Author Topic: YNAB vs Quicken Delux /questions  (Read 2269 times)

mistymoney

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YNAB vs Quicken Delux /questions
« on: June 02, 2019, 10:19:45 AM »
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Trying out YNAB and felt like it was not doing a lot, I had had quicken previously and thought it did a lot better job of importing  lot of historical data and giving you insight right away.

Looked it up and Quicken is currently only 44.99 a year - at 6.99/month YNAB is 83.88.

Would appreciate commentary from both sides - what is good/not good about each - and if anyone has had both would really appreciate your insight into the benefits/drawbacks and which you would recommend.

Thanks!






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I had received recommendations here for YNAB, and am trying it out. So far, not that impressed, and they want to charge 6.99 a month for this?

I linked up all my accounts, but all they picked up were totals, they didn't import historical data, or minimum payment and due date, or anything. It is just a list of accounts with totals.

to import historical data - have to go to each account and download it separately and then import the file. I have quickbooks years ago and they just imported everything nicely.

I'm not seeing the value here.

Can any fans talk me through this? What should I be doing to gain insight?
« Last Edit: June 02, 2019, 12:03:14 PM by mistymoney »

Tuskalusa

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Re: YNAB questions
« Reply #1 on: June 02, 2019, 11:34:02 AM »
The value is in the forward planning. The idea is that you budget out the funds you have available, and then you stop when you run out of money. (Personally, I don’t love the idea of just stopping budgeting when you run out of money...so I just budget for a year with some months having a negative balance.

Historical data isn’t where YNAB really plays best. But over time, you will have a very good picture of your monthly spending. 

mistymoney

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Re: YNAB questions
« Reply #2 on: June 02, 2019, 11:49:54 AM »
The value is in the forward planning. The idea is that you budget out the funds you have available, and then you stop when you run out of money. (Personally, I don’t love the idea of just stopping budgeting when you run out of money...so I just budget for a year with some months having a negative balance.

Historical data isn’t where YNAB really plays best. But over time, you will have a very good picture of your monthly spending.

ok. I have a 2 month trial so I will stick with and see where I get at the end.

Just checked, it was quicken, not quickbooks that I used previously. It was quicken 2014 delux, I wonder if that is still useable?

mistymoney

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Re: YNAB questions
« Reply #3 on: June 02, 2019, 11:59:28 AM »
Just looked up quicken and it is subscription, but like half the price of YNAB.

Changing the focus of this thread to a comparison!

dogboyslim

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Re: YNAB vs Quicken Delux /questions
« Reply #4 on: June 03, 2019, 12:06:30 PM »
I have used Quicken (but not the current version, so my comparisons may be old/no longer accurate).  Quicken was about understanding what you spent.  YNAB is about identifying how you are going to spend every dollar you have right now.  I have used YNAB for 3 years now (at $50 a year), and have found it is much better for me than Quicken ever was at being sure I am saving for future large expenses like property tax, Car insurance etc.  I know how much money I have set aside for each major category, and how much more I need in each category and by what time.  I'm not always as clear how much I have in each account, except when I reconcile my accounts each week.  Quicken gave me great visibility into each account, and I was very clear how much I had available in each balance.

For me, I like the categories that tell me how much I have to spend on x, and if I go over that, big red warning signs go off telling me I've overspent and have to move money around.  I never got that with Quicken.  I'm not sure if it is worth it to me to keep going on YNAB with the price change.  We'll see I guess.


mistymoney

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Re: YNAB vs Quicken Delux /questions
« Reply #5 on: June 23, 2019, 11:29:21 AM »
well, I'm coming up the end of my first month with YNAB and it is just a disaster, to be honest.

I have linked all accounts and tried to categorize everything, but nothing adds up and I guess I input some things wrong but I am clueless on how to fix it. Maybe I should have only linked the checking account?

is there a way to wipe everything but the imported data and start over?

GizmoTX

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Re: YNAB vs Quicken Delux /questions
« Reply #6 on: June 23, 2019, 01:30:21 PM »
OP, did you follow the YNAB video instruction?
I'd delete everything and start over without linking.
I'm using the old YNAB V4 purchase version that doesn't link anything; I enter every checking transaction. The app allows transaction downloads from CCs to be imported, & I have to 'approve' each one. This sounds time consuming but it's just a click, and doing this review has highlighted some erroneous charges.
You want to use fairly broad based categories with some sub-categories for reporting. Don't get too detailed; you can always search by payee.
For another app that does forward planning similar to YNAB but free, try EveryDollar.com which requires manual entries. The Every Dollar Plus version links but charges $125/year.
I used Quicken a long time ago & gave up on it.

bacchi

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Re: YNAB vs Quicken Delux /questions
« Reply #7 on: June 23, 2019, 01:56:12 PM »
I'm not a big fan of the monthly-plan software either.

GnuCash handles (OFX) bank connections. It's a little bit of a learning curve, though.

geekette

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Re: YNAB vs Quicken Delux /questions
« Reply #8 on: June 23, 2019, 02:46:04 PM »
It depends on what you want/need. 

I use an older version of Quicken (2017), but I'm mainly interested in history (and I have close to 30 years of history in it).  There's some forecasting available, but we don't use it. 

I enter all transactions manually though - always have.  The only exception is that I connect to download stock prices.  When they "sundown" my version next April, I'll just keep using this old version and manually update the prices weekly (about 10 easy to find prices).

Your 2014 version will still work manually, I believe, but won't connect to your banks, credit cards, brokerage, etc.  You'll have to enter everything manually.

Tuskalusa

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Re: YNAB vs Quicken Delux /questions
« Reply #9 on: December 05, 2019, 11:52:14 PM »
I haven’t used quicken fir a long time. Does it have solid budgeting capabilities. I like YNAB, but I’ve had a lot of problems with their banking downloads. I’m wondering if quicken has a good budgeting alternative.

tarheeldan

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Re: YNAB vs Quicken Delux /questions
« Reply #10 on: December 06, 2019, 05:56:42 AM »
I use the current Quicken. It does everything.

I've added all my monthly bills, automatic investments, and an estimated transfer to my credit card to cover the monthly budget for other items. Then you can use the cash flow projections, very helpful.

It does taxes, retirement planning, credit score, and investments. The mobile app and the browser-based interface are junk though, I would stick with just the desktop program.