PILOT SPIN
Spin Zone => Spin Zone => Topic started by: Rush on October 20, 2019, 02:14:53 PM
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What do you guys use? I use YNAB 4 which is a standalone program on my computer, I paid once for it and it's been working great for years. But the company is discontinuing support and saying I should migrate to their web based subscription version which is $76 per year. I hate this.
I'll have to sign up for the damn thing, pay every year, and have my numbers on their server somewhere and have to go through a browser to use it. Or find another program. Is EVERYTHING going to subscription these days?
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I can't help with a suggestion for personal finance software.
But, I want to encourage you to read the terms of service for anything web-based.
I recently read a TOS that basically said that anything uploaded to their service was available to them to use/distribute/modify in any way they want for as long as they want.
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Quicken
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I can't help with a suggestion for personal finance software.
But, I want to encourage you to read the terms of service for anything web-based.
I recently read a TOS that basically said that anything uploaded to their service was available to them to use/distribute/modify in any way they want for as long as they want.
Yep iirc it’s got the standard “we will only share it with other people to help provide you better service and of course if we are ordered to by law enforcement”.
No, it’s not secure, and they don’t respect your privacy. Not wanting government snooping in my shit is a big deal to me. But I don’t put account numbers or even names in there, so I don’t fear criminal hackers so much, and the machine based version I use now moves the data through Dropbox between my desk and my laptop so it’s kind of out there anyway.
But that is one thing that bothers me. Also the ongoing cost, and also I guess I have to use a browser now which I hate. I prefer self contained windows.
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Quicken
I have Quicken 2000 and used that all the way up to a couple years ago. For a while I kept records in both Quicken and YNAB. Has Quicken changed much since 2000?
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I use now moves the data through Dropbox between my desk and my laptop so it’s kind of out there anyway.
with dropbox and google, it's more than out there... they have license to use that data forever.
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I have Quicken 2000 and used that all the way up to a couple years ago. For a while I kept records in both Quicken and YNAB. Has Quicken changed much since 2000?
The basics, probably not a lot. Overall, yes.
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Maybe Every Dollar would work. They have a monthly version that allows connecting to your bank, etc. We use the basic version. It's a Dave Ramsey product.
Also Wave might be of interest.
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I've got a steno pad and some pencils.......and a '80's HP calculator. :-[
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Excel.
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Maybe Every Dollar would work. They have a monthly version that allows connecting to your bank, etc. We use the basic version. It's a Dave Ramsey product.
Also Wave might be of interest.
Every Dollar looks very similar to YNAB, with the budgeting feature. The free version won't connect to the bank to download transactions? That's a deal killer, I need to download. And the paid version is $130. And also web based, so no advantage over YNAB, unless I'm mistaken about the connecting to the bank. If you can "import" with the free version that would do.
Wave seems more suited to small businesses.
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Excel.
I've actually tried that. For it to do what YNAB does I'd have to do some pretty fancy programming. :)
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I've actually tried that. For it to do what YNAB does I'd have to do some pretty fancy programming. :)
Yeah, I don't get fancy with it. I have a section on top for income and a section on the bottom for specific known bills or categories of spending. The end of month balance is beginning balance + income - outgo. Then I "copy right" through March of next year and I have a pretty solid finance prediction and tracking software.
In January, I copy the December numbers, use Paste Values and start a new file for next year. I clean up any unusual expenses and I have my predicted spend for the entire year.
I could improve it by assigning budgeted amounts to each category and then measure the variance, but the ongoing maintenance overhead for that gets to be pretty harsh.
Not really anything fancy in it.
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Yeah, I don't get fancy with it. I have a section on top for income and a section on the bottom for specific known bills or categories of spending. The end of month balance is beginning balance + income - outgo. Then I "copy right" through March of next year and I have a pretty solid finance prediction and tracking software.
In January, I copy the December numbers, use Paste Values and start a new file for next year. I clean up any unusual expenses and I have my predicted spend for the entire year.
I could improve it by assigning budgeted amounts to each category and then measure the variance, but the ongoing maintenance overhead for that gets to be pretty harsh.
Not really anything fancy in it.
Can you import bank transactions into it as a cvs file or something?
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Can you import bank transactions into it as a cvs file or something?
No, I balance things manually twice a month when I write bills. I find that it keeps me involved and it's a hour max twice a month. Usually less, but sometimes my balance is off and it takes time to figure out why.
I've tried various programs in the past and learned that when I import transaction, I never look at them, so there's no thought given as to whether or not they are right.
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No, I balance things manually twice a month when I write bills. I find that it keeps me involved and it's a hour max twice a month. Usually less, but sometimes my balance is off and it takes time to figure out why.
I've tried various programs in the past and learned that when I import transaction, I never look at them, so there's no thought given as to whether or not they are right.
Ah, that's the difference. I import credit card transactions and categorize them all, every one. I began looking at every transaction when our cards kept getting breached. We use cards for almost every purchase, about 100 transactions every month. If I didn't categorize them all I would have little idea where all our money went. YNAB makes it very easy. Once I set up a category for a Payee, it will automatically put new transaction in that category unless I manually change it. Then I go along and check each one approved, matching it to the paper receipts.
The data can be manipulated to produce reports revealing our total financial picture, and there's the whole budget side which I used to use a lot but not anymore, we automatically budget ourselves now and live below our means. The budget part of YNAB was the big advantage over Quicken (or at least 2000 Quicken).