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Money is kind of like a crawling baby-- really hard to hold onto, and sometimes it's difficult to see where it's gone. Do you ever get to the end of a pay period and wonder how on earth you spent the last paycheck? To keep track of your money, it is wisest to budget your finances so you know how much to spend on what each month or each week. That way you know where your cash is headed, and you can plan for upcoming expenses or crises. But that's not news to many of us. We know we should budget; however maybe you haven't found the way that works best for your situation.

Our family uses a simple Excel spreadsheet to write up a budget, and then we do our best each month to stay within our spending boundaries. But that's not always easy. Wait, correction. It's never easy. And I'm not even sure it's the best way of staying on top of our finances. There are several personal finance sites out there that offer free budgeting service. Here are just a few home budgeting software options and what they offer:

• Mint.com - Categorizes spending habits. Balances all your accounts from one log-in. Tracks goals. Owned by the Quicken folks.
• MoneyStrands.com - Helps to control your funds with plan-ahead services. Supports multiple languages and currencies. Allows scheduling bill due dates on a calendar so it's easy to see when bills are due.
• MySpendingPlan.com - Easily creates an online budget. Tracks savings goals. Offers free coupons to clip. Get bill reminders by email.

How do you do your family's budget? Do you use any of these free options? Do you pay for a service and find that it's worth the fee? We'd love to know the most popular financing tools out there. Spill your knowledge please, ladies!