         Stocks Volatility

Your stock portfolio went down 50% during the 2008-2009 crisis and you needed this money at the same time? Bad timing! Now, you know that the stock market is not a place to invest short term. Stocks volatility can be the friend of an experimented broker but can be a very bad friend if you’re a newbie and you have problems containing your emotion. Be careful, and if you can work with a professional that has your profit long term in mind.

–         Inflation

Inflation, price of goods rising in time can be your worst enemy. Usually, bank (of Canada) or Feds (US) try to keep inflation around 2% annually. This measure is important for most of the monetary politics around the world. But this measure has its up and down. When it’s up, it can bring with it an increase in interest rates and this is a recipe for disaster for your personal finance. If your remuneration or your stock portfolio does not follow this trend, you will be poorer at the end of the day.

Important reminder:

• A budget is your most faithful allies to help you maintain your financial balance. Even when there are uncontrollable variables coming your way.
• Your budgetary exercise evolves in time, it’s not static, its dynamic. Revise your budget regularly and keep control of your personal finance.







You can install Budget Express on more than one computer. If you wish to work on different budget on those computers, you can do so but if you wish to work on the same budget (s) on multiple computers this post will explain the process.

First you need to understand that the procedure requires files transfer between computers, we are not linking the database like in a network.

If you are familiar with the new Budget Express and just wants a summary of the procedure, you can go to the end of the post for the summary.

Step 1 : Install the program on the first computer and enter your data (budget).

Step 2: You need to export your database file. The function is available from the “About” screen.

Click on   to access the “About” screen.

The database file is called “database.db”. When you click on  , you will need to choose the directory you wish to export the file to. You will receive the message “Your export was successfully registered” when the exportation will be done.

Step 3: Install Budget Express on the second computer (the process is the same if you use more then 2 computers). When the software opens, you will have the possibility to import the file at the start of the wizard. If you already installed Budget Express previously and wish to import the file, go to step 3.1.

Click on the  button to search for the database file you wish to import. The message 

Click “Yes” to import the file.

Important : When you import the database file, the file imported will replace the file already in place on your computer.

After the importation is complete, the software will open in the budget that was last used when the file was exported.

Step 3.1 : From the About screen you can import the database file.

To import the database, click on the  button. Find the directory where the database file (database.db) is placed. Click on the “database.db” to import the file. Answer “Yes” to the question to allow the importation.

Important : When you import the database file, the file imported will replace the file already in place on your computer.

After the importation is complete, the software will open in the budget that was last used when the file was exported.

Step 4: Share your budget file

If you have multiple budget and wish to share one of the budgets only, you will be able to share the budget file using the upload/download budget files from the profile. If you wish to share multiple budgets between computer, go to step 4.1.

First you need to download your budget file. From the profile screen, click on the budget you wish to share. Click on the icon  to create your file. Enter the name you wish to have for this copy, the extension will be .bud. You can copy the file on any device, USB, flash drive or on a “cloud” directory like Google Drive or Dropbox.

On the second computer, you will be able to upload the file.

Important, you MUST be in the same budget you wish to upload the file. Click on the icon  and find your budget file with the extension .bud. If you are not in the same budget that you are trying to restore, you will get the error message: .

Step 4.1 : To share multiple budget on more than one computer, you will need to use the Export/import database function. See step 2 to export your file and step 3.1 to import the file.

 

Summary :

• You need to export your database file only once, at the beginning of the process.
• The software needs to have the same version on both computers, check the version in the “About” screen.
• You can share your budget file, between each session on each computer (recommended if you only share one budget).

To work on multiple budgets between computers, you will need to use the Export/Import database functions to share those.

 

Budget Express Update (2021-01-20 – version 0.0.2020121501)

A new update is available for the Standard version (the Cloud version was updated a couple of weeks ago).

New functionalities:

• We added, for the “Summary report by category” in the analysis the possibility to regroup all transaction with the same sub-category. When you have used multiple time the same sub-category, the summary report did not show them as separate operations because they were added that way. Now when you click on “By Sub-category” we will add the amount for those (see image).
  • 
• You will now be able to reconcile an amount in multiple sub-category. When you choose a amount from your list (in the left panel), and click on a sub-category in the right panel, you will now be able to enter the amount related to this particular sub-category. The system will calculate the balance in the left panel that you will be able to associate to others sub-category until the amount is totally reconciled.
• In the reconciliation tool, you now be able to choose multiple amount from your file (in the left panel) and associate them to one sub-category.

