The private accounting
Keeping track of private finances should be a priority for every household, but this matter is often complicated. A household book should be kept so that private bookkeeping works as well as possible.
There are numerous variants available to the consumer, which enable private accounting. In addition to classic tools such as analogue notes or calculation programs such as Excel or Numbers, appropriate apps can also help to create a household book.
In this regard, Stiftung Warentest conducted a study with six subjects, who tested the respective options for their advantages and disadvantages.
The right preparation
Over a three-month period, participants charted their finances using the programs of their choice. It is clear that all variants are associated with a certain amount of time.
A preparation must also be made for all variants, because individual expenses require their own accounts. The household book consists of different sub-accounts for each household. While a family of four usually posts expenses for food, school supplies, excursions and the like in addition to fixed costs, single households focus on going to the bar, going to the cinema and other cost factors.
Once the individual sub-accounts have been created, the expenses for all variants can be noted relatively simply.
The three methods
All methods of private bookkeeping ultimately fulfill their purpose – income and expenses are clearly compared at the end of the month. Nevertheless, the different variants offer different advantages and disadvantages.
Although the analogue household book can be created quickly and inexpensively, it is still subject to certain disadvantages in everyday life. Accordingly, the constant carrying of the book can turn out to be annoying, as the test person Friederike Zobel explained to Stiftung Warentest. After a few weeks, she wrote down the everyday expenses in her calendar and added them to the book in the evening. In addition, the calculation at the end of the month must also be carried out manually, which means that the analogue version requires an additional work step.
Accordingly, spreadsheet programs such as Excel save the consumer this step and it is also possible to carry them with you all the time thanks to the corresponding smartphone apps. In order for a functioning budget book to be set up here, however, some basic knowledge of the software is required. If these are available, the calculation is more or less automatic.
Accounting apps represent the third variant. Thanks to the smartphone, the household book is always carried in the trouser pocket, which means that entries can be made at any time. In addition, no further knowledge is necessary, but cuts in terms of customization must be accepted, which is not the case with the other methods.
Convenience also has its price, with one exception all the apps tested were chargeable if all functions were to be used. The apps also left a lot to be desired in terms of data protection.
Which method is suitable for whom is ultimately subject to personal preferences. All test subjects invested an average of around ten minutes a day in recording expenses and were thus able to get a better financial overview.
Henry Ely / Editor finanzen.net
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