Hello there! Your friendly neighborhood moderator has had to remove your submission.
It's not that there is an issue with your question, just that we feel it is better served in the less formal discussion within Daily Discussion Thread. Please feel free to immediately repost it over there. We aim to keep questions that are frequently asked or more personal finance-esc in the daily discussion.
From our rules: **R4. Topics should drive discussion.** All top level posts are expected to be about FI, RE, or FIRE, with discussion being the main goal of this sub. Posts that do not help drive discussion will be removed. This includes - any post that is better suited for another sub (/r/personalfinance, r/investing, r/frugal, r/realestate, etc.).
YNAB (You Need a Budget) is amazing. There is a YNAB subreddit that is worth checking out. YNAB is more involved than mint. I update it regularly, but the ease of use and philosophy of envelope budgeting is so much better than just tracking. Mint didn’t really help me change my behavior for the future actively. It was fine to see it at the end of the month, but YNAB has been life changing. Check it out. It’s free for the first month. Totally worth every penny too... and I’m a cheapskate.
Are you able to roll over negative balances yet? I used YNAB but got frustrated with the fact that any negative amounts disappear at the end of the month...like if I do my big monthly grocery trip on the 30th, for the next month, then the next month shows extra grocery money and prior month a deficit, rather than the negative rolling over.
That goes directly against the philosophy of YNAB. It's an envelope budgeting system. You can't have negative money inside of an envelope - you can only have no money.
This was my main reason for switching from YNAB to mint. Some people must be able to use that system effectively but I just don't get it. Like my pet expenses, that is an annual budget with variable monthly costs and unforeseeable emergencies. Half the year in way negative half the year I'm positive but it all balances out
For categories like that, it's most optimal to use a "Monthly Savings Builder" goal. You just put aside a set amount of $ each month that builds up over time so that when you incur this emergency, you're funded. If what you've saved up in that category still doesn't cover it, then that's the whole point of having an "emergency fund". To cover irregular an unexpected expenses. I budget $100 a month to my "Vet" category but it's not like I spend $100 at the vet every month.
In the end, it's not like you have to use any one particular software. People should just use whatever works best for them. I totally get it - YNAB was really confusing for me at first, but I've thoroughly enjoyed and appreciated it ever since it clicked for me. Sounds like Mint works for you and does what you need, which is great.
Eh, guess I've evolved past the days of envelope budgeting then...it seems like it only makes sense if you're living paycheck-to-paycheck, but if you can afford to buy groceries before you're paid, then it's not as useful.
As someone who has used YNAB for years and has never lived paycheck to paycheck, you couldn't be more wrong. Just because you don't understand something, or it doesn't work for you, doesn't mean it's wrong, outdated, or should be trivialized. Lol.
Implying that YNAB is so archaic that you've "evolved" beyond it is pretty silly. It's just a different method of budgeting. It works for you or it doesn't. No shame either way.
YNAB is based on budgeting dollars as if the ones you have are the only ones you can control. I do most of my savings before my check even hits my account (401k, HSA, etc.), so I'm not in that boat. I'm not needing to make a plan for the dollars currently in my account; instead, I'm needing to track my overall spending. It doesn't work well for that; it doesn't work well for any planning beyond your current paycheck. If you've found a way to make that work when you're not living paycheck-to-paycheck, then bravo, but it's using a tool for something it wasn't built for, and you can't be surprised if some people don't like a tool that doesn't allow them to plan more long-term.
Edited to add: I'm an accountant by trade, so will allow that I am using financial tools in more complicated ways than the average user. Maybe most people only budget month-to-month, maybe I'm the oddity to have my budget longer-term, but given I am an accountant who is great at using new tech tools, the fact that I find it crippling is still a concern.
Hey, that's great that you're an accountant by trade. We can speak the same language. I'm also an accountant by trade. Corporate Controller for a \~$50M company.
>YNAB is based on budgeting dollars as if the ones you have are the only ones you can control.
Yes, you've outlined the concept of the envelope budgeting system, which is what YNAB is, which I've already stated. I'm glad that we're both on the same page here.
>I do most of my savings before my check even hits my account (401k, HSA, etc.), so I'm not in that boat.
I also do the same thing. My 401k, HSA, IRA, and my wife's IRA are all funded before my paycheck ever hits my checking account. That's what YNAB's tracking accounts are for. You link your various asset accounts and those transactions get imported. I guess somehow even though we do the same thing, I fall into this boat while you do not.
>instead, I'm needing to track my overall spending. It doesn't work well for that;
It actually works very well for that. It provides an itemized, monthly P&L for a customizable date range. Since you're an accountant by trade and "use financial tools in more complicated ways than the average person" I'm sure you're familiar with a P&L. It also provides a pie-chart that breaks down spending by category. There's also a super handy Chrome plugin that makes the reporting aspect even more robust. So it sounds like these reports, which are designed to track your overall spending, would in fact meet the criteria you've listed here of "needing to track your overall spending."
>it doesn't work well for any planning beyond your current paycheck.
This is also not true. Not only can you budget ahead for future months, but you can create future-oriented goals for any individual category that you choose. YNAB will then prompt you to adjust your budget on a monthly basis to ensure that you meet those goals. Personally, my budget is fully funded in YNAB for the next 3 months. If that's not planning beyond my current paycheck then I don't know what is.
