If you’ve ever tried budgeting in a notebook, you probably know that it is a little tedious and time consuming. You’d be surprised how much easier it is to use budgeting software. It cuts out writing and you simply just need to type in the numbers. It keeps it organized without having to flip through pages, and it cuts back extensively on errors.

If you use budgeting software such as Quicken, you won’t need to write out much of anything. You might just need to change some titles as necessary. If you use Excel and make your own, you will have write out everything necessary, but usually just once and then as you go you will need to keep it up.

When you use a notebook, graph paper, or another written way, you have write out everything and organize it. One major drawback is that once you write something in a certain place, you can’t move it if you want to reorganize either at all or not without erasing or ripping out pages. You’ll probably need to start all over again.

Another great thing about budget software is that it nearly eliminates errors. Math errors are much easier to make when you are using a calculator or just your head. It’s easy to write down the wrong numbers and not realize it. You can still type the wrong number with software, but when you notice the error, it’s easy to go back and fix it and the computer will change everything accordingly. If you wrote a wrong number down a while ago, you’ll have to change all the numbers thereafter.

It’s much easier to stay organized with budget software, because it’s already designed to be. You don’t have to figure out how you are going to place things and see which works best because the software already has it under control. With quicken, they have it all spaced out and ready to be used. Even if you use a template, it’s hard to tweak it to your needs.

Finally, software like Quicken has a lot of great tools to help you see how you are doing. They offer graphs of all kinds and can help you keep track of savings and investments. It automatically keeps you updated so that you can see where you are and improve your finances as necessary.

Budget software can be the difference between sticking to a budget and giving up. It’s easy to adjust and follow. If you can stick with a certain budget criteria you created, you can easily change it. If you don’t have budgeting software and you are having trouble keeping to a budget, I suggest you get some!