Personal Finance Software - Worth it?

[Joi]

Here is a great template that I think I will be using for Google Docs.

This is a read only file, so If you want it, make a copy of it by going to "File" then click "Make a Copy."

Rename it whatever you want and you will be able to make changes to the copy. All formulas are included and it gives you a remaining balance for the end of the month.

Wow that's a huge spreadsheet! Mine is so tiny comparison, lol. I setup my spreadsheet differently, where I type in each individual purchase or bill, and then excel calculates the total for that particular category. That way I can track my expenses a lot closer and label individual cells with a comment describing the purchase that was made.

[DrSavin]

I do know how to use excel come to think of it. Maybe I should take the time out to make my own program.

I don't get off work for a while so I can't. Does anyone have another suggestion that might save me that trouble? I'm going to keep looking.

I do like Google docs/calendar/email though. I just recently started using it and it's really convenient.

[Slug]

I swear by Yodlee. It's not as pretty as Mint, but it's secure and keeps things updated. Also, it tracks all my hotel and air rewards programs. Takes a bit to set up but well worth it in terms of what you can see at a glance.

[snshijuptr]

Budget SpreadSheet I found at 20somethingfinance.com

That looks like one of those over-specified budgets I was talking about. Mine has 5 columns that total up my Savings (30% of income), Billed Needs ($X), Needs (56% of income - $X), Billed Wants ($Y), and Wants (14% of income - $Y). The human brain can only process 5-9 things at one time so I figure I'm doing my brain a favor by having only 5 groups. I track how much is spent through the month in the Needs and Wants column to make sure they are keeping pace with the month (i.e. 25% of the way through the month I spend <25% of my Needs money). I record the date, a description and the amount. This is mostly so I know what I recorded.

Of course each person must budget in a way that make sense for their life. When I was single in college, I gave myself $X a day allowance and tracked how much I accumulated. I also ran everything quarterly based on my school bills.

[kork13]

I personally find that building your own worksheet is easier to use than somebody else's, because you can put in exactly what you want, and not include the things you don't want. There is a way to have excel automatically download information from your bank accounts, but that's too advanced for me, and I've never been able to make it work yet. So I just input everything manually, though that does have the side benefit of giving you better awareness of exactly what's going on. Depending on how specific/complex you want your budget sheet to be, you can make a decent one in less than 20 minutes. I'd recommend just building your own to your own specifications. That's what I did, and I'll probably never use anything different.

[MonkeyMama]

2 comments on Quicken

The purchased software is so much better than the online version. They are not the same. Just to clarify my opinions.

You can customize it to the accounts you want (you can simply delete ones you would never use - or change the names).

Also, I would never use the online version for the same reason mentioned by another poster. All your financial data in one spot? I don't even keep the data on the same computer where I installed the program. If someone steals my data, they have to find the software to open it. Then they have to figure out all my passwords.

[buildmybudget]

I think you can't go wrong with Excel. You can create as many or as few categories as you like and can quickly update your budget. This means you can spend more time decision-making instead of just categorizing expenses. What excel does most effectively is forecasting, allowing you to see dollar-for-dollar where you are heading financially. Ive yet to find a program that has excellent forecasting.

[DrSavin]

Here is a template I made last night. It is a bit more simple and gives me the ability to project my expenses. Let me know what you think!

Budget Template.xlsx

[ValL]

I think Mint.com is quite safe - they use the same security as major US banks. I never worry about doing online banking, I have pretty secure passwords. You can't move your money on Mint either. You can also get alerts to any suspicious charges, which is pretty useful.

[snshijuptr]

By the way, Quicken has now shut down Quicken Online in favor of Mint.com.

[FrugalDad123]

I tried Quicken and MS Money. I found it was quite a challenge to manually log each and every transaction from paper receipts that I kept in queue.

Then I tried Mint.com. I loved it. It automatically logged and categorized my transactions. I quit Mint when I got paranoid that they know my bank password, all my account numbers and I was (maybe coincidentally) being contacted by my bank about suspected fraudulent activities.

Then I realized the thing I didn't like about the above was their limited ability to foresee the future based on the current plan. Also, I started to feel like pie charts were informative but eh... weren't answering the question I usually had in mind, which was, "If I have this much today, is this good? Is this bad? Where does the current plan say I will be X days from now?"

So, I created my own Excel file that does foresee the future based on the current plan. Finally, my bank implemented features on their website that automatically categorize all my past transactions. So -- no more logging receipts for me. I just used my Excel spreadsheet when I wanted to visualize my future and I still use my bank's online tools when I want to see an analysis of the past (with pie charts).

[personalbudgetstuff]

Using software speads things up a lot and organises stuff. A good accounting package that integrates with your yearly accounts is MYOB.

[Personal Finace Fleur]

exactly, try seeking help online about your personal finances for better money management.