Guest Gary C Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 If Joyrex wants us all to stop looking at tits and gore and start sipping lattes and twiddling our bum-beards, then I guess I'll get the ball rolling. What, if any, computer programs do you use to manage your personal finances? There are countless hundreds out there, so I don't really know where to start. I've only ever heard of Quicken and it looks pretty good, but it seems very US-friendly. How will it handle trying to access a UK bank? Should I even trust a program to fetch my bank details for me? Discuss. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest beatfanatic Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 I need to have enough funds to manage them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Lady kakapo Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 All bills get paid day after pay day. Stick to rough budget for the rest of the month. What's left get's put into savings day before payday. Repeat for the next 40 years. I'm not sure what the advantage of software would be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blir Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 I've just downloaded some software called GNUCash which is sort of an open source equivalent to Microsoft Money, which apparently was quite good too. Still trying to get my head around it to be honest. I'm so shit with finances so this is a step towards improving that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Coalbucket PI Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 All bills get paid day after pay day. Stick to rough budget for the rest of the month. What's left get's put into savings day before payday. Repeat for the next 40 years. I'm not sure what the advantage of software would be. This is it really. I've never heard of this sort of software, what do they offer you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Gary C Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 My finances aren't complicated at all. I have no insurances or pensions at the moment, I'd just like to have a little better control over things. I don't drive so in theory I should be saving a lot more money than I am at the moment, but I haven't seen it in recent months. I guess you have to put a lot of very anal work into it (keeping receipts and adding it all together every week), but Quicken will highlight (in an attractive pie-chart) exactly how much of your income you spend on food/bills/entertainment/etc. I'm renting a house as of... tomorrow actually, so I wanted to have a plan. But perhaps I'll simply buy a notepad and make notes on it all. I'm still open to the idea of a computer program doing this for me, if anyone can champion the cause. Also, yeah, I have a feeling that even without the little 'you're spending too much' updates I'd still turn into a tight-fisted boring cunt. This time next year I'll be scraping excess ketchup off my plate and back into the bottle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hautlle Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 You have to ask yourself if you really want financial software because it might depress you. Microsoft Money is still available and free but you can't get online support but it doesn't matter if you're just looking to sort your shit. Here's the thing. I don't know about other programs but Microsoft Money will berate you and make you feel sheepish. It asks for your credit card balance and interest rate. When you make a payment and it's not as high as Money likes, you get this pop-up that says "if you continue to only pay x amount, it will take you 45 years and an additional 10,000 in interest". I don't need 2 sources to tell me how stupid it is to have credit card balances--I can beat myself up just fine. It also bugs you about what you're doing for retirement and investing and whatnot. It felt like HAL except when I screamed "look at my cash flow, I'm fucking skint, quit bugging me about shit I can't do anything about right now" into the PC microphone, nothing happened. So, I don't fucking use it. It's a little like having an app that sees when you have a drink, a fatty meal or a smoke and says "you have just progressed atherosclerosis by 1% and your projected timeline has been reduced by 45 days". I use Mint.com for this. It makes me feel the same way... edit: mint.com is free and they have a nice android app. I recommend it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhonny Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 I've been using MS Money for a while, but only to set up bill forecasting so I can see when things are going out and then we budget month by month. Apparently Compare the Market are making a UK one which links with your bank account. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaosmachine Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 try http://mint.com it reads your bank account and gives you pie charts of your expenses, month by month graphs, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Gary C Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 I like the look of Mint, and it's android app, but I'll have to check whether it'll work in the UK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Iain C Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 I'm renting a house as of... tomorrow actually when's the housewarming party? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Gary C Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 I'm renting a house as of... tomorrow actually when's the housewarming party? It'll be around my birthday and the bank holidays, presumably. We haven't planned anything; there's a lot of stuff going on at the moment as you know. It might be short-notice, but you'll most certainly be invited. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joyrex Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 mint.com freaking awesome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goDel Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 There's no business like excel business. Long live the pivot tables! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malkmus Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 There's no business like excel business. Long live the pivot tables! agreed i have all this laid out in excel, monthly budget, mortgage, credit cards etc. doesnt take much to set up. pm me if you want me to send you a template to use. if by coincidence you happen to bank with Llyods tsb they have just introduced a money manager tool that produces exaclty what mint.com does - also supposedly available for android although i havent downloaded it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest sine Posted March 31, 2011 Share Posted March 31, 2011 After being self employed for what seems like eons Ive gone all retro and invested in a pink locking safe and a set of accounting books.At least I'll only have myself to blame. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest KY Posted March 31, 2011 Share Posted March 31, 2011 All bills get paid day after pay day. Stick to rough budget for the rest of the month. What's left get's put into savings day before payday. Repeat for the next 40 years. I'm not sure what the advantage of software would be. Indeed. Aside from indulgences, I just pay bills as soon as I can and set aside 25%-30% of any untaxed income, and use an accountant at tax time. Software is for nerds? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marf Posted March 31, 2011 Share Posted March 31, 2011 put extra cash in a roth ira. It cant be taxed when you withdraw after appreciation. cant write it off as a deduction now, but it isnt taxed later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elusive4 Posted March 31, 2011 Share Posted March 31, 2011 i prefer not to have anything actually sync to my bank accounts (mint) i do use a standard financial tracker app on my phone (smart money) that is good for tracking things like credit card purchases (so i can quickly check online to make sure amount is correct (e.g. restaurant + tip) and then dispose of receipts if not needed for tax purposes). max out your 401k to whataever your employer matches then fill up your roth ira then go back and max out your 401k pay yourself first (eg savings + retirement accounts) - preferably automatically... set and forget Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elusive4 Posted March 31, 2011 Share Posted March 31, 2011 put extra cash in a roth ira. It cant be taxed when you withdraw after appreciation. cant write it off as a deduction now, but it isnt taxed later. you should be able to withdrawal contributions at any time --- only earnings must you wait until retirement (or face penalties)... it grows tax free ... you absolutely cannot beat it assuming taxes will only go up in the future... and the best part is, no mandatory withdrawals when in retirement! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Gary C Posted April 1, 2011 Share Posted April 1, 2011 My girlfriend's open to the idea and says she could definitely keep up with it if she had an app on her phone. So I'm going to try Mint for a couple of months at least. Thanks, guys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Coalbucket PI Posted April 1, 2011 Share Posted April 1, 2011 My girlfriend's open to the idea and says she could definitely keep up with it if she had an app on her phone. So I'm going to try Mint for a couple of months at least. Thanks, guys. I've come across this one before but it seems to only like North Americans. Does it work in the UK? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Coalbucket PI Posted April 1, 2011 Share Posted April 1, 2011 I'm giving this Pennies app a go, seems straightforward enough if I can be arsed to go ahead with it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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