Corrections :

• We corrected a problem in the cash flow graphic (calendar page) that wasn’t changing period after you added an operation (Cloud version only).
• Corrected the conversion from the Standard version in the Cloud version, when a sub-category used in the Standard version, was deleted.

How to update:

Two methods (we recommend method #1)

Method #1

Close Budget Express.

Download the update

Open Budget Express, the program will update automatically. You will need to close the program to finish the update, then it will open, the program will be updated to the new version.

 

Method #2

In Budget Express, click

You will automatically be redirected to the page to download Budget Express.

Close Budget Express.

Open Budget Express, the program will update automatically. You will need to close the program to finish the update, then it will open the program will be updated to the new version.

———————————————————————————————-

Update number : 003

Date : 2018-07-02

New functionalities:

• It will be possible to enter adjustment for an account, credit, savings and loan directly from the calendar. The new function will be available using the red button at the right corner of the screen. The date used for the adjustment will be the date chosen in the calendar.
• All other operations will now be available from the calendar When you click on one of those operation types, you will be able to enter a specific operation:
  • Account (Transfer)
  • Credit (Reimbursement
  • Savings (Payment)
  • Loan (Reimbursement)

If no operation were created (credit, savings or loans) you will be able to create one from that screen.

• Optimization of the software performance. Particularly when opening the program (about 50% faster) and in the calendar. The optimization in the calendar is very substantial. We found that the cash flow graphic was the main problem when navigating thru the calendar or when creating an operation. Now when you change months you will be asked to update the cash flow graphic if needed.
• The screen “About” is available to check your software and database version. Also, from this screen, you will be able to import/Export your database (see next point). The screen is available from the little fellow .
• We added an Import/Export function for the database. This will help users who wish to use Budget Express on more than one computer with the same database. This is an added function to the budget backup copies. This function is available from the “About” screen and when creating a new budget (Import only). See the article on “how to work with Budget Express on multiple computers (coming soon)”.
• For PC users, the update function will change for the next update. Some users have problem updating because of the different Windows settings. The update will be simplified, you will download the file from our site and install the update. That is the method used for Mac since the beginning and it works fine.
• We change the name of the sub-categories (Miscellaneous income) “Child tax benefit” to “Canada child tax benefit” and “QST refund” to “Solidarity tax credit”. The changes will be done automatically if you used those sub-categories.

Corrections :

• It will now be impossible to delete categories or sub-categories, from the settings menu, when that category or sub-category is being used in an operation.
• Corrected the display (dates) when printing the detailed report by operations in the analysis.
• We now display all the data in the analysis when the period chosen what superior from the current year.

Update number : 002

Date : 2018-04-26

Download the update from this button

Note: If you have not done update #1, you will need to run the script as shown below, point #5.

Improvement:

• The function “Refund balance” has been added in the refund operation of a credit card. When you choose to pay the balance every month, the system, will automatically calculate the amount for each planned operation and do the payment at the date indicated. To use this function, go in the credit card under the operation menu, click refunds and indicate “yes” at “Refund balance”. By default, the frequency will be by “Month”.
• We added an easier navigation function between month/year in the calendar. Click on the month to open the navigation list. You will be able to navigate 4 years (current, 1 years before and 2 years after the current year).
• When you create a new operation from the calendar (Red button in the right corner), the date chosen, by default, will be the date you were positioned in the calendar. When you create a new operation from the calendar, the frequency will be “Only once”, by default.

Corrections :

• The “+X more” in the calendar. When you have more than 3 operations on a particular date, the calendar display “+X more”, sometimes it did not display the text “+X more” until you clicked on the date.
• The operation was not displayed in the calendar when there were a “NULL (empty)” in an amount when you chose the frequency “Sometimes”.
• It was not possible to delete an account when the initial balance adjustment was modified.
• The printout from the analysis did not display the amount correctly when there were 6 digits before the point.

