Track spending on a mac

[Travelwanted]

Hi all - I know this has been discussed before but was hoping someone had a good update.

I can manually track spending but it is a hassle - not horrible - but would love something to make it easier. I know Quicken isn't great for Mac based on the reviews here.

I have tried Mint - thought it was ok but not better than manually doing it myself. Anyone aware of any new app or software that is mac friendly?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Dash man]

I just use Microsoft Office for Mac and track what I need in Excel.


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[braumeister]

Take a look at Moneydance.
It runs on any kind of computer and has a trial version so you can use it for a bit before you commit to buying it.

 

[M Paquette]

Moneydance is a good one.

I've been using iBank. The iBank 5 software is pretty good. I'm tracking banking, investments, and credit cards with it. It did the best job of importing almost 20 years of old Quicken data of any of the programs I tried.

 

[spncity]

Using Quicken 2014 for windows on a Mac with the help of Crossover software by Codeweavers.

I needed a little help to set it up and they were responsive and helpful.

Haven't needed any tech support since.


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[H2ODude]

Have 25 years of Q data, went to Mac about 8 years ago. Didn't want to lose legacy data so stayed with it. No, PC Q data is not transferable to Mac Q despite claims, at least wouldn't for me despite many hours research and attempts. So I run Q on Windows w VM Fusion. Works fine but as I keep it running it hogs resources, and invariable every few years have to update either Windows or VM Fusion. Probably cheaper to just buy a PC and run it on that given update costs, but this works.

 

[braumeister]

Just curious, but a lot of people have said they [grumble, grumble] stay with Quicken because they are unwilling to lose many years of legacy data.

When I gained my freedom by switching away from Quicken, I dumped everything into Excel. It's not very often that I want to search that old data, but when I do, it's pretty easy to use Excel's tools to do so. I don't feel that I'm missing anything.

 

[audreyh1]

Quicken 2007 is just fine (if you can still get it). They keep it updated.

It's actually great for expense tracking, downloading transactions, etc.

But I don't know what the longevity of the software is. I shudder that it will come to an end all too soon and then I'll be fairly stuck. I know Intuit wants to sell the software to another company, but I doubt it will be that easy.

 

[Whisper66]

I dumped Quicken 2007 when I kept having problems downloading data from various credit cards and didn't want to enter data manually. Moneydance has worked fine for me.

 

[tulak]

I've been using Moneydance for a few years now and it's worked well. I tried to import my Quicken data, but realized it would be too much work, so I started from scratch (except for investments, since I wanted to track cost basis).

If I ever need access to my old Quicken or MS Money data, then I have my old data file that I can load. I've only done this a couple
of times over the last decade, which tells me that I really don't need to track past data in a lot of detail. For budgeting purposes, I dump the year end expense categories into a spreadsheet and take a snapshot of account balances. That's about all the data that I need from the past.

 

[523HRR]

I run Quicken for Windows on my Mac using Parallels. Works great.

 

[Ready]

I just installed Quicken 2016 Mac about 30 minutes ago. The accounts downloaded without issue and everything seems to be fine. I've been a Quicken Windows user for 20 years, but I wouldn't say I was a power user. I manually entered all of my transaction - just force of habit from before we had internet access. And I don't use Quicken to pay my bills, just to record the payments after I've made them.

I do use it for extensive reporting though, so I'll be playing with the report features. If anyone has any specific questions, feel free to ask. But so far, overall I've been pleased with what I see.

 

[Rdub]

I've been a Mac user for a long time. I currently use Quicken (2014?) to track my spending. I use it primarily for tracking my actuals and reviewing my budget v. actual spend. I have my investments in there as well, but I like using Personal Capital for my investment summary and analysis. It works good. I don't plan on updating to the latest version until they stop supporting the current.

 

[FIREd]

After using Quicken for 10 years, I have decided to find a better alternative for 2016 hence. I am giving iBank a try and so far I like it. I did not bother to import my Quicken data, I went for a fresh start. Set up was pretty easy and so far it seems to work pretty well to track spending and set up a budget.

 

[wanaberetiree]

try this https://scimonocesoftware.com/seefinance/

 

[Ready]

After using Quicken 2016 Mac for two days, I'm not very happy with it. I can't download my Pen Fed IRA or my Ascensus 401K. Wait time for phone or chat support is 25 minutes. And the reporting capabilities of the Mac version are so basic they might as well not even exist.

Since I paid almost nothing for it I don't really care, but I was hoping to finally get rid of Parallels and Windows 8 running on my Mac just to maintain Quicken for Windows. Pretty disappointing.

 

[ziggy29]

Quicken 2007 still works pretty well, for now, even if the interface is dated. I use Fusion to run a few Windows apps, including Quicken 2015, but I'm probably done buying it unless they get the Mac version closer in features when this one goes unsupported in 2018...

 

[misshathaway]

I've used CheckBook for years. Very intuitive to use and has category reporting. Has import function if you can figure out how to get your legacy exported.

splash.com

 

[spncity]

After using Quicken 2016 Mac for two days, I'm not very happy with it. I can't download my Pen Fed IRA or my Ascensus 401K. Wait time for phone or chat support is 25 minutes. And the reporting capabilities of the Mac version are so basic they might as well not even exist.

Since I paid almost nothing for it I don't really care, but I was hoping to finally get rid of Parallels and Windows 8 running on my Mac just to maintain Quicken for Windows. Pretty disappointing.

How much trouble is Parallels? I've never used it. That is, after the initial install do you have to separately launch Parallels each time (other than clicking on the Quicken button?)

 

[523HRR]

How much trouble is Parallels? I've never used it. That is, after the initial install do you have to separately launch Parallels each time (other than clicking on the Quicken button?)

I've used Parallels on my Mac for pretty much the sole purpose of running Quicken for 5+ years now. It works great, and the "Coherence" feature allows Windows applications to function and appear seamlessly with other running Mac applications. Parallels runs in the background, allowing you to simply launch Quicken with, as you say, a click on the Quicken button.

 

[Ready]

It's not difficult to install Parallels, but every other Mac OS upgrade requires you to upgrade Parallels. And you need to purchase and maintain a copy of Windows, with all of its own warts and admin headaches. All that just to run Quicken has been a hassle for me. And it takes up a lot of space on my laptop, and it causes my Time Capsule to fill up with backups quickly. And I'm never completely sure the Windows data files are being backed up properly in Time Machine. So while it works, I was willing to give Quicken Mac a try to see if I could live with it and finally rid myself of the Parallels/Windows aggravation.


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[wanaberetiree]

After using Quicken 2016 Mac for two days, I'm not very happy with it. I can't download my Pen Fed IRA or my Ascensus 401K. Wait time for phone or chat support is 25 minutes. And the reporting capabilities of the Mac version are so basic they might as well not even exist.

Since I paid almost nothing for it I don't really care, but I was hoping to finally get rid of Parallels and Windows 8 running on my Mac just to maintain Quicken for Windows. Pretty disappointing.

Quicken is the only app that makes me still run Windows, however I know of no equal at the moment.

I never ran Parallels and instead using Oracle VM VirtualBox and free Windows 7 image. It does expire every 90 days but takes 10 min to configure a new one. I use it only for Quicken and so far was very happy with this solution.

 

[spncity]

I have used Crossover by Codeweavers instead of parallels to run 2014 Quicken for Windows on a Mac.

I have not upgraded Crossover even though I've upgraded the laptop to Yosemite.

We are to the edge of my knowledge, so you'd need to consult them about how much space it takes up.

Also, I don't download transactions, but it should work.

FWIW.