I'm very curious to know what software (if any) people on this forum use to track their finances.
For some time I have been using a set of spreadsheets, simply recording all my transactions from my bank statement and then setting up some basic cell calculations to project my budget,
Last week I discovered GnuCash, a very impressive open source accounting package. I spent most of this weekend setting up all my accounts and importing transaction data from the beginning of this year into it, and I'm really impressive with the complete view I get of my financial situation (as opposed to the spreadsheets which were limited to my bank account). For the first time ever I have a complete picture that includes my investments, properties, vehicles, loans and everything else. The only sucky part is I realize how much I really do 'lose' to tax :P
What do each of you use to track your finances, do you monitor everything like an eagle-eyed accountant or do you just recycle your bank statements as soon as they arrive?
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I tried using Quicken, it just seemed too complicated for what I wanted to do. I ended up going with simple spreadsheets using OpenOffice. As you may have already seen, I use these applications from portableapps on a 1GB stick, so after seeing your post, I went to the web site and started investigating this GnuCash. I'm not sure I need anything more complicated than I already have though. I have one spreadsheet that covers monthly bills, how much, when due, when paid, when cleared, etc. I have another spreadsheet that I just copy all my transactions from my online banking website, then I categorize them to try and see how much I'm spending monthly on things like groceries, gas, etc. Between these two I have a pretty good idea of my financial situation, but I like the idea of adding in my cars and maybe my student loans.
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That LOOKS really cool -- are you happy with it? What are the biggest problems with it?
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That LOOKS really cool -- are you happy with it? What are the biggest problems with it?
I'm quite happy with the account entrance and maintenance side of things. I am struggling a bit to figure out the reporting and budgets though. There are some standard reports, all of which make sense, but I want to be able to create a report/budget which can give me an idea of how accounts grouped into certain categories are developing (for example in my spreadsheet solution I used selective totalling to group luxuries and essentials, and based on that could get a month to month progression).
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I tried to load it last night and, as of yet, I can't. Hm......it just won't install.
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Try the portable version at www.portableapps.com. I'm using that and had absolutely no problems.
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I ended up using spreadsheets from Google Docs.
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I used to use Microsoft Money but then started using Quicken. I like Quicken the best. But have problems with it oo. I like the feature that downloads everything from my account websites but it will not include pending items. I don't like that. I will check out the program you mentioned. I have poor accounting skills and I am consistently inconsistent but determined to right this wrong in my life. I was never taught anything about money from my parents and so I am now 33 and trying to become financially literate and develop good habits.
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The only thing my Dad ever taught me (inadvertently) about money was to be paranoid about spending any of it. That's a bad lesson. There is good and bad spending, and sometimes what looks like the cheap route in the short term will cost you longer term. In other words, you're definitely not alone in not learning anything useful about finances from your folks :)
With regard to the software, I've now been using GnuCash for a couple of weeks and I'm completely happy with the accounts side of it (I'm also no accountant), but I'm only just now getting the hang of some of the reports and their usefulness. It doesn't seem like it's at all possible to do the kind of budget 'report' I usually do in Google spreadsheets, which is a pity. It does have support for quicken imports, and I think direct bank connection imports as well, though I haven't tried that yet.
With regard to the software, I've now been using GnuCash for a couple of weeks and I'm completely happy with the accounts side of it (I'm also no accountant), but I'm only just now getting the hang of some of the reports and their usefulness. It doesn't seem like it's at all possible to do the kind of budget 'report' I usually do in Google spreadsheets, which is a pity. It does have support for quicken imports, and I think direct bank connection imports as well, though I haven't tried that yet.
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