Instead of taking time to learn these applications, I would just use mint.com My dad only know how to make a call using Skype (and not interested in learning anything more than that). He found mint very easy to work with, very self explanatory and has a phone app to add entries on the go.
Give a try with one account and if you like it add more otherwise delete the account.
Excel is not as easy as it seems. I used to use excel when living in Europe and was a headache.