Financial Tools

[owesalot]

I accidentally deleted my excel budgets from 2012 and the planned budget for 2013, i also use the excel sheet to track spending, payments etc. Though I have it all in my head and could recreate my question is should I take this as an opportunity to try different software?

I am not a big fan of mint, was looking at Ace money or quicken but I like the idea of being able to access online...

What works for you?

[violet80907]

I use MoneyDance.

You didn't specify platform (Windows, OS X, Unix, etc.), but for non-Windows users in particular, I think MoneyDance is the best solution I have tried, and I have tried many.

[kork13]

I use Excel spreadsheets as well, and honestly I'm very happy with it. I think what I like most is the personalization -- personal finance software is built for the preferences of whatever random individuals designed and programmed it. My spreadsheets, however, are built for me. The information is presented exactly how I want it, and I can change anything at my own whim. No, I can't automate them as many programs do, but by requiring manual input, it actually helps me stay on top of my finances better anyway. I don't see myself doing anything different for a long while.

[BMEPhDinCO]

I've tried Mint and YNAB and found myself going back to excel every time... it just makes it easier for me to do it myself.

I do, however, use Google Docs to keep the sheet so that it is online and available anywhere... works great for my needs!

[YLTL_Dan]

I also use my own Excel templates. I used Mint.com for a while, but I always wanted more customization than it allowed. I've made the following templates available on my blog:

1. Current Assessment
2. Spending Tracker
3. Spending Plan / Budget
4. Net Worth Tracker

[smk]

there are two types of tools that help track finances - spreadsheets and databases. spreadsheets are better for calculations but not as good for organization. databases are the opposite. financial programs integrate both and spit out reports that can be analyzed in more detail in excel. i find them a convenient way to keep track of spending. i have been using quicken for many years, but they do not store market data for more than 5 years so tracking investment positions for longer will not work. their analytical/planning tools are painfully weak. but it does the trick on the budget.

[neatdesign]

I use You Need A Budget (YNAB), which you can use on multiple computers and also via iPhone and Android apps. Just a couple of months ago the most recent version (YNAB 4) became cloud-compatible (is that the right term?) and that's made it even easier and more user-friendly than before.

However, the YNAB budgeting philosophy is really what makes the program worthwhile. (Read about it HERE.) If you're simply looking for a method of logging your expenses and nothing more, then YNAB might not be for you. But if you are looking for a new way to budget which can help you become debt-free, save money, use your money wisely and live on next's month's income now (really!), then check it out.

It's also worth noting that YNAB was first created by Jesse Meacham, back when he was an active participant on these very Saving Advice forums. That's right: He used to be one of us! In fact, that's how I first learned about his budgeting method, and bought one of the earliest versions of YNAB software back in 2007. It's sort of cool to see what started as one guy's passion for budgeting evolve into a full-fledged company whose product is used worldwide.

[marvholly]

before you go all NUTSO check your recycle bin. Bet you will find the documents you 'deleted' there.

I got a new computer and had to dump a bunch of stuff from my documents when I transferred everything. Sure enough, dumped stuff I needed but re-found in recycle bin.

[owesalot]

Yeah I tried everything on recovering the docs- since they were on a USB the files somehow got corrupted when I tried to recover. I have an early version of 2012 I can bring back to life if i decide to keep the same system.

Good advice everyone will check out some of the online tools as well. Thanks!

[fe2o3ez]

Mint + Excel

I have used almost all the softwares over time (MS Money, Quicken, YNAB, my own spreadsheets, Mint) and I am always searching for the next best thing. However, for the past couple years I have used MINT. But recognize what it is good for. It does a good job of consolidating all your accounts in a single place, and allowing you to categorize transactions from all accounts at the same time. You can create categories and sub-categories and set a general budget for those categories.

When I want deeper analysis (say, at year end when I am setting the new year's budget) I dump all transactions (from the transactions tab in MINT) into an Excel file that I have set up. I use already established pivot tables in Excel to summarize the transactions by month\year\category and I perform my analysis from there. It allows me to not only track spending from the current year, but to run comparisons across years as well.

It's not a perfect setup, but it allows me to do alot of the things that I would be able to do in a more advanced software package.