What Personal Finance Software Do You Use?

I was thinking about personal finance software the other day (yeah, I know, my life's REALLY exciting) and thought I'd ask you all what you use and recommend. I'll start with what I do.

For years (probably about 8 to 10 years now) I've been a Quicken user. I use it to track my expenses, investments and net worth. I found early on (it may be different now, I haven't tried it recently) that the budgeting part of Quicken wasn't as flexible as I liked, so I developed my own spreadsheet budget system.

I tried switching to MS Money several years ago (it came free on a computer I bought), but I couldn't get the transfer of data to work from Quicken to Money, so I stayed with Quicken. I'm glad I did as I've heard since then that MS Money is not that great. I'll be interested to see what you all think of it.

So, what do you use? Here are some options I'd consider to be in the "top level" of personal finance software -- maybe you can introduce me to more:

• Quicken

• MS Money

• You Need A Budget

• Mvelopes Personal (FYI -- Compare to Microsoft Money and Compare to Quicken)

Do you like what you use? Why or why not?

Comments

[Austin]

I am fanatical about using Mvelopes. For the first time in my life I can create and manage a budget instead of reacting to my spending.

[Mike]

I used to have a very complicated spreadsheet (about 8MB without any data in it!) that I used religiously. I started using YNAB-Pro in November 2006 and absolutely love it. The budgeting aspect of it is very user-friendly and data entry is a breeze. I'd REALLY like to have some better reporting and charting (more flexibility, more options, more of EVERYTHING), but it works great for expense-tracking and budgeting. Plus, I can run it from a USB thumbdrive, so I can use it at work, home, or wherever. I'd recommend it to anyone.

I use GnuCash - http://www.gnucash.org/

It's free, constantly updated, and generally very good. It understands Quicken and Money data files, so it's easy to download information from a bank and have it import automatically.

[Jonathan]

I started using Peachtree Accounting last year. It was free (after rebates) from Staples. This year, I upgraded to the newest version after an identical sale. They try to make money from you through upgrades to their higher versions or the reports add-on.

The software itself is geared more toward business accounting rather than personal finance, but I've managed to make it work for me. There are still many, many features I don't use; once I have a chance to figure them out, I may like the software better. In the mean time, it's complex and cumbersome, and I wouldn't recommend it for any reason other than the price.

[Ryan]

A very simple Excel spreadsheet works well for me. For me, simpler is better. If the software is too detailed, I end up using it for a few weeks and then quit.

[Mike]

http://wesabe.com

Been using it since December of '06. It just keeps getting better.

[Matt]

I'm with Austin. I've been using Mvelopes for about 4 months and I love it. I used Money and Quicken for years, but I could never stick to a budget. I think Mvelopes makes you make a psychological shift from thinking about how much money you've spent so far to how much money you have left to spend and it makes a world of a difference in helping me stick to my budget.

Of course I do have a few gripes. The monthly fee is pretty pricey. While I more than make it back by sticking to my budget it's still no fun to see that bill. Also, I wish they had more graphing options. Mvelopes is great at keeping you on your budget, but it doesn't help much for analyzing your spending and deciding what your budget needs to be in the first place.

[bettis]

i am a wesabe man too.
i was converted from ms money a few weeks ago. i am a huge fan so far.
it is more flexible and it is free.

[William Tanksley]

I've been using Mvelopes for a little while now, and am just starting to consider giving up on it. If you don't already have a detailed budget, it will give you NO help in building one, or in tracking your cash flow; and it seems to be no help at all in monitoring bills and such (i.e. how do I know if there are unpaid bills?). The 'Money For' accounts are intended to help you pay the right amount to keep your credit card(s) paid up, but in practice they're useless, because the data in them starts with your first download and doesn't include the starting balance, so the amounts have nothing to do with the amount you actually owe.

I like the idea of the electronic envelope system, but the program just is horrid until you get your envelopes completely set up and funded -- and even then it doesn't provide all the services I had hoped for.

