Free Online Budget Planner

Zion's Bank offers a free online service where you can track your budget for a specific project, for your monthly expenses, for an upcoming event, or for holiday gifts and budgeting. You do not have to be a member of Zion's Bank to participate (I am not a member). You only have to create an account using your email address as a username and set up a password.

You can track your monthly expenses, such as your mortgage, utilities, grocery, etc in the Monthly Planner. The Event Planner is set up as a wedding (sample) and the Project Planner is set up with a sample as a home remodel, but you can customize it to be whatever you want the project/event to be.

I used the Gift Planner last year to keep track of my Christmas purchases. I liked it because my kids can read now (and also read cursive, lol) so I can't hide my lists from them like I used to! Also, because it has a password, I can hide what I have purchased from my husband so he also gets surprised on Christmas day. I also liked it because it tallies up the total you have spent in a spreadsheet and you can easily see how much money you have spent so far, which can be eye-opening! You can also access it from your Blackberry or from your work computer, and not be stuck without your list when you have a minute to run out shopping. You could certainly create your own spreadsheet (if you are someone who simply has a love for those.... ahem, Lori.......) but this is already done for you, and it works well.

Just passing it along as we all start thinking about the upcoming holiday season. The website is http://www.zionsbankezbudget.com/.