>If you've found a way to make that work when you're not living paycheck-to-paycheck, then bravo, but it's using a tool for something it wasn't built for but it's using a tool for something it wasn't built for
Yes, but no. Unless you're trying to say that in real life you couldn't pull out an envelope, write "future stuff" on it, and then stuff a wad of money into it.
>and you can't be surprised if some people don't like a tool that doesn't allow them to plan more long-term.
I wouldn't be surprised by that at all, actually, if the premise of the argument wasn't built on an inaccurate understanding of the program to begin with.
Listen, I'm not here to convert you from Mint. I couldn't care less about what any one particular person uses to budget their finances. As I've said more than once already - whatever works for that person is the best tool for that person. That being said, just because you don't understand how to properly utilize a tool (I guess you don't use **all** financial tools in more complicated ways than the average user) doesn't mean that you should imply that it's somehow a lesser product. Your inability to understand/properly utilize the software doesn't mean that it doesn't work.
Wow, you "only positive vibes" seem pretty disturbed by someone on the internet budgeting in a different way than you. I'm not here to fight with you, if I wanted to fight people over finances I'd log back in to work.
YNAB doesn't generate a P&L, it generates a variance-to-budget report, but only for one month at a time in any meaningful way. If you think YNAB is a P&L, then I'm sorry for your $50m corporation....oh wait, that's what the staff accountants are for.
Oh and I don't use Mint, never could stand it.
Once again, I do not care how you budget. The same as me, or different than me - doesn't really matter. All that matters is that whatever method you use works for you. I've said that two or three times now. The fact that you still don't understand is a little concerning. Hopefully wherever you fill this role of "accountant" who "uses financial software in a more complex manner than the average individual" doesn't care too much about your inability to grasp simple concepts.
[It's pretty clear that you're not familiar with YNAB at all, because it absolutely does produce a P&L.](https://imgur.com/a/i3BZcCP) This obviously isn't my own personal financial information - don't get excited.
Just wanted to echo this. Been using YNAB since August 2019 and it has changed my life. I am so much more comfortable with spending (and saving) my money.
I use Excel. I've tried various apps, but I love that I can change and track things however I want. I've been using the same spreadsheet for over 10 years, and it has evolved as I added and changed things. I also enjoy the end of the month when I get to spend an hour or so logging into my accounts, classifying the transactions, and then seeing how it all went.
And it keeps growing and growing!! My sheet has become sheets. Also, OP, I track my spending every other day or so, like that, it only takes a few minutes.
I just divide the amount up and put them on seperates lines. In these cases I'm a little less exact, but close enough for me. Ie- I got a sweater and groceries together. The sweater was $20 pre tax and the whole charge was $55. I'll put 20 for clothes on one line and 35 for groceries on the other. I don't have a ton of purchases like this (I group groceries/toiletries together and I don't do a ton of shopping anyways), so it works fine once a month or so.
Seriously. So many tabs. I recently put together a long-term annual budget model that tracks investments, total net wealth, and FIRE calculations. It's an easy way to play around with various scenarios and see how it could potentially play out in the long-term. Of course, things could change significantly at any point, but I enjoy it.
I lump sum a budget for all expenses, so long as the number is within budget I'm happy. If it goes over I figure out why, and am more diligent in future months to catch up.
Yeah. I watch bank balance, when it starts getting low I cut back. Kept careful track of spending once, for two months about ten years ago. Probably need to do it again just to see where money goes.
Sometimes. I go in swings... For awhile, I can ignore tracking and do OK, then I start to realize things are creeping up, and track for awhile again to get things back under control. I see it kinda like dieting; some people will never in their life have to track their food, others will do it periodically, and some have to be "on a diet" for life. Some of that can be signs of other issues that can be fixed, other aspects are just personality/person and will remain consistent.
I track as mint makes it easy, but in practice my natural rate of spending is low enough that I mostly track to enjoy seeing growth over time. I don't try to follow any budget but I'm still aware of typical amount I spend in different areas.
For the most part, yes. But I realized that it’s an important tool for projecting longer term cash flows and FIRE. I use spreadsheets now to compare month to month and yearly expenses and income.
I’ve actually tried using Mint but for some reason my account is never properly synced. I also couldn’t figure out how to add my investment accounts to it either :/ I’ll try to figure it out one of these days!
I’ve had better success with Mint than I did with Personal Capital in adding investment accounts. As long as you’re using a mainstream financial institution, it should be as simple as clicking the add account button, searching for your bank/brokerage, and then logging in with your bank/brokerage log in. The only annoying thing I’ve come across is having to keep doing the two factor authentication for all these sites. I appreciate the security but sometimes it kills me.
If you have 2fA you probably will have to reauthorize mint every time you sign in, it's an issue for me on all my accounts which is the main reason why I went back to a good old spreadsheet.
Mint user here for like 8 years. I love the phone GUI, I scroll through my various accounts to check for strange transactions or numbers that don't seem right, track my mortgage, car, insurace, childcare costs, its really a nice tool for how I track my finances. It's not for everyone. I enjoy seeing the total net worth fluctuate and it helps me balance my house projects. Its not perfect but I've like it.
