I used to use Quicken, back when I obsessed over the allocation of every penny. These days I'm rather more laid back. The one and only feature that I really miss are automatic savings goals. In case you aren't familiar them: Quicken allows you to set an amount that you would like to save, and the date you would like to reach that goal. It then automatically sets aside a regular amount every day, "deducting" it from your total available balance. So when you look at your account balances in Quicken that money is already "spent" even though it is still sitting in your bank account. This is a very handy way to plan ahead and avoid coming up short when a big expense comes due.

So, no Quicken, but no worries. I whipped up a goal tracking spreadsheet for Excel and OpenOffice. To use it, just replace the sample goals with your own, inserting new rows as needed. You will enter the amount you want to save, the date you want to start saving, and the date when you will need the money. Once your goals are in place, come back on a regular basis and update your bank balance in cell B2. The spreadsheet will keep a running total and show you exactly how much you have available to spend.

What Should I Track?

It is up to you to decide how many goals you want to track. Me, I put in anything more than $100 that I know I'll need by a certain date. For example, here are some things I have on my list:

• the money to put a new door on the garage this summer
• the registration fee for next year's summer camp for the kids
• a Playstation3 in November (or an Xbox360 if it doesn’t pan out)
• money for Christmas gifts
• this year’s IRA and 529 contributions
• a new car, ten years from now

Hopefully that will get you started. Enjoy, and feel free to leave questions in the comments!