Author Topic: Budget software advice  (Read 2351 times)

planner10

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Budget software advice
« on: February 07, 2015, 12:42:13 PM »
I read a ton of posts already about You Need A Budget.  I tried it.  Too manual for me.

I exclusively use credit cards (paying them off each month of course).  I want to find a standalone (NOT WEB-BASED) software that automates downloading statements from each credit card, and automatically categorizes expenses.  I know I'll need to edit some of them, so would like software that learns from my edits and categorizes correctly in the future.  Then reporting fanciness is a plus.

Don't need to track income, or investments.  I do that myself.

Any suggestions?  It seems like Quicken might work, but it has such terrible user reviews ...

MDM

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Re: Budget software advice
« Reply #1 on: February 07, 2015, 01:47:25 PM »
Quicken has worked fine for us for 20 years.  YMMV

SaintM

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Re: Budget software advice
« Reply #2 on: February 07, 2015, 06:34:53 PM »
Quicken requires you to upgrade every 3 years if you want to continue to use the online functions. I switched to Moneydance about 18 months ago. It may not be as pretty as Quicken, but it is just as functional and I can use it as for as long as I want.  It is Windows/Mac/Linux compatible.

Ricky

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Re: Budget software advice
« Reply #3 on: February 07, 2015, 06:45:01 PM »
Before you completely shrug off YNAB, just know it was designed to be fully manual not because the devs were incapable of automation, but because how asynchronous automatic loading of transactions are.

Autonomy sounds nice, except it doesn't happen in real time and is always delayed. It also makes categorization a headache because if doesn't always get it right. You can buy a gas grill or a pack of meat at Walmart, but the automated software will categorize it how it wants. So there is no such thing as a true "set it and forget it" piece of budget software.