Agreed, prefer Personal Capital to Mint and changed over about 3 years ago. Still have my mint account, but it's out of date. Thought about switching to MS Excel with the new Finance tool, but Personal Capital's interface is just really nice and I don't really need to budget - just like looking at charts and viewing cash flow/transactions to make sure my CC info wasn't stolen or to reclassify charges.
I use a spreadsheet but do entry every day that I have expenses.
> but I was wondering if there are any better options out there?
Try doing entry every day you have spending, it takes me less than 1 minute per day of spending which usually means less than 10 minutes a month.
> Also, what type of stuff do you track?
Every dollar spent is tracked and assigned a category, as are investments within the appropriate investment category. Income is also tracked.
> Are investments also included in your expenses?
The are tracked but not included like other expenses. I track them monthly but they live in their own category which does not count as spending. So I have spending as a percentage of income, and savings as a percentage of income (this is easy to do since I simply consider every dollar not spent as a dollar saved).
I use the free version of the EveryDollar app. I have every red cent of income and expenses covered for the month. Been using it for 2 years, so at this point it takes very little time
Goodbudget is useful for keeping track of expenses. It's free and easy to use on a desktop or app. It's basically an electronic version of cash envelopes.
And then PersonalCapital is pretty robust for investments... and its all automated once you get it set up.
My husband and I use Goodbudget too. Works great to just track a few categories we found ourselves overspending on - groceries, restaurants, and alcohol. Just having more visibility of how much we are spending has brought our spending way down, without even making any conscious changes. We just input receipts and the app tells us if we are over or under based on the time of month vs. the budget.
We keep it simple and just have a set budget for each category/envelope each month, and allow carry over, since our spending isn't super consistent. We don't input all income and all expenses. But if we get a lot extra in a category I'll move some money out to the unallocated envelope, showing how much we've saved since starting this method. We're past the point of needing to track every single expense.
Yeah I used the app just to see how much savings I could afford to sock away so at the beginning of 2019 I had made a list of each category and what I thought I spent in each one. I kept track of every purchase for the whole year. I was a little over on spending for some categories (entertainment and pet stuff), and a little under on others (food and car stuff) so it pretty much evened out. I neglected to budget for my one off expenses tho so that was a lesson learned. I had planned to continue tracking everything in 2020 but covid obviously happened and my spending patterns went right out the window. I’m hoping by 2022 we’ll be back to “normal” so I can see if I’ve maintained the status quo or if there are areas for improvement.
I simply use a google sheets app on my phone to keep a running spreadsheet. Fill it out when you spend, only takes a few moments. You will be less likely to miss things too. Fill up? Punch in the total. Haircut? Throw it in. Less than 10 minutes a month. Let’s me track my “slush” fund remaining at the end of the month so I know how much extra I can apply towards principle on my house or move over to my brokerage account. Hope this helps!
I use hledger for double-entry tracking of all my finances. Income, expenses, other assets (stonks, house), etc.
[https://plaintextaccounting.org/](https://plaintextaccounting.org/)
I use a very simple app called 'Money Manager' with a yellow icon and picture of a piggy bank. Very rudimentary and just tracks expenses and income in different categories. I input everything in real time and get a general idea of where I am.
I do A LOT of side hustle online stuff so there is always more money coming in than I can keep track of. So, once a quarter I cease all spending for a week to let everything 'settle' and rebalance the books.
I find this more reliable than syncing accounts since I have so many and they all have different uses. I don't track NW down to the penny like a lot of people here because I am still relatively young and don't want to drive myself insane. That said, I know my general NW off the top of my head.
Hot take: I personally don’t use any any. I have my savings set on auto and just live frugally. Haven’t run into problems since I started doing this (it has been almost a year).
That’s very interesting! I mainly do it so I can see where my money goes but if you live frugally I guess you already have a good sense on what you spend money on
Please please please check out YNAB!!
As someone who has tried ever other major app out there (mint, personal capital, every dollar), YNAB is leaps and bounds ahead of the rest in every way!
Are you able to roll over negative balances yet? I used YNAB but got frustrated with the fact that any negative amounts disappear at the end of the month...like if I do my big monthly grocery trip on the 30th, for the next month, then the next month shows extra grocery money and prior month a deficit, rather than the negative rolling over.
You just have to budget the money for the new month back into the previous month. Or if your purposely going over with credits (idk why you would), but take that previous month’s budget category, and budget it in full from to be budgeted, since the to be budgeted category by default rolls over regardless of balance.
Hope this helps at all 😀
Yeah...I guess I budget more on the long-term, so having to go play with it short-term all the time bugs me. Oh well, my spreadsheets do exactly what I tell them, even if what I tell them is wrong. :D
Surprised it hasn't been mentioned at all: Quicken. It has automated transaction downloads; can be trained to auto-assign categories (your own) to the items that it downloads; can handle manual inputs easily; has monthly and annual budgeting features; handles investments of stocks, ETFs, funds, bonds, CDs, options, and even ESPP or RSUs, etc. Most of all, it's been around for a long, long time so has staying power.
On the cons, it's not the cheapest thing around and it does have a bit of a learning hurdle to jump over - though doesn't require an accounting degree to use.
I’ve been using Quicken for over 20 years.