[Eric]

I used Money for a long time but about 3 years ago I switched to Quicken. Both do a good job keeping up with your finances. I like Money's interface a lot better than Quicken's, but there are 2 things that caused me to switch and keep me with Quicken. First are the Savings Goals. I love being able to "hide" money away for things like vacations, property taxes, insurance, etc. The other feature I really use (and I don't think most people know about) is Classes. Classes are an extension of categories. If you don't know about them, look them up, they're pretty useful.

[maxconfus]

Custom MS Excel 2007 spreadsheets for budget, spending plan, and net worth. Update it twice a month, 1st and 15th of month. Works great for family of 6. Programmer by trade so I am comfortable with spreadsheets.

[Arun]

I have used Quicken since 1994 and have been very pleased with it. Tried Money couple of times but did not like it. It is really nice to see how you are progressing with your savings.

[Crys]

I've been using MS Money for the last 2 years and love it. It's allowed me to track every cent that goes in and out of my accounts, and straighten out my finances since my divorce :)

[Adrienne]

I have used SplashMoney from SplashData for the past 4 years or so. It has a Windows desktop application that synchronizes to my Treo for bi-directional updates. It is great when one family member travels (updating via Treo) and the other is at home (updating via the desktop application).

[James]

For MS Money being "not that great", I've used it for 10+ years. It's a splendid piece of software and I upgrade for free every year by buying TaxCut and MSMoney bundled with a $30 refund.

[Jeffrey]

I've used Quicken since 2004. I like being able to download my transactions. It sure beats the paper system I used for 25 years!

[Bill]

I use a Mac and was looking for a solution that was built in Cocao, so I decided to go with iBank, so far I'm happy with it.

[John]

I've been using AceMoney for a couple of years and I love it. It's not free, but once you buy it you get free upgrades.
http://www.mechcad.net/products/acemoney/

[Luke]

I have been using the Bank of America 'My Portfolio' for the last year or more and am enjoying it very much.

All of our account are updated with transactions and the ability to label purchases and track growth etc. etc. etc.

I wonder if Quicken and myenvelopes are something that I currently need.

[Travis Williams]

I used Quicken for about 6 months several years ago before I switched to Microsoft Money. Money is very easy to use and has excellent budgeting capabilities. It also does a fine job of tracking my investment accounts, mortgage accounts, and my bank accounts.

[Cherly]

I use Quicken Personal Finance 2007 and I love it! I created a "get out of debt" plan and an "Emergency fund" savings plan. It categorizes your expenses so I know what part of my budget I am overspending. Plus I have all my checking, saving, CD, Investment, credit cards and even loans in the software and all gets updated with a click of the bottom. YAY!

[Rob Lewis]

For a very simple way of tracking your spending, I use Expensr (http://www.expensr.com) off and on. I'm currently trying to use it to track all of my spending for a full month without getting bored with it.

[Lord]

I use Excel for balance sheet (net worth), income statement (profit and loss), and cash flow statement. The budget is simply the expense side of the income statement. As I have nearly 30 years of records, I am not really interested in converting at this point . About as simple as it gets.

I use quicken 07, but I'm not really excited about it. It has good features, but it is BUGGY. MS Money isn't bad, but it's kinda blah.

I've tried MoneyDance, and I might move to that at the end of this year. I like the idea that I can use it on my PC and the Mac I intend to buy.

[Rob]

My wife and I started out using just Quicken but we also found the budgeting feature to be not quite what we needed. We've been using YNAB for about four months now and we love it. I do still use Quicken to keep track of our all our bank accounts and investments as well as debt -we're just a few years out of college. Thankfully it is continuing to go down...

[pipskippy]

I started with Money, tried Quicken and GnuCash and couldn't take it. I actually ended up buying a new laptop with Windows just for Money usage since all I had was a linux box.

