Trying to save but accused of being a terrorist /fraudster :-(

LeeLoo_2

jackyann wrote: »

Have just found out that Microsoft Money (which I have used for 10+ years) is no longer available - according to DH he just copies it to any new computer we get! Surely there must be other programmes available!

That's what I found too :-(

noh

LeeLoo wrote: »

That's what I found too :-(

Available free from
http://download.microsoft.com/download/8/5/8/858EDC2F-1806-4D2D-85E3-0FBB08CB720A/Money2005-UK-QFE2.exe.exe

sitesafe

I'm with the OP on this. Really can't see why this is being ridiculed - Surely if you have the facility to have an online account that allows for other accounts to be attached to it then it's for this reason? I have an online current account and from this I branch off (EIGHTEEN!!!) numerous other accounts and set up automatic transfers to them from the main current account once a month.

It is all online stuff, no debit card with them (other than the main current account card), nothing tangible that costs anything, no separate bank statement is sent. Each month I put away x amount for the following categories. When it comes to paying for something I simply transfer that amount back into my current account and pay from there.

Gifts (xmas, birthdays etc)
TV licence
MOT
Car tax
Car insurance and breakdown
Car service/maintenance
House insurance
Dentist/optician/glasses
Public liability insurance
House insurance
Hair and beauty
Clothing
Gardening
Household appliances/household goods replacement or repairs
Self-employed tax
Self-employed NI
Leisure
Contingency

When I could afford it I also had one for holidays and holiday spending money, travel insurance

Generally I pay mortgage, gas, electric, water, broadband and mobile by direct debit as I know what they are going to cost and things like groceries and petrol I tend to withdraw a set amount of cash each week and use that and try to take into account top up shopping etc

Hominu

LeeLoo wrote: »

I am really not good at spreadsheets. Also the only computer I have is my phone which does not have excel on it. The main thing is that it is not in real time. Every payment you make means faffing with excel.

Considering you don't have a debit card for each account, that means you need to do a manual transfer from the correct account to your current account. I see several problems with that.

1) Internet banking goes down. You want to buy your shopping, but can't access your groceries savings account. The bank can't help as they have no idea which is your "groceries" savings account. You can try quoting account numbers, but considering you have 18 of them, quoting the wrong one is easy.

2) You can see the transfers, but you can't see WHY they were made. Say you used more food than normal so you borrow £20 from your petrol budget. In a few weeks time when your petrol budget is empty will you remember that?

This is where proper software excels - it doesn't just show the transfer, it shows the category and reason, so you'll get a total budget, total expenditure, and the reason for each transaction.

LeeLoo_2

sitesafe wrote: »

I'm with the OP on this. Really can't see why this is being ridiculed - Surely if you have the facility to have an online account that allows for other accounts to be attached to it then it's for this reason? I have an online current account and from this I branch off (EIGHTEEN!!!) numerous other accounts and set up automatic transfers to them from the main current account once a month.

It is all online stuff, no debit card with them (other than the main current account card), nothing tangible that costs anything, no separate bank statement is sent. Each month I put away x amount for the following categories. When it comes to paying for something I simply transfer that amount back into my current account and pay from there.

Gifts (xmas, birthdays etc)
TV licence
MOT
Car tax
Car insurance and breakdown
Car service/maintenance
House insurance
Dentist/optician/glasses
Public liability insurance
House insurance
Hair and beauty
Clothing
Gardening
Household appliances/household goods replacement or repairs
Self-employed tax
Self-employed NI
Leisure
Contingency

When I could afford it I also had one for holidays and holiday spending money, travel insurance

Generally I pay mortgage, gas, electric, water, broadband and mobile by direct debit as I know what they are going to cost and things like groceries and petrol I tend to withdraw a set amount of cash each week and use that and try to take into account top up shopping etc

This is exactly what I am talking about. Oh my goodness, apart from the insurance and tax those are the exact categories I have, I even have one called optician/dentist/perscriptions lol.

Please can you tell me a bit more about how you set this up.

Archi_Bald

LeeLoo wrote: »

I appreciate your posting the link. I went onto it, and it says, 'Learn google spreadsheets' and there are 16 lessons. I do not mean to be obtuse but it really looks very complicated. It is teaching you how to make a spreadsheet, but even if I master that it does not change the fact that if I have to manually track all my spending all I have done is given myself another task on my daily 'to do list'
pack the sandwiches,
feed the fish,
update the spreadsheet,
change the bin...

Oh dear.

I am sad you didn't understand, and I am sorry I tried, and that I defended you.

LeeLoo_2

Hominu wrote: »

Considering you don't have a debit card for each account, that means you need to do a manual transfer from the correct account to your current account. I see several problems with that.

1) Internet banking goes down. You want to buy your shopping, but can't access your groceries savings account. The bank can't help as they have no idea which is your "groceries" savings account. You can try quoting account numbers, but considering you have 18 of them, quoting the wrong one is easy.

2) You can see the transfers, but you can't see WHY they were made. Say you used more food than normal so you borrow £20 from your petrol budget. In a few weeks time when your petrol budget is empty will you remember that?

This is where proper software excels - it doesn't just show the transfer, it shows the category and reason, so you'll get a total budget, total expenditure, and the reason for each transaction.

In scenario 1. If I can't access online accounts I can simply say, ca n you please withdraw £200 from one of the accounts with about £200 in it. If they get the wrong one, the online banking will be working within 24 hours max then I can shuffle back.

In scenario 2 the accuracy of this is dependant on your maintaining the spreadsheet. The downfall of my system is that I can't make notes etc. The downfall of the software method is that if for some reason the figures were not manually updated then THE WHOLE THING IS WRONG and therefore useless.

Archi_Bald

LeeLoo wrote: »

That's what I found too :-(

You must be b******y joking. It doesn't matter one iota that MS Money isn't supported any longer. It still works like a treat. Some people use it to manage hundreds of thousands of pounds in dozens of accounts. It most certainly can be used to manage your 18 or 180 or whatever savings accounts.

Stop trying to find excuses for not taking charge of the management of your own financials.

LeeLoo_2

Archi_Bald wrote: »

Oh dear.

I am sad you didn't understand, and I am sorry I tried, and that I defended you.

I'm also sad that YOU didn't understand.

LeeLoo_2

Archi_Bald wrote: »

You must be b******y joking. It doesn't matter one iota that MS Money isn't supported any longer. It still works like a treat. Some people use it to manage hundreds of thousands of pounds in dozens of accounts. It most certainly can be used to manage your 18 or 180 or whatever savings accounts.

Stop trying to find excuses for not taking charge of the management of your own financials.

I went to try and download it but it is no longer available for new users as far as I am aware.