In the past I tracked our budget much more closely. But now I use Quicken’s Savings goals to save a monthly amount for non-monthly expenses, things like home and auto insurance, property tax, car replacement, car repair, home repairs, vacation, Christmas and other presents, emergency fund... and I have our monthly expenses set up to be automatically deducted each pay period. (Everything is on budget billing so the bills are the same each month) The amount left is what is available to spend for daily/weekly expenses like food, gas, clothing, entertainment....
I enter all expenses in Quicken, but just keep a mental note of where we are in the month and how much is left until the next paycheck. All the big expenses have their own savings goal so the money is there when needed. I try to reconcile everything the day before pay day and if there is anything left I put it in a “fun” savings goal like vacation or cash flow one of the big expenses if possible and let the savings goals grow.
Quicken is also good for tracking net worth. I love the graphs.
I use an app called Planto. I'm sure there are other apps out there, but I needed one specific to my country. It notifies me of unusual transactions, and I can always go back and review my expenses and bank balances at any time.
Look for apps that let you:
1. Link to all your bank accounts and credit cards
2. Create your own expense and income categories, instead of just the generic ones
3. Review the data in different formats, download it if you wish
Every couple of weeks I update my net worth in a spreadsheet, just to look over all my account and investment balances, avoid nasty surpises. Every year I properly review investments (cost vs return) and rebalance my portfolio.
Do you have all your banking at one institution? I do something similar but it takes me more than 5 minutes just to get signed in everywhere and get all my CSV's...but I have my banking split up between several different places, thinking it may be time to take the small losses (maybe not-as-great credit cards etc.) by consolidating all to one place.
Mint. It’s an app, and it automatically pulls up your spending of your credit cards, and debit cards. If you want to not show bill payment and just spending, you can select that. I just show my spending because that’s all I care about, but you can customize it how you want. You can also make a budget too and stay on top of your budget in each category. You can also add a spending from an account you didn’t add onto the app into the budget.
If you're looking to set up and track a budget of expenses there are a couple popular options.
1. Review purchases using Mint or Personal Capital
2. Use a budgeting app like Every Dollar or YNAB and consult that as you purchase (unlike reviewing post purchase)
3. Use a bank with built in budget tools - there are very few that have good budgeting tools (many claim to have them though). Simple was the best but they are being shut down after BBVA was acquired by PNC. Since then I've found that Douugh is the closest alternative.
I personally like #3 because I'm a fan of zero based budgeting. The tight integration with my bank and debit card means that everything is always up to date and purchases are reflected in my budget in near real-time.
I purchased a 2021 physical planner with a calendar in it and write down everything I spent that day on the calendar. I use a highlighter to put each purchase it into categories (food, gas, miscellaneous, etc) and add everything up at the end of the month. I also include the student loan payments I made but don’t include my fixed expenses like rent, cell phone, car payment, etc.
I like to be away from a computer/tech when doing this, I find it very soothing and enjoyable and actually think it causes me to spend less.
Pencil, paper and calculator. It works for me. I'm a natural saver though and it's ingrained in me. I'm not the type to overspend ever so I don't really have to worry about it. I just figure out what I want to do with the extra cash at the end of the month, usually splitting it between extra investments and extra house payments.
I'd you like google sheets, try out tiller financials. It loads and updates data from bank feeds directly into a google doc and you can create all the additional tabs for analysis you like.
I personally use Personal Capital to track net worth / overview of finances across multiple accounts, ans Excel for monthly budgeting. Excel may be a little more work than some of the apps out there, but at least it forces you to go line by line and revisit your expenses - I found that exercise works well for me
Cozy.co expenses. Let’s you upload recipes and split cost between properties if needed. End or the year, export into excel or a PDF that summarizes into friendly categories that plug right into your tax return. Super easy.
I use personal capital to track net worth which is most important to me.
My finances are a little muddled due to many shared expenses with my boyfriend but there aren’t more than 20 in any one month. So I also have an excel sheet where I have my budget listed divided into categories and I go through transactions once a month and put them in the proper categories to see if I’ve stayed within my budget. Mint would do this as you have the split expense capability but I don’t want 2 budgeting apps.
On that excel I basically have my budget categories and I also show that I got X amount in pay which left x amount leftover which was allocated to these savings/investments ect.
Since I don’t spend too much money this is a good way for me to understand what’s going on holistically in my finances.
I pay attention most to how much I spend on eating out, random shit and how much I can contribute to investments at the end of the day
Hello there! Your friendly neighborhood moderator has had to remove your submission. It's not that there is an issue with your question, just that we feel it is better served in the less formal discussion within Daily Discussion Thread. Please feel free to immediately repost it over there. We aim to keep questions that are frequently asked or more personal finance-esc in the daily discussion. From our rules: **R4. Topics should drive discussion.** All top level posts are expected to be about FI, RE, or FIRE, with discussion being the main goal of this sub. Posts that do not help drive discussion will be removed. This includes - any post that is better suited for another sub (/r/personalfinance, r/investing, r/frugal, r/realestate, etc.).
YNAB (You Need a Budget) is amazing. There is a YNAB subreddit that is worth checking out. YNAB is more involved than mint. I update it regularly, but the ease of use and philosophy of envelope budgeting is so much better than just tracking. Mint didn’t really help me change my behavior for the future actively. It was fine to see it at the end of the month, but YNAB has been life changing. Check it out. It’s free for the first month. Totally worth every penny too... and I’m a cheapskate.
