Posted on 03/16/2015 5:24:49 AM PDT by rarestia
Since my 8-year-old copy of Microsoft Money has finally decided to unceremoniously stop working, I've decided to start shopping around for a new personal finance program. My needs are relatively small. I really only use it to track my checking account and mortgage.
I looked into Intuit's Quicken software, but the reviews were pretty bleak. It seems that Intuit hasn't learned and continues to churn out garbage software that people just learn to live with and then are forced to upgrade 2 years later. On top of that, it's my understanding that you have to sign up for an account with them AND your data is stored in Intuit's cloud? Is this true? Any FReepers know about this?
Being an IT professional, I know better than to get snookered into putting any of my personal data in the cloud, and I've built a robust home network to ensure that I never have to. But that one deal-breaker has left me with few options as far a personal finance software goes.
So, FReepers, what personal finance software are you using? Anyone still tabulating their spending on paper? I've considered that. How about spreadsheets like Excel? Considered that as well.
Any recommendations or experiences would be welcome!
Will check into Gnucash.
I’ve been using AceMoney for a few years. (Before that Microsoft Money) We got it to be able to summarize all accounts and give us our net worth. It pulls transactions from our bank accounts and gets fund quotes from the web. It does have some quirks when it comes to investments, but overall it was worth the price.
I have used Quick Books and Quicken. We don’t have an account, don’t connect with the banks and won’t go to the “Cloud”. We haven’t had any problems and they do what we want. My 2 accounting children say Excel is amazing but I know nothing about it.
Second.
I’ve been using Quicken for over 20 years. I had to upgrade to Quicken 2013 when I got a new computer 2 years ago. My older version of Quicken 2002, was not compatible with Win 7 Pro. If it was I would still be using Quicken 2002. I do not allow Quicken to down load my statements from the banks and other investments, I also don’t store my financial info in the cloud. Quicken makes it easy to reconcile our 4 checking accounts every month.
Same problem. Been using Microsoft Money since 1995. Just want basic software. If I switch to Quicken, does anyone know if it will transfer everything from Money?
If you like open source, you should check out KMyMoney. It was originally developed for Linux, but I use it on my Windows machine without any problems. It has a lot more features than you will probably use, but like most open source software, it is very customizable.
GNUcash is more of a business software and less of a personal finance package. It can and is used by many to do personal finance. I have used it for business purposes and it works well for those that have some kind of accounting or book keeping background. If you dont have the background, there are tutorials on the web.
Most likely. Since all of the financial management softwares out there are based on OFX, they can loosely "talk" to each other. I'm not sure if it'll move everything over seamlessly, but it should work.
Years ago my bank didn't provide statement downloads in Money format. I used to download the QIF files and Money could read them well enough to put the proper data in the right place.
So am I correct to assume that you have the option to not upload your personal data to Intuit’s cloud? I did not understand that to be the case based on some of the reviews I read.
I kind of guessed that was the case, TC. I’m not afraid to learn anything new if it’ll help me keep my finances in order.
Will check it out.
I have Quicken 2013, you have the option to let Quicken download stuff from your bank and upload to the cloud. I would never store anything in anybody’s cloud. I would think Quicken 2015 would allow the same option.
I guess I’m dubious of the claim that they’re not storing anything. My opinion is that if your software is connecting to the Internet, it can be exploited by Internet entities. Call me paranoid...
After tiring of the limitations of paid brand name software (most all mentioned in this thread), I started my own Excel workbook utilizing ‘just a bit’ of VBA about 4 years ago.
It’s been a continual adaptation, utilizing userforms & conditional criteria to facilitate paychecks, tracking taxes & expenses, cash, checking, credit cards, mortgage & equity, budget & bills. It’s based on a calendar year and I close it out every Dec 31 & combine that year’s general register into a a single one available for searching.
If all you’re doing is a check register and mortgage, you don’t need any code, just a basic working knowledge of Excel; however, the usefulness of the code is difficult to quantify in regards to time-saving with redundant entries in a complex workbook such as my own (which includes automatic backups & user logons for both the wife & I, including Admin mode) and only takes a couple hours a week to input ALL of my financial entries.
I will, however, take a look at that GNU software (hadn’t seen that prior). I am curious...
I use Money Manager EX. It is a free open-source program that allows multiple accounts, etc. It does not have all the bells and whistles, but I like it for its simplicity and small size.
The current version is 1.1.2. I prefer an older version 0.9.8 due to some features and interface changes.
The program has versions for most common OS:
http://www.moneymanagerex.org/
Moneydance works well for me.
An old verion of Quicken. But all I do with it is keep my checkbook.
Excel.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.