Being a young dad, I had to learn how to budget.

I tried out a lot of free software for budgeting, and I started out by using free Excel spreadsheets, actually. I ended up going with mint.com, but a lot of these are good, free budget packages. You need to try them out and see what works for you. The most important thing is to choose a budgeting method, create a budget, and then stick with your budget!

Mint.com

Mint.com offers an unmatched free service. I use Mint and love it because I find the interface to be very intuitive. Among other awards, Mint.com has been named the best online personal finance tool by Money Magazine, PC Magazine, and is PC World’s Editor’s Choice.

Wesabe.com

If I didn't use Mint, I would use Wesabe. Wesabe claims to have developed a communal approach to money management. This service is also totally free. Wesabe, like Mint and many other online tools, lets you see all your bank and credit card balances in one place. Wesabe does seem very vigilant about data security.

Pear Budget

PearBudget was developed by a husband-and-wife team who created a spreadsheet to help them with their personal spending. They posted it online and it became quite popular, so they enhanced it and turned it into PearBudget. You do enter your own receipts, but they make it kind of quirky so it seems enjoyable. This program is free try and then $3 a month thereafter.

Mvelopes

Just like PearBudget, this online program gives you a free trial period before charging a small monthly fee after the trial expires. Mvelopes does give you a free budgeting training course and a free budgeting electronic book.

Buddi

Buddi is an open source application aimed at those who have little or no financial background. It is simple to use, works with Mac and Windows, and because it is open source budgeting software, you can download it for free.

SimpleD Budgeting

SimpleD Budgeting, like Buddi, is open source free budgeting software. It has a very nice interface and easy to configure graphs. This software is only for Windows, but it supports multiple languages and multiple currencies. Once again, being open source, you can download it for free.

Microsoft Office Accounting Express

Microsoft® Office Accounting Express is an easy to use accounting package that works with the Office applications that you must already have installed. It is also open source software and free to download, but on the site you will be encouraged to buy the professional version. I would not recommend this software for budget beginners as it is targeted more toward small business.

Quicken

Most likely if you know anything about financial management software, you know about Quicken. Quicken Online claims to simplify Internet banking by automatically organizing your financial accounts—including checking, savings, investments, loans and credit cards—in one place, and the automation does seem better than in some other packages. If you have used Quicken in the past and liked the interface, you might want to try this online service.

Budget 5000

This is another completely free web application for online money management. Navigating the front-end is simple and all the functions seem very easy to use.

Moneytrackin'

Moneytrackin' is another online free budgeting application. The interface is not my favorite, but I do know a family that uses it quite successfully.

If you find other sites or downloadable applications that work for you, please let me know so I can add them to the list.