Spending Tracking Apps?

crafty_witch

ruby_eskimo wrote: »

I use 'You Need a Budget', which is available as an app and a software download. At the moment I have a blackberry and there isn't a compatible app for it but I'll be upgrading in a few weeks so I'll probably get something android.

Anyway, the software is really good; you set your budget but you have to give every penny a job. So when you track your spending it asks you to put it into a category. That way you find yourself more accountable for your spending and it helps to keep you in check.

I'm a YNAB fan too. It is costly but it's super user friendly and there is loads of support with it ie webinars to explain exactly how to get the best out of it. It was worth every penny imo. You can download it for a months free trial to see if you think it's worth the outlay.
I should say it is a genuinely free trial no cc numbers, no having to remember to cancel.

ellisthomas86

Lots of apps are there in the market. Like mint, expensify, concur, replicon and many more. But ideology is better in choosing the best one out of them. I would recommend you to go with Replicon as its a cloud based technology to have the expenses tracked and managed with hassle free experience. The user friendly interface as such is better optioned to get the desired end result more specifically.

allthingsmustpass

Mint is only really of any use in the US, you enter your bank details and it only works for american banks.

Thats something to watch for, a lot of these apps are US only but still sold in the uk.

burghgirl

Another fan of the iPhone Account Tracker app. I have had my iPhone for 4 years and I have had the app pretty much from the day I got my phone, it has kept me on the straight and narrow with my finances. Also links to iCloud and to my iPad. Would highly recommend it especially paying the few pound for the full version.

burghgirl

FinanciallyUnsavvy

I've just installed You Need A Budget (YNAB) today, and I'm liking it so far. It's very user-friendly but I'm just getting the hang of it.

For you other YNAB users, how do you get over the fact that your month has to start on the 1st? I've always budgeted from payday to payday (25th) as my month. At the moment I've just lied and set all my DDs to the 1st of the month so I can budget a full month's wage.

Looking at the YNAB forums, it seems I should be working in realtime, and adjusting my budget as and when I get paid in relation to the calendar month. That seems counter-productive to me as I'll have less of an idea of the money I have for the month in relation to bills/direct debits. Perhaps after using it a bit I'll get a better idea. I want to use it "properly" but for me it seems the only way is to lie about starting dates.

Anybody else had a similar issue/how have you dealt with it?

owen-b

FinanciallyUnsavvy wrote: »

I've just installed You Need A Budget (YNAB) today, and I'm liking it so far. It's very user-friendly but I'm just getting the hang of it.

For you other YNAB users, how do you get over the fact that your month has to start on the 1st? I've always budgeted from payday to payday (25th) as my month. At the moment I've just lied and set all my DDs to the 1st of the month so I can budget a full month's wage.

Looking at the YNAB forums, it seems I should be working in realtime, and adjusting my budget as and when I get paid in relation to the calendar month. That seems counter-productive to me as I'll have less of an idea of the money I have for the month in relation to bills/direct debits. Perhaps after using it a bit I'll get a better idea. I want to use it "properly" but for me it seems the only way is to lie about starting dates.

Anybody else had a similar issue/how have you dealt with it?

Yeah, listen to the YNAB forum users. They are right - you're doing it wrong, if you don't mind a bit of helpful bluntness! Don't set all your DD's in YNAB to come out on the first if they don't actually come out on the first, you'll get yourself in all sorts of mess in the Accounts page, especially when you import any statements (I add transactions manually AND import statements to mop up the stuff that comes out by DD - I don't use the Transaction Scheduler myself).

The idea is that you set up your budget with categories that suit you, assign money to them as you're paid that money, so that when you come to spend in any given category the money is already there to be spent on that particular thing. In this case I'd set up a Master Category called 'Bills' and then give each bill it's own sub-category, one for each utility or service.

When do you get paid? That's *crucial* to understanding how to use YNAB effectively. Let's say you get paid on the 8th, but the DDs come out after the 21st (for argument's sake!).

When you get paid on the 8th, open YNAB and enter in the payment in the Account view. Set it to 'Available this month'. Now go to the Budget screen. You should see the money you just received appear as a green figure at the top of the column, minus anything you've overspent by in the previous month, and any budgeting you've already done.

Now you start assigning that money to categories you are going to need to spend in before the next time some money comes in - in our case if it's my salary I'm budgeting then it's until my wife gets paid, for example.