Update number : 001

Date : 2018-03-20

Please follow this procedure to install the update on a PC (here is a video explaining the process):                             Mac update, follow this link

1 – Open Budget Express in administrator mode (if it’s not possible you can still do the update, it will only take more time). Right click on the Budget Express icon (from your desktop or from its directory) and click on “Run as administrator”. You can also right click on the icon, click on “Properties” and in the “compatibility” tab click on “Run as administrator”, that ay it will always run as administrator and you won’t have to do this step again in the future update.

2 – Open Budget Express, click on the round button in the top right, and click on update.

3 – Click on verify for update. The update will start. In the case you did not open Budget Express as an administrator, Windows will ask that you accept running every script, answer yes.

4 – When the update is finished, close Budget Express.

5 – Click on that link https://goo.gl/qvbhyC  to download the script you will need to run afterwards. This part of the update will only have to be done for this particular update, you won’t need to do this anymore in future update.

6 – Open the zip file you downloaded and click on the file script-0.0.2018022401.bat. Allow Windows to run the script (Windows protected your PC/More info).

The execution will be done in a flash (less than one second).

7 – You can now open budget Express again, it will be updated.

 

Corrections:

For those who bought Budget Express prior to February 15:

• In an operation, when you used the frequency “month” and enter more than 1 in “Every” , it still showed the operation every month.

• The software did not consider the end date when using the “month2 in frequency.

• Corrected the installation problem with Windows OS 32 bits
• Corrected the update process between version
• Change the label for the Income category from “Loan” to “Miscelaneous Income.”
• Correction in the calendar’s display when the description from an operation had line break in the description.
• Corrected the displayed balance with cents after doing a balance adjustment

 

For those who bought Budget Express after February 15:

• Correction in the calendar’s display when the description from an operation had line break in the description.
• Corrected the displayed balance with cents after doing a balance adjustment
• Corrected the update process

New functionalities

Saving the budget database file.

The save database file process will have three specific functions. Two of the three functions will be delivered in this update.

1 – Everytime you open Budget Express, a backup database file will be created in the database file folder. This file will be called database.bck. Every time you open Budget Express, this file will delete the old file and create the new one. This functions had to be done to prevent database corruption when the software is open and your computer is closed (computer or electricity failure).

(Win: C: Users\AppData\Roaming\BudgetExpress\data\, Mac : Contents\Resources\data\.)

2 – You will now be able to save your database file wherever you want, on a USB key or in the cloud (Google Drive, One drive Dropbox, etc.). The saved file is done within a particular budget and can only be retrieved within this same budget. This process is available from the profile page when you click on a particular budget.

 

3 – This next function will be developed shortly. The import/Export database file function will let users works on the same budget from more than one computer as well as serve as a backup file.

 






Update number : 003

Date : 2018-07-02

New functionalities:

• It will be possible to enter adjustment for an account, credit, savings and loan directly from the calendar. The new function will be available using the red button at the right corner of the screen. The date used for the adjustment will be the date chosen in the calendar.
• All other operations will now be available from the calendar When you click on one of those operation types, you will be able to enter a specific operation:
  • Account (Transfer)
  • Credit (Reimbursement
  • Savings (Payment)
  • Loan (Reimbursement)

If no operation were created (credit, savings and loans) you will be able to create one from that screen.

• Optimization of the software performance. Particularly when opening the program (about 50% faster) and in the calendar. The optimization in the calendar is very substantial. We found that the cash flow graphic was the main problem when navigating thru the calendar or when creating an operation. Now when you change months you will be asked to update the cash flow graphic if needed.
• The screen “About” is available to check your software and database version. Also, from this screen, you will be able to import/Export your database (see next point). The screen is available from the little fellow .
• We added an Import/Export function for the database. This will help users who wish to use Budget Express on more than one computer with the same database. This is an added function to the budget backup copies. This function is available from the “About” screen and when creating a new budget (Import only). See the article on “how to work with Budget Express on multiple computers (coming soon)”.
• We change the name of the sub-categories (Miscellaneous income) “Child tax benefit” to “Canada child tax benefit” and “QST refund” to “Solidarity tax credit”. The changes will be done automatically if you used those sub-categories

Corrections :

• It will now be impossible to delete categories or sub-categories, from the settings menu, when that category or sub-category is being used in an operation.
• Corrected the display (dates) when printing the detailed report by operations in the analysis.
• We now display all the data in the analysis when the period chosen what superior from the current year.
• For the Mac OS, it was not possible to choose the budget when opening the program if multiple budgets were created and protected by a password, we corrected that problem.

