How do you keep track of your finances?

Lazy_Runner

I use Personal Accounts 5. I heard the mixed reviews of MS Money then found the reviews for PA5 on amazon. Decided to go with that. Still haven't worked out all its features, but so far, if I am diligent about entering data, its figures matches my bank accounts.

This includes my cash in wallet. I am using this instead of keeping a debt diary. But like I said, I have to be diligent and get a receipt (where possible) for everything I buy.

tracer

another vote for excel spreadsheets, i have an excel file which has a sheet for each month of the year. plus some extra worksheets for isa account etc. i find its a great way to keep track of my finances and its completely personalised.

AuntyJean

I'm a fan of Excel too.

Have every bill listed in a column and for the annual bills (including Christmas fund) I divide the bill by 12 and put that sum as the monthly amount needed.

total them and that is how much needs to be left in the account(s)

Have separate sheets for accounts and code everything that goes out to correspond with the bills spreadsheet, then have a sheet with pivot tables on to tally up the amounts.

Great satisfaction when they balance. :rotfl:

N9eav

Another fan of MS Money. Brilliant. If you keep up to date with entries you can budget and project your balances etc. Could not live without it now.

kingmonkey

GnuCash

Its free!

annie12

Thanks everyone, I've decided to use MS Money
I'm trying to set up a file for my husband's business as well, it doesn't seem geared to business finances, or am I doing something wrong? Probably!!!

JollyNolly

Don't do it! If you already have Excel, you can save money by doing an Excel spreadsheet instead - you can add the bits you need as you need them - such as a tab for reconciling cheques, a tab for each account, etc. I can also recommend the "pivot table" feature, which is great for doing a table of your spending by categories and really helps with budgeting, etc.

JollyNolly

Forgot to mention - if you don't have Excel, get OpenOffice - it's free, and just as good as MS Office any day.

Troubleatmill_2

MSMoney features are worth it.

Especially if you buy a second hand version eg 2004,2005. on Ebay etc.

You don't really need the interfacing to banks. I always found it a pain.

But it is good for tracking any shares, pension funds etc etc.

Best
Troubleatmill

annie12

We already have MS money, we also have Quicken & Excel.
I'm finding MS money easy at the moment, but can't find anything for business accounts?