Money management software

[pb4uski]

In my Quicken, my checking account and credit card accounts are both in Banking and the Banking section has a total.... so as long as that total is positive then there is enough in checking to pay my credit card bills... however since that can change at any time I find the projected balances graph that I descrbed earlier as a better way to manage my cash. I have may annual property taxes included as a bill so it shows up in the graph... if the graph shows that I need more than I transfer money from savings to checking.

If what I describe doesn't work for you, it sounds like it might be easier to do what you describe in a spreadsheet that you update periodically (say, weekly) than in Quicken.

BTW, just because you have money in your checking account that is unencumbered doesn't mean that you have to spend it.

 

[qwerty3656]

I use Fidelity FULL VIEW, where I loaded all my accounts - Vanguard, Fidelity, Credit Cards & 529 Accounts, etc..

I find it very helpful to track my expenses into categories, etc. & think Fidelity's 2 level authentication safe enough.

One can do that with Schwab, Personal Capital etc..

I'm using Fidelity Full View and it has probably 90% of my expenses loaded. It doesn't allow manually loading transactions, also the budget side seems pretty lacking/inflexible. Ideally, I am trying to find a good software package that could easily deal with a download from Full View (which is a CSV file with basic transaction info - date, amount, payee, and budget catagory)

 

[jim584672]

I do a simple spreadsheet for spending. Tabs are years, rows are days of the year, categories across. Totals on the bottom. Notes on the side.

 

[jpeter1093]

Thank you all for the responses. I guess my conclusion is that there isn't any software out there that has the feature that my old Quicken 2010 does. May as well keep on keepin' on with it.

 

[bltkmt]

I use Mint for this. Free and easy.

 

[tmm99]

I use Mint too, and it was working great until I moved to Canada. Mint treats CAD as USD$, which isn't exactly ideal. I wonder if Quicken can handle multiple currencies - I have USD and CAD accounts in the same brokerage firm, etc.

 

[Markola]

You Need A Budget, known affectionately as YNAB, should handle the OP’s question. I like it a lot. It is an envelope system, so one’s checking (or savings) account is divided up into unlimited budget categories, which are managed as individual buckets. Transactions are automated, including credit card transactions. As credit card transactions occur, a balance is built up in a discrete bucket that equals the needed credit card payment, which gets paid in full automatically each month, automatically depleting that particular bucket.

My actions are limited to allocating money once/month to spend in each category and then reviewing transactions as they come in to quickly assign them to the right category. At the end of the month I move money around the categories to even things out according to what spending actually transpired.

 

[Iggysmom]

Mint is free and easy

I use Mint for money management. I don't find.the budgeting part.of.it.works.for me, but it's.easy to categorize expenditures, transfers, various forms of income, and to see trends in income, expenses, net.cash flow over, over whatever time period you want. You can download all transactions to excel and use for your taxes, too.

 

[Freedom56]

I have been using MS Money since 1989 to track income, expenditures, and investments down to the last penny. Microsoft discontinued support in 2011 and made the final "Sunset" edition free and it never expires. I use it to download transactions from my banks and credit cards and I input my investment transactions. I also use it to automatically balance my accounts monthly. I also export tax related transactions to my tax software. I have far too much historical data to transition to another package at this point. MS Money has some pretty good reporting capability that no other personal finance software can match. I also don't like the concept of using an online service that consolidates all my banking and investment account information on a single site to allow hackers to exploit sensitive account information.

 

[charais]

I like Simplifi, made by Quicken, but tracks everything well. Its also a yearly subscription

 

[jpeter1093]

Exactly, the way I use the savings goals in old desktop Quicken ensures I always have the credit card bill when it's due. I also use it for weekly 'donations' to an internal Christmas club, real estate taxes, and other recurring charges. Makes it easy to budget, if I put aside 10 week for my annual ski pass, I have $520 when it comes time to buy it. Keeps me from spending it.