Update number : 002

Date : 2018-04-26

Download the update from this button. You will be redirected to the site to download and install the update.

After the update is done, close and open Budget Express to finish the update.

New functionalities:

• The function “Refund balance” has been added in the refund operation of a credit card. When you choose to pay the balance every month, the system, will automatically calculate the amount for each planned operation and do the payment at the date indicated. To use this function, go in the credit card under the operation menu, click refunds and indicate “yes” at “Refund balance”. By default, the frequency will be by “Month”.
• We added an easier navigation function between month/year in the calendar. Click on the month to open the navigation list. You will be able to navigate 4 years (current, 1 years before and 2 years after the current year).
• When you create a new operation from the calendar (Red button in the right corner), the date chosen, by default, will be the date you were positioned in the calendar. When you create a new operation from the calendar, the frequency will be “Only once”, by default.

Corrections :

• The “+X more” in the calendar. When you have more than 3 operations on a particular date, the calendar display “+X more”, sometimes it did not display the text “+X more” until you clicked on the date.
• The operation was not displayed in the calendar when there were a “NULL (empty)” in an amount when you chose the frequency “Sometimes”.
• It was not possible to delete an account when the initial balance adjustment was modified.
• The printout from the analysis did not display the amount correctly when there were 6 digits before the point.

Update number : 001

Date : 2018-03-21

Please follow this procedure to install the update on a Mac :                       PC update, follow this link

 

1 – Close Budget Express. If you’d like to take a copy of your database file (not mandatory), click on the Budget Express icon and go in the settings, copy the file name database.db from the directory “Contents\Resources\data\database.db”. In this update, we added a new function in Budget Express that will help do this procedure if needed.

2- Follow this link to download the application update : https://budget-express.com/en/update/?param=fS9CDMThmZy52ZXw

3 – A web page will open on the Budget Express site. Click on “Mac Update”

4 – Install the budget-express-mac.pkg file

5 – Open Budget Express, the update will complete while the software is opening

Corrections:

For those who bought Budget Express prior to February 15:

• In an operation, when you used the frequency “month” and enter more than 1 in “Every” , it still showed the operation every month.

• The software did not consider the end date when using the “month” frequency.

• Corrected the update process between version
• Change the label for the Income category from “Loan” to “Miscelaneous Income.”
• Correction in the calendar’s display when the description from an operation had line break in the description.
• Corrected the displayed balance with cents after doing a balance adjustment

 

For those who bought Budget Express after February 15:

• Correction in the calendar’s display when the description from an operation had line break in the description.
• Corrected the displayed balance with cents after doing a balance adjustment
• Corrected the update process for Mac

New functionalities:

Saving the budget database file.

1 – You will now be able to save your database file wherever you want, on a USB key or in the cloud (Google Drive, icloud, Dropbox, etc.). The saved file is done within a particular budget and can only be retrieved within this same budget. This process is available from the profile page when you click on a particular budget.

 

2 – The next “budget file savings” function will be developed shortly. The import/Export database file function will let users works on the same budget from more than one computer as well as serve as a backup file.

New Installation Procedure

The installation process for Mac users has changed. No longer you will have to copy the file from the download folder. The installation file is now a .pkg file (it was .zip file). When you install the file, it will automatically be installed in the application folder. The same process is used to do the update for Budget Express except that it does not create a new database file.






“I love to travel every year, even if it’s a modest trip. I plan my budget around this but I also plan some savings for retirement. My budgeting strategy: in moderation, everything is possible!”

User Profile
34 years old man, building systems technician, gets some income from travel allowances, has a young kid, co-owns his house with his life partner, has an old car, actively contributes to RRSP, has no debts aside of mortgage, is quite preoccupied by his financial position when retiring since he has no pension fund.   Continue reading “Travel and save for retirement at the same time: It’s Possible!” →

See video

The trial version of Budget Express gives you access to all the functionalities of the complete program except for the version 4 conversion for evident reasons. The only limitation is that the trial version lets you create five operations from each type (5 incomes, 5 expenses, etc.). These operations will give you enough data to test the software in its entirety.