[EMF (neither Quicken nor Money)]

Count me among the spreadsheet crowd. I've tried out Quicken and Money, and find them too much of a hassle for what I want to track. Besides, I don't know what assumptions they're making for projections. About the same as a calculator on a web site. I like to understand what's going on.

[rocketc]

I am an excel man. I like inserting the formulas and linking different pages and workbooks. Not everyone is that much of a geek. I used Money about three years ago for a while, but didn't keep up with it. Migth try it again sometime.

[Matt]

Personally I use Excel - it might not have all of the functionality of the above applications but it suits my needs and the file becomes portable without the need to rely on another application.

[tYLER]

I use a simple Excel sheet, but I am considering using a software package that is designed for budgeting.

[Arthaey Angosii]

I use Yodlee: https://moneycenter.yodlee.com

[Matt]

Excel works best for budgets, I've found, but for tracking investments, MS Money is much better.

Personally, I wish I had one of the professional class investment tracking programs (with a data library for backtesting) that the big mutual funds/investment banker types use. But that's a pipe dream.

[Maggie]

I've been a MS Money user since the 1998 version, and like James above, I usually get it free with a tax software bundle. I only upgrade every 2-3 years when the built-in online services function expires though, or when my bank(s) stop supporting the old version, so my upgrade path has been:

1998 --> 2000 --> 2004 -->2007

I tried a 2002 version of Quicken that came with a computer I bought a few years ago, but couldn't get it to import and convert my 5 years of MS Money data correctly and found the "personal edition" of Quicken very limited compared to the Premium and Deluxe versions of Money I normally used.

Anyhow, despite the creep of software and feature bloat over the years, a rather convoluted menu system that hides certain features several layers deep within the menu tree, and some truly mysterious background hocus pocus that makes certain estimates and calculations in cash flow and investments just come out oddly, I am still addicted to MS Money for its ease of downloading account info, Lifetime Planner, Cash Flow forecasts, and the new "Savings & Spending" budget option that allows you to set up your finances according to the 60% Solution instead of the traditional line-item budget, though the option to do it that way is still there, too. I sync my desktop Money data with Ultrasoft Money on my Treo smartphone, so I can still enter new transactions on the fly when I am away from my computer.

I used to use a really basic checkbook program called Simply Money, but once that stopped being updated I switched to Money. I'm curious about some of the free open-source options out there now like GnuCash as well as the shareware AceMoney program, and will probably give them both a whirl to see if they are viable replacements for my current software.

Do Quicken and Money REALLY need to take up that much hard drive space and memory?

[m3kp]

For those of you using Quicken and Excel or YNAB - do you double enter your info in each? We have used Quicken for years and love everything about it EXCEPT the budgeting. We recently got YNAB and like the budgeting aspect of it; however, it is missing some of the other features we love on Quicken. I am quickly getting tired of double entering everything. We are finally making good progress on our budgeting with YNAB, but I am reluctant to give up Quicken. Would someone who is using both explain a little better how you use them?

[FMF]

m3kp --

I use Quicken and enter everything into it. I use my own Excel spreadsheet just for budgeting and only update it a couple times a year. I compare the budgeted amounts from the spreadsheet with the actuals on Quicken to see how I'm doing.

[Natalie]

I use Yodlee and a google spreadsheed to manage my money anywhere I go and so that I always have it on hand and up to date.

[Ron]

I use visual money. I had quicken but it is too complicated. I switched to this easy to use software.

[Steve D]

I've been using YNAB (Pro) almost since it came out and it has absolutely changed the way I think about my money. The methodology was really key for me. Also, the forums have really turned into a strong community of support. It keeps getting better!

I've previously tried Quicken, MS Money, Wesabe, and Mvelopes and had my gripes about all of them. The first two were two big, Wesabe just doesn't do budgeting the way I'd like, and Mvelopes wanted my arm and a leg each month (and their interface, try as they might, ran so slow!!!).