A note (and thanks) to all who replied. Understand that I'm not looking to CATEGORIZE my expenses, but want to put money aside for them so it's reserved when they come due

 

[pb4uski]

Why not just have your credit card accounts set up as a liability? The net of your checking account balance and credit card liability is what you have available to spend.

IOW, your credit card balance is the amount that you need to have reserved.

Seems like you are overthinking it.

 

[jpeter1093]

Why not just have your credit card accounts set up as a liability? The net of your checking account balance and credit card liability is what you have available to spend.

IOW, your credit card balance is the amount that you need to have reserved.

Seems like you are overthinking it.

Thanks for the tip but the payment date is 25 days past the statement date. I take advantage of the float, so that's not a viable solution for me. My question was simple (not overthought); is there software that allows 'shadow accounts'. Apparently, there is not.

 

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

I have been using MS Money since 1989 to track income, expenditures, and investments down to the last penny. Microsoft discontinued support in 2011 and made the final "Sunset" edition free and it never expires. I use it to download transactions from my banks and credit cards and I input my investment transactions. I also use it to automatically balance my accounts monthly. I also export tax related transactions to my tax software. I have far too much historical data to transition to another package at this point. MS Money has some pretty good reporting capability that no other personal finance software can match. I also don't like the concept of using an online service that consolidates all my banking and investment account information on a single site to allow hackers to exploit sensitive account information.

How stable is this Money Deluxe Sunset Edition? I just downloaded it from CNET, it's no longer available on the Microsoft site. From a quick read through the documentation, it gives me an option to convert a Quicken file (QIF) and it seems to imply it can still go online and download my transactions automatically.
I'm going to play around with this, have you had any crashes with it. I'm a little leery but it's a nice looking professional program. They also have a Home and Business Version as well.

 

[sn2792]

You Need A Budget, known affectionately as YNAB, should handle the OP’s question. I like it a lot. It is an envelope system, so one’s checking (or savings) account is divided up into unlimited budget categories, which are managed as individual buckets. Transactions are automated, including credit card transactions. As credit card transactions occur, a balance is built up in a discrete bucket that equals the needed credit card payment, which gets paid in full automatically each month, automatically depleting that particular bucket.

My actions are limited to allocating money once/month to spend in each category and then reviewing transactions as they come in to quickly assign them to the right category. At the end of the month I move money around the categories to even things out according to what spending actually transpired.

I use YNAB also.

 

[twobits]

I use MS Money Sunset edition and created a "temp" account that works as a shadow account. I add future dated transactions (transfers from checking or savings) for the next credit card payment, Christmas savings, trip savings, etc., but the money doesn't actually leave my checking or savings, it just appears that way so the balances of those accounts don't show what is already spoken for. When I use some of the money in the temp account, I either delete the transaction that put it there, or adjust the amount of the transaction.

 

[indiajust]

I’m really limping along with Quicken 2007 for Mac.

A few years ago some change to the OS meant Quicken would not longer automa generate backup file copies. I do it manually now, occasionally making a duplicate from the finder which thankfully still works.

Last year I lost the ability to download transaction data directly. It would still import QFX files, thank goodness, although you had to dismiss an error message. That takes care of all but one of my institutions. But I lost the ability to download transactions from Fidelity which does not provide QFX files. Manual entry is a pain, but more of a monthly chore.

This year suddenly my Quicken stopped downloading quotes! I learned how to generate a QIF file from a numbers spreadsheet, so that’s now how I import quotes.

Increasingly cumbersome but still working!

Account reconciling and scheduled transactions still going strong - knock on wood! Reports still work and I use a lot of custom reports.

I was in a similar situation, but bought the new computer and OS updates ended support. I have had good luck porting to the new quicken and am now a QMAC test driver volunteer, which I actually enjoy. They are putting the work into the new version and it is finally a worthy update. I still prefer to keep my file local, rather than cloud based, as I do not need mobile access.

my primary motivation was continuity. I have data back to the 1970's and just did not want to let go of it all.

