There are tons of budget spreadsheets available on the 'net.  But you don't have to go searching for a decent spreadsheet to track your budget -  I did the footwork for you.  Whether you want to use an online spreadsheet for your budget, or you're looking for a something to work with Excel or OpenOffice Calc, you need something simple or you want to get into the nitty-gritty details of your spending, here are the best sources for free budget spreadsheets.

• The Best Budgeting Software
• More Money Management Spreadsheets
• How to Use Good Spreadsheets (video)

Not everyone is comfortable with using online personal finance software, but, entering all account transactions manually is a time-consuming bore.  Most financial software will import transactions from your banks and other financial institutions, but first you have to know how to grab the data to import.

3 Easy Steps to Download Transactions is a short tutorial with sample images that you can use as a guide to export transactions online from financial accounts before you import the transactions into your software.

When you're using a mobile app on your smartphone to manage something as personal as your finances, security and the ability to choose what information is shared with that app really matters. Yet, Internet privacy services provider TRUSTe reports that only 19% of the top 340 free mobile applications have a link to a privacy policy, so how do  you know what personal information an  app will need access to?

TRUSTe Offers Mobile Privacy Certification explains why looking for the TRUSTe logo before you download financial apps provides a reassurance of privacy along with tips for staying safe when downloading and installing financial apps on your smartphone.  The article also links to TRUSTe's mobile privacy survey, which indicates that the mobile app industry still has some work to do regarding consumer security choices.

• iPhone Personal Finance Apps
• Android Apps for Personal Finance
• The Importance of Data Encryption
• 4 Things You Can Do to Secure Your Smart Phone

The annual Webbys People's Voice Awards honors the year's best websites in several categories, along with nominees for online personal finance and banking software and mobile apps. One of my favorite apps, Chase Quick Deposit, is a nominee this year along with Billeo, Mint.com and other apps and sites worthy of recognition.

This year is the 15th Annual Webby Awards, with voting being open for just a couple more days, until April 28, 2011. Webby Award winners in financial categories and others will be announced on June 13. Visit the Webby Awards to cast your votes.