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=Budget programs:=
<big>'''Finding the one that's right for you'''</big>
The following three reviews concern home budgeting programs produced and marketed by independent programmers. There was no particular reason as to why these programs were chosen for review, other than that each is sufficiently different from the others to give readers a good idea of what is available on the market. There are many others available for the TI home computer and we hope to review some of them in the future.
Although direct comparisons will not be made, each program, it seems to me, is aimed at a different audience. The TXMasters Home Budget is for those who do not have printers while the DCH Budget program requires a printer, memory expansion and disk drive. A printer is optional for the Budget Master$ program.
So, who needs a home budgeting program?
Just about anyone who wants to gain control of his finances. The assumption here is that if one has control of something one can use it to his advantage.
The simplest use of a home budgeting program is to keep track of expenses as they occur. The user defines the expense categories he wants to audit and then inputs data as disbursements are made. By doing this the user can detect trends in spending that he may want to change. Also, he will have a record of expenses that will let him know where the money goes.
Of course, tracking expenses is only the beginning for those who are serious about budgeting. The heart of the budget lies in predicting how much to spend on certain expense categories. The real challenge, then, is to live within the budget predictions. This is often far easier to say than to do.
There are varying levels of complexity among budget programs. Some will provide the user with more data than many small businesses need to do business. How much a budgeting program will do for the user depends not only on the price but, in many cases, on the amount of hardware it takes to run it. Those with a system that includes a disk drive, memory expansion and a printer are more likely to want a program that fully utilizes these peripherals. For those with only a console, it doesn't make sense to buy all these peripherals just to create a family budget. The expense of the hardware would be enough to blow any budget.
Although I do not pretend to be an expert on financial matters, I am familiar with enough home budgeting programs to know what I like. And one feature I believe to be an absolute must is the ability of the user to define his own budget categories. This is one reason I decided not to include a review of Tl's Home Budget cartridge, in which all categories are predefined. There's enough standardization in the world already without encouraging more of it.
The value of any budgeting program depends entirely on the user. If the user takes budgeting seriously, a home budgeting program ought to result in enough savings to easily pay for itself. Even if no actual savings are realized, the data that comes from home budgeting can help the user redirect his finances in such a way that he is able to spend more of his money on those things he truly wants.
At any rate, home budgeting is a useful endeavor and among the most common applications for a home computer.
'''— JK'''