 

[beernutzbob]

I also have used You Need A Budget (YNAB) for a couple years now and really like it. I only use the desktop app as the phone one is clunky. Other than a credit card that routinely makes me reconnect to download transactions it's been solid. I also think it will handle OPs issue.

 

[redcfool]

Using MS Money now

I got tired of paying Quicken's subscription fee for no real updates in functionality. About 4 months ago I switched to MS Money. It is still available online and it's free. It does everything I need. I also have a 'Budget' transfer line in my checking where I reduce checking balance for all my CC spending. It handles that the same way Quicken did. I also have a dozen or so scheduled transactions for monthly bills and other budgeting purposes such as real estate taxes, car registrations, etc. I use Personal Capital for tracking my retirement accounts.

 

[larry]

FWIW - Quicken Deluxe on sale for $31.19. Premier $46.79. Buy the version not labeled as "New Subscriber" and renew your existing Quicken (up to 6 months in advance of your current expiration date.

https://www.officedepot.com/a/brows...&viewAllSkus=true/?hijack=quicken&type=Search

Thank you for this.

 

[jayanu]

I still use an old software version of Quicken because it allows me to have scheduled transactions, savings goals and transfers to those goals that really leave the money in their actual accounts but make it look as if it was gone. For example, I daily move credit card transactions to a savings goal so that the money in my checking account is still there when the credit card payment is due (Pay off every month and collect the points). I tried the online Quicken version but they seem to have done away with that type of action. Any suggestions for a replacement?

Everyone's needs are different. If you have Office 365 then the Money in Excel offer of Microsoft is a possible choice. It does not download all the transactions of investment accounts only the value but all CC transactions are downloaded. I don't think it has a Cash account. It is still little rough around the edges.

I used Quicken for years even before it acquired from another company in the 1990s but this annual payment of $60+ for premier (or constantly hunting for a deal) was no fun and now that I am retired I don't care much for projections (that is what your brokerage Fidelity etc. will do for you in the Retirement Income Planner.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/mic...troducing-money-excel-easier-manage-finances/

Love
Jay Shah

 

[pb4uski]

I use MS Money Sunset edition and created a "temp" account that works as a shadow account. I add future dated transactions (transfers from checking or savings) for the next credit card payment, Christmas savings, trip savings, etc., but the money doesn't actually leave my checking or savings, it just appears that way so the balances of those accounts don't show what is already spoken for. When I use some of the money in the temp account, I either delete the transaction that put it there, or adjust the amount of the transaction.

Quicken offers you an option to show the current balance or ending balance in the accounts bar.... the current balance shows transactions therough the current date and excludes and transactions in the future that you have entered... OTOH the ending balance shows all transactions... past and future.

So if you enter your future credit card payment and select ending balance then the checking account balance that you see would be after the credit card bill has been paid.

 

[jayanu]

Quicken offers you an option to show the current balance or ending balance in the accounts bar.... the current balance shows transactions therough the current date and excludes and transactions in the future that you have entered... OTOH the ending balance shows all transactions... past and future.

So if you enter your future credit card payment and select ending balance then the checking account balance that you see would be after the credit card bill has been paid.

Does the MS Money Sunset edition allow to download transactions from financial institutions? I understand that it does not.

 

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

Does the MS Money Sunset edition allow to download transactions from financial institutions? I understand that it does not.

I just downloaded the Money Sunset Edition recently and have not played with it yet.
I will try to set up my checking and credit card accounts today and try to download transactions and report back. I think I may have to go online to my bank to do a manual download which I have no problem doing.

 

[rpguy4]

I am still using MS Money - Sunset Edition - and I don't believe
automated connection and download features are supported.

I think that ability went away years ago.
Edit - Just tried to setup connection online services to several of my banks,
and I get message temporarily unavailable check back later.

I've been downloading my transactions manually for years now.
As long as the Financial institutions support QFX file formats
I'm in good shape.

Use it mainly to categorize transactions and track our spending.