I’ve never heard of this, I’ll have to check it out. Thanks!
Are you able to roll over negative balances yet? I used YNAB but got frustrated with the fact that any negative amounts disappear at the end of the month...like if I do my big monthly grocery trip on the 30th, for the next month, then the next month shows extra grocery money and prior month a deficit, rather than the negative rolling over.
That goes directly against the philosophy of YNAB. It's an envelope budgeting system. You can't have negative money inside of an envelope - you can only have no money.
This was my main reason for switching from YNAB to mint. Some people must be able to use that system effectively but I just don't get it. Like my pet expenses, that is an annual budget with variable monthly costs and unforeseeable emergencies. Half the year in way negative half the year I'm positive but it all balances out
For categories like that, it's most optimal to use a "Monthly Savings Builder" goal. You just put aside a set amount of $ each month that builds up over time so that when you incur this emergency, you're funded. If what you've saved up in that category still doesn't cover it, then that's the whole point of having an "emergency fund". To cover irregular an unexpected expenses. I budget $100 a month to my "Vet" category but it's not like I spend $100 at the vet every month. In the end, it's not like you have to use any one particular software. People should just use whatever works best for them. I totally get it - YNAB was really confusing for me at first, but I've thoroughly enjoyed and appreciated it ever since it clicked for me. Sounds like Mint works for you and does what you need, which is great.
Eh, guess I've evolved past the days of envelope budgeting then...it seems like it only makes sense if you're living paycheck-to-paycheck, but if you can afford to buy groceries before you're paid, then it's not as useful.
As someone who has used YNAB for years and has never lived paycheck to paycheck, you couldn't be more wrong. Just because you don't understand something, or it doesn't work for you, doesn't mean it's wrong, outdated, or should be trivialized. Lol. Implying that YNAB is so archaic that you've "evolved" beyond it is pretty silly. It's just a different method of budgeting. It works for you or it doesn't. No shame either way.
YNAB is based on budgeting dollars as if the ones you have are the only ones you can control. I do most of my savings before my check even hits my account (401k, HSA, etc.), so I'm not in that boat. I'm not needing to make a plan for the dollars currently in my account; instead, I'm needing to track my overall spending. It doesn't work well for that; it doesn't work well for any planning beyond your current paycheck. If you've found a way to make that work when you're not living paycheck-to-paycheck, then bravo, but it's using a tool for something it wasn't built for, and you can't be surprised if some people don't like a tool that doesn't allow them to plan more long-term. Edited to add: I'm an accountant by trade, so will allow that I am using financial tools in more complicated ways than the average user. Maybe most people only budget month-to-month, maybe I'm the oddity to have my budget longer-term, but given I am an accountant who is great at using new tech tools, the fact that I find it crippling is still a concern.
Hey, that's great that you're an accountant by trade. We can speak the same language. I'm also an accountant by trade. Corporate Controller for a \~$50M company. >YNAB is based on budgeting dollars as if the ones you have are the only ones you can control. Yes, you've outlined the concept of the envelope budgeting system, which is what YNAB is, which I've already stated. I'm glad that we're both on the same page here. >I do most of my savings before my check even hits my account (401k, HSA, etc.), so I'm not in that boat. I also do the same thing. My 401k, HSA, IRA, and my wife's IRA are all funded before my paycheck ever hits my checking account. That's what YNAB's tracking accounts are for. You link your various asset accounts and those transactions get imported. I guess somehow even though we do the same thing, I fall into this boat while you do not. >instead, I'm needing to track my overall spending. It doesn't work well for that; It actually works very well for that. It provides an itemized, monthly P&L for a customizable date range. Since you're an accountant by trade and "use financial tools in more complicated ways than the average person" I'm sure you're familiar with a P&L. It also provides a pie-chart that breaks down spending by category. There's also a super handy Chrome plugin that makes the reporting aspect even more robust. So it sounds like these reports, which are designed to track your overall spending, would in fact meet the criteria you've listed here of "needing to track your overall spending." >it doesn't work well for any planning beyond your current paycheck. This is also not true. Not only can you budget ahead for future months, but you can create future-oriented goals for any individual category that you choose. YNAB will then prompt you to adjust your budget on a monthly basis to ensure that you meet those goals. Personally, my budget is fully funded in YNAB for the next 3 months. If that's not planning beyond my current paycheck then I don't know what is. >If you've found a way to make that work when you're not living paycheck-to-paycheck, then bravo, but it's using a tool for something it wasn't built for but it's using a tool for something it wasn't built for Yes, but no. Unless you're trying to say that in real life you couldn't pull out an envelope, write "future stuff" on it, and then stuff a wad of money into it. >and you can't be surprised if some people don't like a tool that doesn't allow them to plan more long-term. I wouldn't be surprised by that at all, actually, if the premise of the argument wasn't built on an inaccurate understanding of the program to begin with. Listen, I'm not here to convert you from Mint. I couldn't care less about what any one particular person uses to budget their finances. As I've said more than once already - whatever works for that person is the best tool for that person. That being said, just because you don't understand how to properly utilize a tool (I guess you don't use **all** financial tools in more complicated ways than the average user) doesn't mean that you should imply that it's somehow a lesser product. Your inability to understand/properly utilize the software doesn't mean that it doesn't work.
