Faithful stewards know where their money goes. They can account for their spending, and they understand how they are utilizing God's resources. But, of course, that doesn't happen by itself.

The question is, how do we actually track our spending? While a manual system, such as a spreadsheet, is a good starting point for anyone who hasn't been tracking their finances, it's not ideal over the long run. Manual systems take a while to set up and don't offer guidance for categorization. They don't provide any reporting (unless you create it yourself) and they can be hard to adjust over time (adding categories, etc.). And, perhaps most concerning, they require all transactions to be entered and tracked manually.

So, many people use an automated system - software, a website, or an app that helps with the repetitive tasks, automates transaction entry, and provides some tracking and reporting capabilities. But there are a lot of these systems out there - how do we choose?

Here are a few key considerations:

• Is the system easy enough to use that I will use it consistently over a long time?
• Does the system allow me to track my spending in ways that make sense to me?
• Can the system help me beyond basic budgeting, such as tracking investments and net worth?
• Does the system enable automatic transaction downloads and categorization?

Podcast host James Lenhoff reviews several popular financial systems in light of these and other questions to help you decide which system is right for you.

For further information about different personal financial systems, see the PC Magazine article referred to in the podcast.

To learn more check out www.GoodSenseMovement.org

Email James at: JamesLenhoff@GoodSenseMovement.org

You can see the full video of this podcast episode on our YouTube channel.