Money management software

[jpeter1093]

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?

 

[tulak]

I’m a happy user of Moneydance since 2012. Upgraded from Quicken, and before then, MS Money.

I find that each of these programs have their own quirks, but once you get used to them, work about the same. Even though one feature I enjoy with Moneydance is the ability to write custom python scripts.

A forum search will find a few threads on this topic.

 

[pb4uski]

It is unclear to me what you are trying to do. I use Quicken and import all my credit card transactions. When I do, they increase my credit card liability balance with offsets to various categories that the credit charges are for like food, travel, electricity or whatever.

Later when the auto pay happens, it reduces my checking account by the amount of the payment and reduces my credit card liability by the same amount.

 

[bolt]

This is a brand new option and my magic word is FREE!

https://rows.com/pricing
Hope it helps!

Good luck & best wishes......

 

[audreyh1]

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.

 

[jpeter1093]

It is unclear to me what you are trying to do. I use Quicken and import all my credit card transactions. When I do, they increase my credit card liability balance with offsets to various categories that the credit charges are for like food, travel, electricity or whatever.

Later when the auto pay happens, it reduces my checking account by the amount of the payment and reduces my credit card liability by the same amount.

When I import the credit card transactions for today, for example. If the total is $100, I want to 'hide' $100 from my checking balance to a 'savings goal' account. Old Quicken can do this. Then, when the auto pay happens, I want to 'sweep' the month's worth of daily hidden money back to my checking so I have the money to cover the credit card. Note, the money never left my checking account in reality, was just hidden.

 

[target2019]

This is a brand new option and my magic word is FREE!

https://rows.com/pricing
Hope it helps!

Good luck & best wishes......

Why "a spreadsheet on steroids"? Do you use this for home money management?

I just use Excel, as I have found no one can audit my results.

 

[qwerty3656]

I’m a happy user of Moneydance since 2012. Upgraded from Quicken, and before then, MS Money.

I find that each of these programs have their own quirks, but once you get used to them, work about the same. Even though one feature I enjoy with Moneydance is the ability to write custom python scripts.

A forum search will find a few threads on this topic.

For Moneydance, is just a 1 time payment of $49 and then no future costs? Do you know if you can import transactions (e.g. credit card transactions from a csv file)?

 

[bobandsherry]

This is a brand new option and my magic word is FREE!



https://rows.com/pricing

Hope it helps!



Good luck & best wishes......

I must be missing something. How does this relate to OP's question [emoji780]

 

[tulak]

For Moneydance, is just a 1 time payment of $49 and then no future costs? Do you know if you can import transactions (e.g. credit card transactions from a csv file)?

No future costs if you stay on the same version. I usually pay for an upgrade every couple of years, which is discounted. I paid $25 to upgrade to the 2021 version.

Yes, you can import transactions. I have it configured to download transactions from most financial institutions, but for those that don’t support downloads (such as the Fidelity/Elan credit card), I manually download the transactions. I believe it uses the QIF (Quicken) format. There’s also an option to import CSV, but I’m not sure how well it works.

You can always download a trial version of Moneydance and give it a shot. That’s the easiest way to know if it’ll work for you.

 

[pb4uski]

When I import the credit card transactions for today, for example. If the total is $100, I want to 'hide' $100 from my checking balance to a 'savings goal' account. Old Quicken can do this. Then, when the auto pay happens, I want to 'sweep' the month's worth of daily hidden money back to my checking so I have the money to the credit card. Note, the money never left my checking account in reality, was just hidden.

So do you ultimately categorize your credit card charges to food, electricity, etc at all? If not, then I guess that you can create a category and charge that category whne the credit card charges come in and then credit that category when the autopay happens and that would serve the same purpose.

OTHO, my main question would be why would you do this? If it is for cash management, then you might want to set up the projected balances graph for your checking account. I use that and have my various inflow (pension, monthly retirement savings withdrawal, etc.) and outflow (credit card autopay, other payments) defined in bills and income... then the graph shows a 90-day projection of my checking account. I monitor this graph to make sure that my checking account has enought to pay my bills.

 

[mrfeh]

OTHO, my main question would be why would you do this?

+1

Doing away with the mental accounting might be the easiest solution.

 

[mountainsoft]

I use MoneyDance for my daily money management. I don't use any of the online or importing features, I just use it like an electronic checkbook. It has a few annoying quirks (like no way to eliminate the double-line header when in single-line mode), but nothing that is a deal breaker. Printing and exporting is kind of weird too, but I don't do that much.

I also haven't seen a way to record a transfer in one operation. Instead I have to record a deduction in one account, and a deposit in the other account. It's not a big deal, just an extra step.

I also use a program called Alzex Personal Finance to analyze our spending (https://www.alzex.com/) . At the end of each year I download CSV records for all of our accounts (checking, savings, credit cards, etc.) then import them into Alzex. It lets me categorize each item quickly (and change it if needed) to get a better idea of where our money is going. By knowing where, and how much, we are spending, it gives me an actual spending number to use when planning for retirement.

I like to keep the analysis features in Alzex separate from our daily account balances. If I mess up something in Alzex it doesn't hurt anything.

 

[qwerty3656]

I use MoneyDance for my daily money management. I don't use any of the online or importing features, I just use it like an electronic checkbook. It has a few annoying quirks (like no way to eliminate the double-line header when in single-line mode), but nothing that is a deal breaker. Printing and exporting is kind of weird too, but I don't do that much.