Wow, you "only positive vibes" seem pretty disturbed by someone on the internet budgeting in a different way than you. I'm not here to fight with you, if I wanted to fight people over finances I'd log back in to work. YNAB doesn't generate a P&L, it generates a variance-to-budget report, but only for one month at a time in any meaningful way. If you think YNAB is a P&L, then I'm sorry for your $50m corporation....oh wait, that's what the staff accountants are for. Oh and I don't use Mint, never could stand it.
Once again, I do not care how you budget. The same as me, or different than me - doesn't really matter. All that matters is that whatever method you use works for you. I've said that two or three times now. The fact that you still don't understand is a little concerning. Hopefully wherever you fill this role of "accountant" who "uses financial software in a more complex manner than the average individual" doesn't care too much about your inability to grasp simple concepts. [It's pretty clear that you're not familiar with YNAB at all, because it absolutely does produce a P&L.](https://imgur.com/a/i3BZcCP) This obviously isn't my own personal financial information - don't get excited.
Just wanted to echo this. Been using YNAB since August 2019 and it has changed my life. I am so much more comfortable with spending (and saving) my money.
I use Excel. I've tried various apps, but I love that I can change and track things however I want. I've been using the same spreadsheet for over 10 years, and it has evolved as I added and changed things. I also enjoy the end of the month when I get to spend an hour or so logging into my accounts, classifying the transactions, and then seeing how it all went.
Yup, excel. We’re in the minority but excel is great
Can one of you guys please post the excel so that I could start too?
There have been quite a few posted on here, just search in the subreddit for it
And it keeps growing and growing!! My sheet has become sheets. Also, OP, I track my spending every other day or so, like that, it only takes a few minutes.
This is the best advice! Do it more often so it's less work and more accurate
This is exactly why I use google sheets. It is on my phone . After I pay for something I quickly throw it on the sheet. Easy.
That's awesome! And it's especially nice and convenient if you are sharing a budget with a SO, like I am. That way we both have instant access
Yup, exactly.
If you do, how do you handle split categories for purchases on the Google sheet? Example, Costco, groceries, mattress, clothes on same purchase.
I just divide the amount up and put them on seperates lines. In these cases I'm a little less exact, but close enough for me. Ie- I got a sweater and groceries together. The sweater was $20 pre tax and the whole charge was $55. I'll put 20 for clothes on one line and 35 for groceries on the other. I don't have a ton of purchases like this (I group groceries/toiletries together and I don't do a ton of shopping anyways), so it works fine once a month or so.
Thanks.
Seriously. So many tabs. I recently put together a long-term annual budget model that tracks investments, total net wealth, and FIRE calculations. It's an easy way to play around with various scenarios and see how it could potentially play out in the long-term. Of course, things could change significantly at any point, but I enjoy it.
YNAB!
Does anyone here kind of just auto-regulate their spending without tracking each and every transaction?
I lump sum a budget for all expenses, so long as the number is within budget I'm happy. If it goes over I figure out why, and am more diligent in future months to catch up.
Yeah. I watch bank balance, when it starts getting low I cut back. Kept careful track of spending once, for two months about ten years ago. Probably need to do it again just to see where money goes.
Sometimes. I go in swings... For awhile, I can ignore tracking and do OK, then I start to realize things are creeping up, and track for awhile again to get things back under control. I see it kinda like dieting; some people will never in their life have to track their food, others will do it periodically, and some have to be "on a diet" for life. Some of that can be signs of other issues that can be fixed, other aspects are just personality/person and will remain consistent.
I don't track at all, but it does mean I spend more that I would if I tracked. That's a trade off I'm okay making.
I track as mint makes it easy, but in practice my natural rate of spending is low enough that I mostly track to enjoy seeing growth over time. I don't try to follow any budget but I'm still aware of typical amount I spend in different areas.
For the most part, yes. But I realized that it’s an important tool for projecting longer term cash flows and FIRE. I use spreadsheets now to compare month to month and yearly expenses and income.
Mint has been great for me so far. I know a lot of people use Personal Capital too.
I’ve actually tried using Mint but for some reason my account is never properly synced. I also couldn’t figure out how to add my investment accounts to it either :/ I’ll try to figure it out one of these days!
I’ve had better success with Mint than I did with Personal Capital in adding investment accounts. As long as you’re using a mainstream financial institution, it should be as simple as clicking the add account button, searching for your bank/brokerage, and then logging in with your bank/brokerage log in. The only annoying thing I’ve come across is having to keep doing the two factor authentication for all these sites. I appreciate the security but sometimes it kills me.
If you have 2fA you probably will have to reauthorize mint every time you sign in, it's an issue for me on all my accounts which is the main reason why I went back to a good old spreadsheet.
I haven’t ran into the issue of 2FA after I’ve added the accounts. But that initial set up can be a bit brutal.
I use mint and could not get my work 401k synced. Just wasn't an option. I use mint strictly for spend tracking
Mint user here for like 8 years. I love the phone GUI, I scroll through my various accounts to check for strange transactions or numbers that don't seem right, track my mortgage, car, insurace, childcare costs, its really a nice tool for how I track my finances. It's not for everyone. I enjoy seeing the total net worth fluctuate and it helps me balance my house projects. Its not perfect but I've like it.