Try all these functionalities:

• Use of the wizard to create your budget
• Discover the calendar, see all your projected operations.
• Use of the calendar to add or modify daily operations
• View of cash flow graph for your bank account and credit cards
• See how the detailed and summary analysis can help you manage your personal finance.
• Try the reconciliation functions
• Analyze your reconciled data versus your planned budget
• Graphic of your operation by categories in the dashboard
• How to create and use savings operation
• How to create and use the loan operations
• Create or copy new budget
• Availability of the online help and videos.

Then you will be able to buy and activate the software directly from the program:





 

You downloaded the demo and now you wish to buy Budget Express, if you want to keep the data you entered in the software, follow these instructions.

• In Budget Express, click on the right corner, the little fellow 

 

• Click on the “Buy” button . You will be redirected on the web site to buy Budget Express
  • After the order is completed you will receive an email with the instructions, the link to download and install the software and your licence number. DONT DOWNLOAD AND INSTALL THE PROGRAM AGAIN, this will create a brand new database and therefore delete the previous one.

 

• Click again on the right corner and click on “Activate”. You will be directed to the login panel, enter your email and licence number received in the email. Budget Express will open with the data you had saved during the demo.
• You also can activate the software when you open Budget Express .

See video on the available functionalities of the trial version.

The new Budget Express is now available. The personal finance software has a brand-new look, more modern and user-friendly. Budget Express had to be redone completely, the coding used for the latest versions is now obsolete. That’s why the new Budget Express is not a continuity or a copy of version 4. We continue to offer some of the functionalities you love like the calendar, the wizard to create your budget and the bank reconciliation using your bank and credit card files.

For the users who were used to the older versions of Budget Express, they should try the new software. The trial version lets you enter as many as five entries for each operation type (expense, income, accounts, etc.). All the features of the complete version are available to let you see how the new Budget Express works.

You will have access to the online help and many videos on our blog and from our band new YouTube channel.

Having a brand-new software will give us the opportunity to update Budget Express regularly with new functionalities, free of charge (we already had 2 updates). Those updates will be announced on Facebook, Twitter, Budget Express’s newsletter and on our blog.

The software is now available for 34.99$.

Version 4 will continue to be working even if you install the new Budget Express, they’re two separate entities now that we remade the software from scratch. Support for version 4 will continue until January 31, 2019. No update will be done for this version in the future.

There will be more projects for Budget Express in the years to come. We should begin working on the “cloud” version of Budget Express this year. The “cloud” version will help users to deploy Budget Express from any device (tablet, phone, computer, etc.). Then we should develop specialize app for IOS and Android phone. More to come …

Here are short videos or How To videos to help users with Budget Express:

Video #1 : The calendar

Video #2 : The settings in Budget Express

Video #3 : How to refund your credit card in Budget Express

Video #4 :  How to modify your fixed operations (Rent-Pay …)

Video #5 : How to use the analysis

Video #6 : How to copy a budget to create a new budget file

 

Emergency Fund!

You all read about the mighty emergency fund that you need to save in your budget. The reason behind an emergency fund is to cope with problems that can come up, that was not the plan.

The objects of an emergency fund is not to prepare your next trip to the Bahamas because you’re tired of winter, that’s not an emergency. We are talking about a big problem, like you or your partner losing their job, your house is suddenly flooded, your roof is leaking, your car suddenly gives up and you need to buy a new one. You may own insurance for some of those problems but you may not be covered or the reimbursement can take a very long time.

It’s important to differentiate an emergency fund from normal repair fund. If you own a house or a car, there are regular repairs that need to be done, again they are not considered as an emergency. They should be budgeted in a separate category.

How much you need in your emergency fund depends on your situation. The expert consider having a four to six-month threshold. That means, if the total of your expenses for the year is 30 000$, your fund should contain around 12 000$ to 15 000$. You can’t budget that amount only in the first years, this fund needs to be built up in the first couple of years of your adult life. When you have kids, have a home or own a car you need to think about building your emergency fund.




Continue reading “Emergency fund, for what and how much?” →