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Thread: Personal Budgeting Software

  1. #11
    Are you using the Quicken mobile app? I know it exists but it's rated poorly with many people complaining it doesn't work at all for them. Their cloud really just synchs between the desktop and mobile without a web interface available.

  2. #12
    Quote Originally Posted by Chance
    We got a copy of You Need a Budget when it was on sale on Steam for like, $15. It's a lot of work getting things set up initially, but easy to use from that point forward. Plus, they offer free, live workshops on how to use the software, so you're not stuck digging through manuals and such.
    I can't imagine setup is worse than any other software.

    As I said, this software is designed around you paying for this month's expenses with last month's income. It makes complete sense once you've reached that level, but transitioning to that level isn't super intuitive, IMHO. As Chance said, there's plenty high quality media and helpful support forums to get you going.

    Again, we use version 4.x, which I don't think is available anymore. My wife has tinkered with the 30 day trial (full function) of the new software and said it's structured somewhat differently.
    David S.

  3. #13
    Site Supporter rob_s's Avatar
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    I'm experimenting with Mint, largely because:free.

    So far it seems pretty good. Couple of issues with the abbreviated way it's pulling in some costs, and so far I can't figure out a way to split a line-item into multiple categories, but otherwise it's off to a good start.

  4. #14
    Quote Originally Posted by rob_s View Post
    I'm experimenting with Mint, largely because:free.

    So far it seems pretty good. Couple of issues with the abbreviated way it's pulling in some costs, and so far I can't figure out a way to split a line-item into multiple categories, but otherwise it's off to a good start.
    Any updates w/ Mint Rob or anyone else care to update their experience's since their last post here?

  5. #15
    Site Supporter LOKNLOD's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by rob_s View Post
    so far I can't figure out a way to split a line-item into multiple categories
    That should be pretty easy, Rob. From the transactions list, let's pretend this Walmart charge for $117.46 was really me buying $100 in groceries, $10 in ammo, and a $7.46 DVD. Depending on what part of town you're in, you always need to buy $10 worth of ammo to reload after the 3 thugs/bikers/methheads you shot on the way in, and be ready to fight your way back to the car (at least that's how walmart works on gun forums).

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    Click the line item, and then click "edit details, you'll get this:

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    Look for the "Y" arrow and click it to split the transaction.

    You'll get this screen, were you can break it into individual amounts in different categories:

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    Get it lined out, "i'm done", and you should be good.


    Hope that helps, but if that's not what you mean, message me maybe I can help. I've been using for for 7-8 years now, maybe I've figured it out.
    --Josh
    “Formerly we suffered from crimes; now we suffer from laws.” - Tacitus.

  6. #16
    Site Supporter rob_s's Avatar
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    Ah thanks that’s perfect!

    This was really my only gripe with Mint. I’m quite happy with it now m

    I can’t tell yet if it learns my categorizing for various vendors or not. For example, I’d like Jimmy Johns to always be “rob lunch” instead of “fast food”.

  7. #17
    Site Supporter LOKNLOD's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by rob_s View Post
    Ah thanks that’s perfect!

    This was really my only gripe with Mint. I’m quite happy with it now m

    I can’t tell yet if it learns my categorizing for various vendors or not. For example, I’d like Jimmy Johns to always be “rob lunch” instead of “fast food”.

    It does learn - sorta. If you'd like a certain vendor to always go towards a category automatically, you can make a rule for that. Incidentally, the various "food" categories give me the most fits with this. I lump it all into "eating out" but wants to divvy it into restaurants, fast food, coffee shops, etc. In particular there is a fast food place here that also sells groceries (including the best local milk) - I usually want it to be "eating out", sometimes it needs to be "groceries", but Mint always wants to call it a "coffee shop" by default. I would note that Mint is much less likely to successfully categorize stuff into custom categories than it is into the built-in list. E.g., it will recognize "Academy Sports and Outdoors" as "sporting goods", but it won't know I want to pull that into "guns, ammo, shooting" unless i create a rule for it, because it doesn't really know what my category means.

    So:

    On the "edit details" screen, the option to create a rule will pop up only after you've changed the category. Example: I bought some Rudy's BBQ breakfast tacos to take to class last weekend, and it pulled in as "Restaurants" instead of my preferred "eating out". Once I changed it in the dropdown, I get this option showing up:

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    If I check the box, it will always categorize that transaction as "eating out" instead of whatever it thinks it should be. That should work for you if you want Jimmy John's to always default into your own "Rob Lunch" category. It also gives you a button to "manage rules" so you can go in and see and edit all your existing rules for this.

    Also note I changed the name of the transaction from "Rudys Cty Tx" to "Rudy's BBQ" to make it more clear. You can use this to make that a rule, as well.


    Since you can see them there, I would mention the use of the Tags, as well, in particular the one I set up called "Exclude from Budget". Tags in general are helpful to lumping stuff in different categories together. For instance, if you want to capture everything in various categories you spend on your summer vacation together to see what it cost you, use a "Vacation" tag and flag everything and you can then pull a report on it in the "Trends" tab up top.

    Where the "exclude from budget" can be really handy is if you have multiple accounts all linked, to keep it from double dipping stuff. If you buy something on a credit card, and then pay off the credit card from checking, you'll end up taking a hit on the categories when you buy stuff and then you'll get a hit for paying the card itself, and then a positive for the card itself (as a credit), and they will cancel out. That may or may not be how you want to handle it. If you want it to not count something, you can set up an "exclude" tag and it will keep it from showing up in the budget/trends categories. Note there are a couple different ways to handle this situation -- you just have to be consistent. Some of my method is carry over from earlier versions with less functionality. The important thing is just to think about what you want it it to show before you get too far in, as it's hard to change after doing it a couple years.
    --Josh
    “Formerly we suffered from crimes; now we suffer from laws.” - Tacitus.

  8. #18
    Hammertime
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    When I transitioned to a modern Mac I needed something to replace Quicken for Mac that was just no longer supported.

    I ended up choosing See Finance. It had a learning curve but works decently. I can’t compare it to Mint.

    I have used it a few years and it works for my purposes which is acounting for every penny.

    https://scimonocesoftware.com/

  9. #19
    Site Supporter rob_s's Avatar
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    Thanks again @LOKNLOD. between the splitting and the learning I think I'm all set!

    I've been playing with the tags as well. For example, we travel a lot and so I want the various expenses (hotel, dining, etc.) to g into their respective categories but I want to be able to see how much we spent on a particular trip, so I am adding tags for each trip so I can filter that way.

  10. #20
    Site Supporter rob_s's Avatar
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    Bumping back up to ask other Mint users another question...

    I love the software, but the Amazon bills are killing me from an admin perspective. We get everything right down to dog food and toilet paper from there, and the way they bill makes it really hard to track the costs from there as things you order all at once may get split into different bills, with taxes and shipping getting applied differently than the actual bill on Amazon... The there's me using my card and the joint card, and wife using her card and the joint card...

    Anyone have any tips and tricks on how to make this less time-consuming?

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