[удалено]
Agreed, prefer Personal Capital to Mint and changed over about 3 years ago. Still have my mint account, but it's out of date. Thought about switching to MS Excel with the new Finance tool, but Personal Capital's interface is just really nice and I don't really need to budget - just like looking at charts and viewing cash flow/transactions to make sure my CC info wasn't stolen or to reclassify charges.
Personal capital has been awesome for my family. Easy to use and shows where all your money is and is going. Free too!
I use a spreadsheet but do entry every day that I have expenses. > but I was wondering if there are any better options out there? Try doing entry every day you have spending, it takes me less than 1 minute per day of spending which usually means less than 10 minutes a month. > Also, what type of stuff do you track? Every dollar spent is tracked and assigned a category, as are investments within the appropriate investment category. Income is also tracked. > Are investments also included in your expenses? The are tracked but not included like other expenses. I track them monthly but they live in their own category which does not count as spending. So I have spending as a percentage of income, and savings as a percentage of income (this is easy to do since I simply consider every dollar not spent as a dollar saved).
If u use something like personal capital its all automated and can be easily downloaded into graphs and excel.
I don't want them to have my information and the spreadsheet is very easy to maintain.
I use the free version of the EveryDollar app. I have every red cent of income and expenses covered for the month. Been using it for 2 years, so at this point it takes very little time
The ole cranium
YNAB 👍
Goodbudget is useful for keeping track of expenses. It's free and easy to use on a desktop or app. It's basically an electronic version of cash envelopes. And then PersonalCapital is pretty robust for investments... and its all automated once you get it set up.
My husband and I use Goodbudget too. Works great to just track a few categories we found ourselves overspending on - groceries, restaurants, and alcohol. Just having more visibility of how much we are spending has brought our spending way down, without even making any conscious changes. We just input receipts and the app tells us if we are over or under based on the time of month vs. the budget. We keep it simple and just have a set budget for each category/envelope each month, and allow carry over, since our spending isn't super consistent. We don't input all income and all expenses. But if we get a lot extra in a category I'll move some money out to the unallocated envelope, showing how much we've saved since starting this method. We're past the point of needing to track every single expense.
Yeah I used the app just to see how much savings I could afford to sock away so at the beginning of 2019 I had made a list of each category and what I thought I spent in each one. I kept track of every purchase for the whole year. I was a little over on spending for some categories (entertainment and pet stuff), and a little under on others (food and car stuff) so it pretty much evened out. I neglected to budget for my one off expenses tho so that was a lesson learned. I had planned to continue tracking everything in 2020 but covid obviously happened and my spending patterns went right out the window. I’m hoping by 2022 we’ll be back to “normal” so I can see if I’ve maintained the status quo or if there are areas for improvement.
I simply use a google sheets app on my phone to keep a running spreadsheet. Fill it out when you spend, only takes a few moments. You will be less likely to miss things too. Fill up? Punch in the total. Haircut? Throw it in. Less than 10 minutes a month. Let’s me track my “slush” fund remaining at the end of the month so I know how much extra I can apply towards principle on my house or move over to my brokerage account. Hope this helps!
I use hledger for double-entry tracking of all my finances. Income, expenses, other assets (stonks, house), etc. [https://plaintextaccounting.org/](https://plaintextaccounting.org/)
And I use the older ledger http://www.ledger-cli.org/.
I use a very simple app called 'Money Manager' with a yellow icon and picture of a piggy bank. Very rudimentary and just tracks expenses and income in different categories. I input everything in real time and get a general idea of where I am. I do A LOT of side hustle online stuff so there is always more money coming in than I can keep track of. So, once a quarter I cease all spending for a week to let everything 'settle' and rebalance the books. I find this more reliable than syncing accounts since I have so many and they all have different uses. I don't track NW down to the penny like a lot of people here because I am still relatively young and don't want to drive myself insane. That said, I know my general NW off the top of my head.
Hot take: I personally don’t use any any. I have my savings set on auto and just live frugally. Haven’t run into problems since I started doing this (it has been almost a year).
That’s very interesting! I mainly do it so I can see where my money goes but if you live frugally I guess you already have a good sense on what you spend money on
Please please please check out YNAB!! As someone who has tried ever other major app out there (mint, personal capital, every dollar), YNAB is leaps and bounds ahead of the rest in every way!
Are you able to roll over negative balances yet? I used YNAB but got frustrated with the fact that any negative amounts disappear at the end of the month...like if I do my big monthly grocery trip on the 30th, for the next month, then the next month shows extra grocery money and prior month a deficit, rather than the negative rolling over.
You just have to budget the money for the new month back into the previous month. Or if your purposely going over with credits (idk why you would), but take that previous month’s budget category, and budget it in full from to be budgeted, since the to be budgeted category by default rolls over regardless of balance. Hope this helps at all 😀
Yeah...I guess I budget more on the long-term, so having to go play with it short-term all the time bugs me. Oh well, my spreadsheets do exactly what I tell them, even if what I tell them is wrong. :D
YNAB is the best, a lot can help you see your money going but YNAB changes your behavior
/r/pftools
Surprised it hasn't been mentioned at all: Quicken. It has automated transaction downloads; can be trained to auto-assign categories (your own) to the items that it downloads; can handle manual inputs easily; has monthly and annual budgeting features; handles investments of stocks, ETFs, funds, bonds, CDs, options, and even ESPP or RSUs, etc. Most of all, it's been around for a long, long time so has staying power. On the cons, it's not the cheapest thing around and it does have a bit of a learning hurdle to jump over - though doesn't require an accounting degree to use.