I also haven't seen a way to record a transfer in one operation. Instead I have to record a deduction in one account, and a deposit in the other account. It's not a big deal, just an extra step.

I also use a program called Alzex Personal Finance to analyze our spending (https://www.alzex.com/) . At the end of each year I download CSV records for all of our accounts (checking, savings, credit cards, etc.) then import them into Alzex. It lets me categorize each item quickly (and change it if needed) to get a better idea of where our money is going. By knowing where, and how much, we are spending, it gives me an actual spending number to use when planning for retirement.

I like to keep the analysis features in Alzex separate from our daily account balances. If I mess up something in Alzex it doesn't hurt anything.

My primary interest is in tracking actual spending an converting it into a forecasted budget. It sounds like you think Alzex would be better for that than Moneydance?

 

[mountainsoft]

My primary interest is in tracking actual spending an converting it into a forecasted budget. It sounds like you think Alzex would be better for that than Moneydance?

I suppose it depends on what you are trying to accomplish. Personally, I wanted to know how much we were spending each year and where. No guessing, no estimating, I wanted to download the actual transaction data for my various accounts, and total up the actual figures.

Alzex works fairly well for that. It does have some quirks, and the import process is complicated by varying standards for the CSV files from different accounts. Since I only do it about once a year I tend to have a learning curve each time and occasionally mess things up. Thankfully, it's not to hard to delete a years transactions and import again.

One of the things I like is that I can categorize our various income and expenses and be able to select or deselect items. A lot of things will show up in the imported data that aren't really income or expense items. For example, transferring money between checking and savings, or making a credit card payment. These aren't really expenses, you're just moving money around, so it's handy to be able to categorize and deselect them.

When planning for retirement, it's also nice to be able to deselect expenses we will no longer have in retirement, such as new savings or investments.

As I said, I only use MoneyDance as a checkbook, so I have no idea if it is capable of doing the same thing as Alzex. Alzex might work as a checkbook too, I don't know. I use each program for a different task and ignore a lot of the features in each program.

Also, income and expenses vary from year to year, so it's best to track things for at least a few years to get a better overall average.

 

[pb4uski]

My primary interest is in tracking actual spending an converting it into a forecasted budget. It sounds like you think Alzex would be better for that than Moneydance?

Quicken works real well for that. IIRC when you are doing your budget it starts with your historical spending for that category and then you and adjust it up or down as approrpriate in the circumstances.

 

[Sunset]

For tracking actual spending I use Spending Tracker.

Everytime I spend, I enter it into the selected category.

It's free, and works on my phone so it's handy.

At the end of the month I transfer the ~20 category totals to my spreadsheet so I have a yearly total by the month, for many years.

I view spending by cash or CC as the same thing, and never look at my checking account to see if I have enough in it for the spending, as I know some of it will be used to pay off CC during the month.

 

[bobandsherry]

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

 

[qwerty3656]

Quicken works real well for that. IIRC when you are doing your budget it starts with your historical spending for that category and then you and adjust it up or down as approrpriate in the circumstances.

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

Isn't Quicken a monthly charge?

 

[jollystomper]

Isn't Quicken a monthly charge?

It is a yearly subscription charge, those prices are for a 1 year subscription.

I still use Quicken 2017 primarily to see where my spending goes (more out of curiosity at this point) and portfolio value. Though it no longer downloads quotes I have managed to mostly automate the quote update process with a bit of programming.

 

[tulak]

I use Moneydance to track all my finances. I categorize each transaction, which I use to generate income/expense reports. Works fine.

I have custom python scripts that I use for forecasting cash flow for specific accounts. This let’s me know if I can add/remove funds my cash account, since I try to keep the balance lower in that account. I seem to recall this was better in Quicken, but it’s been a long time.

Honestly, probably not much difference between Quicken or Moneydance, or most standalone finance programs. Each will have their own quirks, but you figure out how to deal with those. I probably would have stayed with Quicken if they had real Mac support in 2012. But having moved to Moneydance, I wouldn’t consider going back.

I enjoy playing around with tech and the ability to data mine all my data with custom python scripts is fun. I find I can also work around anything unsupported in Moneydance by writing my own scripts.

 

[rkser]

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..

 

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

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

That's a great price and very timely, when I opened my Quicken this morning I got a reminder that my subscription will expire soon. Now the conundrum is do I buy or not, I swore I was done with Quicken when my subscription is over. The problem is that there is nothing better out there and when it works it works great. I've been a user since the 1990's with no problems but I've had so many issues since I got the subscription version last year. They're constantly updating it and their fixes always breaks something else. The most recent issue is reconciling my credit card, this is the second time this year it's messed up. It happened in February and I think Quicken pushed a fix out for it and now my April statement is doing the same thing and I've been stalling waiting for it to fix itself and so far nothing. Other folks are complaining but not that many. I'm going to have to enter a $900+ balance adjustment to fix and I'm not happy about it.

 

[bobandsherry]

I feel much the same as you. Those who don't need all the functionality that Quicken has may find an alternative, but as you also found nothing comes close to everything that Quicken does. $30-35/yr is worth it for the time it saves me. If $30-35 breaks the bank then probably don't have a need for this.

 

[jpeter1093]

+1

Doing away with the mental accounting might be the easiest solution.

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.