Wesabe

Wesabehomelogo We are a family of budgets. 

Years ago when Fred got out of grad school, we sat down and figured out our cash flow.  We figured out how much cash we needed a week and stuck to it. We also put together a budget for me so that every month I had a dollar amount to buy pretty much whatever I wanted.  Mostly clothes, accessories, wedding gifts, etc.  Overtime, the budget has expanded and been depleted but I always followed it.  You can't go over budget but you can carry over what you didn't spend the previous month. 

Sounds anal but what I really like about the budget is our costs are pretty much fixed.  Also, if I decide to buy an outrageous pair of shoes that I have no right costing what they do, Fred doesn't care.  He knows I am on budget and that is all that counts.  Works for a beautiful relationship.  We run our household as a business.  The kids understand the concept and the girls are starting to get them too.  Josh isn't quite there yet.  Jessica get so much cash a month put into her bank account and it is up to her to stick to it and if she doesn't, she doesn't go out.  Pretty simple. 

I have a spread sheet, by month, where I plug in my credit card bills.  Then monthly, I balance the spread sheet.  Sometimes there are charges from Amazon which are an addition that I didn't plug in, etc.  I have gone months with out doing it and then it gets overwhelming.  But, I like to know where I stand. 

Wesabe has changed my life.  I love this service.  Essentially Wesabe takes all of my credit card information (when it comes in which is daily ) and this shows up underneath my account that I have set up.  One for Visa, one for Amex, etc.  I then can take the dollar amount and tag it.  So, if it is a charge under my budget, I tag it jb (joannes budget), if it is a vacation item, it is tagged vacation, a house item is tagged home, grocery items tagged grocery.  You get the gist.  It takes literally seconds daily and I know where I stand.  It is so much easier than what I have been doing.  Also, at the end of the year, we can see by our tags, how much we spend under each item.  We plan our annual budget at the beginning of the year and attempt to make the numbers.  This helps us as the year proceeds.  Just like a business. 

I haven't figured out how to deduct the amount I have just spend against my monthly budget so I am still using the old way in unison but it isn't tedious and I don't have to do the checks and balances monthly.  Eventually I will figure it out and have everything on line.  I have actually found items that were wrong on my bill much quicker since I look at it daily.  I just called AMEX and had it taken care of.  If I didn't have Wesabe, I might not have picked that up for months.

Fantastic service.  Loving Wesabe. 

Posted May 4, 2007  
blog comments powered by Disqus
« Previous Post   Next Post »

Joanne Wilson Joanne Wilson loves food, books, and music. She lives in New York City. Her husband Fred and children Jessica, Emily, and Josh are bloggers too. More »

gotham gal updates

RSS    Email updates    Gotham Gal Twitter updates

books of the moment

  • Jean Thompson: The Year We Left Home

    Jean Thompson: The Year We Left Home
    An American novel. We follow the lives of four Iowan siblings including a cousin and how their lives take different turns. An insight into life in the midwest and the family dynamics. Each chapter blends brilliantly into the next. Beautifully written.

  • Michelle Haimoff: These Days Are Ours

    Michelle Haimoff: These Days Are Ours
    Post 9/11 meets post college as young NYers return to their city after graduating. A super quick read with real characters. A glimpse of life in NYC, what is it like to follow in successful parents footsteps, the hardships of divorce, the difficulties of landing that first job and all the other angst that goes along at 20 years old. Really well done.

  • Georgia Pellegrini: Girl Hunter: Revolutionizing the Way We Eat, One Hunt at a Time

    Georgia Pellegrini: Girl Hunter: Revolutionizing the Way We Eat, One Hunt at a Time
    Girl Hunter is about a woman chef who fulfills her desire to really get back to the roots of cooking, killing what you eat. Pellegrini takes us through grouse hunts in the south to a weekend of hunts in England. As much as I appreciated her efforts and what she did, the book was just the same thing over and over. I wanted more. Each hunt, although different, was the same story each chapter. Conceptually, an interesting journey.

  • Bill Clegg: Ninety Days: A Memoir of Recovery

    Bill Clegg: Ninety Days: A Memoir of Recovery
    If you don't believe addiction is a disease, read this book. Keeping clean is the ability to just get through each day without suffering a setback. The separation between the head, knowing that you shouldn't and the desire is powerful. A terrible disease....and that is exactly what it is, a disease.