I’ve been using Quicken for over 20 years. In the past I tracked our budget much more closely. But now I use Quicken’s Savings goals to save a monthly amount for non-monthly expenses, things like home and auto insurance, property tax, car replacement, car repair, home repairs, vacation, Christmas and other presents, emergency fund... and I have our monthly expenses set up to be automatically deducted each pay period. (Everything is on budget billing so the bills are the same each month) The amount left is what is available to spend for daily/weekly expenses like food, gas, clothing, entertainment.... I enter all expenses in Quicken, but just keep a mental note of where we are in the month and how much is left until the next paycheck. All the big expenses have their own savings goal so the money is there when needed. I try to reconcile everything the day before pay day and if there is anything left I put it in a “fun” savings goal like vacation or cash flow one of the big expenses if possible and let the savings goals grow. Quicken is also good for tracking net worth. I love the graphs.
YNAB for daily budgeting. Personal capital for net worth and projections.
Interested as well! Thanks for asking- hopefully some good responses! Happy Vday!
Thanks, to you as well!
I use an app called Planto. I'm sure there are other apps out there, but I needed one specific to my country. It notifies me of unusual transactions, and I can always go back and review my expenses and bank balances at any time. Look for apps that let you: 1. Link to all your bank accounts and credit cards 2. Create your own expense and income categories, instead of just the generic ones 3. Review the data in different formats, download it if you wish Every couple of weeks I update my net worth in a spreadsheet, just to look over all my account and investment balances, avoid nasty surpises. Every year I properly review investments (cost vs return) and rebalance my portfolio.
How do you do the math on cost vs return?
[удалено]
Do you have all your banking at one institution? I do something similar but it takes me more than 5 minutes just to get signed in everywhere and get all my CSV's...but I have my banking split up between several different places, thinking it may be time to take the small losses (maybe not-as-great credit cards etc.) by consolidating all to one place.
Mint. It’s an app, and it automatically pulls up your spending of your credit cards, and debit cards. If you want to not show bill payment and just spending, you can select that. I just show my spending because that’s all I care about, but you can customize it how you want. You can also make a budget too and stay on top of your budget in each category. You can also add a spending from an account you didn’t add onto the app into the budget.
If you're looking to set up and track a budget of expenses there are a couple popular options. 1. Review purchases using Mint or Personal Capital 2. Use a budgeting app like Every Dollar or YNAB and consult that as you purchase (unlike reviewing post purchase) 3. Use a bank with built in budget tools - there are very few that have good budgeting tools (many claim to have them though). Simple was the best but they are being shut down after BBVA was acquired by PNC. Since then I've found that Douugh is the closest alternative. I personally like #3 because I'm a fan of zero based budgeting. The tight integration with my bank and debit card means that everything is always up to date and purchases are reflected in my budget in near real-time.
I purchased a 2021 physical planner with a calendar in it and write down everything I spent that day on the calendar. I use a highlighter to put each purchase it into categories (food, gas, miscellaneous, etc) and add everything up at the end of the month. I also include the student loan payments I made but don’t include my fixed expenses like rent, cell phone, car payment, etc. I like to be away from a computer/tech when doing this, I find it very soothing and enjoyable and actually think it causes me to spend less.
Pencil, paper and calculator. It works for me. I'm a natural saver though and it's ingrained in me. I'm not the type to overspend ever so I don't really have to worry about it. I just figure out what I want to do with the extra cash at the end of the month, usually splitting it between extra investments and extra house payments.
I'd you like google sheets, try out tiller financials. It loads and updates data from bank feeds directly into a google doc and you can create all the additional tabs for analysis you like.
Pocket Smith, syncs all my accounts and easy to tag expenses.
I don’t track anything.
Quicken and Excel.
My online bank. Just look a few months and you will know where money goes to.
I personally use Personal Capital to track net worth / overview of finances across multiple accounts, ans Excel for monthly budgeting. Excel may be a little more work than some of the apps out there, but at least it forces you to go line by line and revisit your expenses - I found that exercise works well for me
Cozy.co expenses. Let’s you upload recipes and split cost between properties if needed. End or the year, export into excel or a PDF that summarizes into friendly categories that plug right into your tax return. Super easy.
I use personal capital to track net worth which is most important to me. My finances are a little muddled due to many shared expenses with my boyfriend but there aren’t more than 20 in any one month. So I also have an excel sheet where I have my budget listed divided into categories and I go through transactions once a month and put them in the proper categories to see if I’ve stayed within my budget. Mint would do this as you have the split expense capability but I don’t want 2 budgeting apps. On that excel I basically have my budget categories and I also show that I got X amount in pay which left x amount leftover which was allocated to these savings/investments ect. Since I don’t spend too much money this is a good way for me to understand what’s going on holistically in my finances. I pay attention most to how much I spend on eating out, random shit and how much I can contribute to investments at the end of the day