Assuming it's just you, you need to assign some of that wage to your bills, enough that they're covered. Then assign the rest to other things that need to get paid.

When the 'Available to budget' figure gets to zero, stop budgeting. DO NOT BUDGET MONEY YOU DO NOT HAVE. Sorry to shout, but this is what most people do first and it's the absolute wrong way to do it, a hangover from Old Bad Habits.

So, don't go budgeting £2500 to cover all the spending you expect to do this month if you've only got £2000 to play with. Just put that £2000 in all the categories you *need* to spend on until the next time money comes in. If the £2000 does not cover all your expected spending before that time, and will always be that way (rather than a one-off awkward month because you just started with YNAB) then you have identified a 'living within your means' issue that needs to be addressed - YNAB is working!

Is this making sense? Let me know if not, happy to help clarify any point!

pjala

On YNAB - I agree with all on this - although is is around £40 or so, and it is based for support in the US, it is an amazing system. It is designed as far as a I can see, to work in the way that you should work with your budget.
It frees up your accounts so that you can put the money that is waiting to be spent on your budget items anywhere you want that has the best interest. When you spend on credit cards it is budgeted spending so you always have the money to pay off the credit card.

Now my guess is some of you will be working this way now, and Martin advises you to work this way anyway - but this system enforces it in a way that makes it a pleasure to work with.

The money spent on it was saved almost immediately for me, and as someone else has mentioned in the forum, your net worth increases on a monthly basis.

We need a YNAB forum sticky heading to talk over this system on its own - it is easy to use, but I am sure there are subtleties in there that we can all learn from.

Broke_Kitty

owen-b wrote: »

Yeah, listen to the YNAB forum users. They are right - you're doing it wrong, if you don't mind a bit of helpful bluntness! Don't set all your DD's in YNAB to come out on the first if they don't actually come out on the first, you'll get yourself in all sorts of mess in the Accounts page, especially when you import any statements (I add transactions manually AND import statements to mop up the stuff that comes out by DD - I don't use the Transaction Scheduler myself).

The idea is that you set up your budget with categories that suit you, assign money to them as you're paid that money, so that when you come to spend in any given category the money is already there to be spent on that particular thing. In this case I'd set up a Master Category called 'Bills' and then give each bill it's own sub-category, one for each utility or service.

When do you get paid? That's *crucial* to understanding how to use YNAB effectively. Let's say you get paid on the 8th, but the DDs come out after the 21st (for argument's sake!).

When you get paid on the 8th, open YNAB and enter in the payment in the Account view. Set it to 'Available this month'. Now go to the Budget screen. You should see the money you just received appear as a green figure at the top of the column, minus anything you've overspent by in the previous month, and any budgeting you've already done.

Now you start assigning that money to categories you are going to need to spend in before the next time some money comes in - in our case if it's my salary I'm budgeting then it's until my wife gets paid, for example.

Assuming it's just you, you need to assign some of that wage to your bills, enough that they're covered. Then assign the rest to other things that need to get paid.

When the 'Available to budget' figure gets to zero, stop budgeting. DO NOT BUDGET MONEY YOU DO NOT HAVE. Sorry to shout, but this is what most people do first and it's the absolute wrong way to do it, a hangover from Old Bad Habits.

So, don't go budgeting £2500 to cover all the spending you expect to do this month if you've only got £2000 to play with. Just put that £2000 in all the categories you *need* to spend on until the next time money comes in. If the £2000 does not cover all your expected spending before that time, and will always be that way (rather than a one-off awkward month because you just started with YNAB) then you have identified a 'living within your means' issue that needs to be addressed - YNAB is working!

Is this making sense? Let me know if not, happy to help clarify any point!

This sounds pretty awesome!

cookie02

I have the Account Tracker app too. I had it up and running in less than 15mins (I'm guessing I have fewer accounts to track compared with SoftKittyWarmKitty:)).

I really love the app. It's very easy to use and I have got in the habit of adding transactions as I do them (takes less than 30s, especially if it falls into a category you have already set up).

I haven't tried YNAB yet. I do plan to at some point as I like the idea of the webinars.

When I bought it, Account Tracker was £1.50.

happybunny86

I currently use good budget but it costs me £3 a month. Will be looking into these other options!