  • Alexis Maybank and Alexandra Wilkis Wilson: By Invitation Only: How We Built Gilt and Changed the Way Millions Shop

    Alexis Maybank and Alexandra Wilkis Wilson: By Invitation Only: How We Built Gilt and Changed the Way Millions Shop
    Really well done. Every entrepreneur should read it. They lay out exactly how they want from an idea to a multi-million dollar company and all the heartache, sweat and hard work that goes in between. Bravo.

  • Suzanne Collins: The Hunger Games

    Suzanne Collins: The Hunger Games
    Had to read this book after seeing the movie. The book is a quick read and well written. I saw the movie first so I thought they did a really good job of taking the book to the screen. I found the movie much more disturbing than the book. In the book, as always, you get better insight into what is going through the main characters head and perhaps that is why I didn't find it as upsetting. The main character is totally disturbed with the times they are living in which includes the Hunger Games that she has been picked to play in. Definitely finishing the trilogy.

  • Lauren Groff: Arcadia

    Lauren Groff: Arcadia
    This is the 3rd book that I have read of Groffs. She is an incredible writer with an interesting perspective and insight into people. Arcadia is set in upstate NY at a communal farm, true hippies. We get to meet all the characters through the eyes of a young child, Bit. As the years go by Arcadia falls apart and Bit has to live in the real world. I really loved the book. Amazing cast of interesting complex characters.

  • Rosie Alison: The Very Thought of You: A Novel

    Rosie Alison: The Very Thought of You: A Novel
    During WWII, in London, many children were displaced around the countryside. We learn about a mixture of characters who have been lost, loved and betrayed by relationships. War does strange things and this story is a small glimpse into just a few people and how that war affected them for years to come. Great first novel.

  • Jessica Maria Tuccelli: Glow: A Novel

    Jessica Maria Tuccelli: Glow: A Novel
    Unbelievable writing for a first time novelist. We follow 6 generations of a family who begins in slavery. In all honesty, I had a hard time following the book. It is dense and you seriously need to follow every sentence. Not that easy for me.

  • Chad Harbach: The Art of Fielding: A Novel

    Chad Harbach: The Art of Fielding: A Novel
    First novelist that was rejected by every publishing house until one young up and coming kid saw something in this book. Not quite sure why nobody saw anything in this book before as so much crap gets published. A great story that takes place on a college campus in Wisconsin all centered around the game of baseball. Really well written about a group of interesting characters with many flaws but manage to move forward in their lives. Really liked it.

  • Grace McCleen: The Land of Decoration: A Novel

    Grace McCleen: The Land of Decoration: A Novel
    UK writers first novel. An incredible book about a widowed father and his daughter who are religious zealots in a factory town. Faith works in strange ways. Really enjoyed the book. A real gem of a book that subtly speaks volumes about one aspect of society. A winner.

  • Liz Moore: Heft: A Novel

    Liz Moore: Heft: A Novel
    the opening pages made me just laugh. quirky book about two peoples lives that intersect at the beginning and the end yet are always present in each of their individual stories. a tremendously overweight man who never leaves his house and a woman who met him in her youth. we follow their lives and the people who come into them. a book about lonely people and although it is sad there is something endearing about the book. really enjoyed it.

  • Julie Orringer: The Invisible Bridge (Vintage Contemporaries)

    Julie Orringer: The Invisible Bridge (Vintage Contemporaries)
    I loved this book...cried at parts and cried at the end. We follow a Hungarian family, but mostly one of the sons, as he begins his education in Paris pre-WWII until the war ends. A beautifully written saga of a Jewish family living through terrible times. Bravo!

  • Amor Towles: Rules of Civility: A Novel

    Amor Towles: Rules of Civility: A Novel
    Set in NYC in 1930 we follow a young woman through her career and life. Definitely a woman before her time. Really enjoyed the book. Katherine Hepburn could have played the lead!

  • Gail Simmons: Talking with My Mouth Full: My Life as a Professional Eater

    Gail Simmons: Talking with My Mouth Full: My Life as a Professional Eater
    Loved it. If you love food and the industry that has sprouted across the globe, read it!