How do you store/sort your finances

LobsterMemory

Carolinerunner - it appears you're in effect trying to design a spreadsheet that imitates Quicken or MSMoney.

From the forum, I understand you can download the latest UK version of Money for free so that might save a bit of gruntwork

Herbyme

LobsterMemory wrote: »

Carolinerunner - it appears you're in effect trying to design a spreadsheet that imitates Quicken or MSMoney.

From the forum, I understand you can download the latest UK version of Money for free so that might save a bit of gruntwork

Thanks, I'm not sure if that is exactly what I want to do as I'm not familiar with either, I'll check them out.

I did just have a quick look at MS Money and I wasn't sure... if it doesn't have current security updates from MS, how safe is it to enter account details? Maybe I can use it without doing that? It also shows how the design of interfaces (if that's the term) has moved on since MS last updated it!

MisterMotivated

Terry_Towelling wrote: »

I don't bother with actual financial pots but I do project a budget for the 12 months ahead. This way, I know that the money in my/our everyday account(s) is enough to meet all normal expenditure. So, my pots exist as numbers in a spreadsheet but the physical money is held wherever it gets the best return on an easy-access basis.

Extra money that isn't needed to meet normal expenses is held in the same way - categorised in a spreadsheet but held wherever gives the best return.

I use a similar approach to this. My money goes where it will earn the best/most suitable return, rather than into any specific pots, with funds moved to the appropriate current account when bills are due. I keep a many-many-many-tabbed spreadsheet which includes a budget for the year (and a less detailed budget spanning multiple years), adjusted as the year goes on to provide an accurate running total. I don't generally think of it as having £xxx savings + £yyy for living costs; rather I have £xxx and will add to it or take from it as needed.

In the past, I've kept an unchanged copy of the budget tab in order to compare at year end where I might have been way over/under with my forecasts, though I haven't done that this year.

Zero_Sum

carolinerunner wrote: »

Thanks, I'm not sure if that is exactly what I want to do as I'm not familiar with either, I'll check them out.

I did just have a quick look at MS Money and I wasn't sure... if it doesn't have current security updates from MS, how safe is it to enter account details? Maybe I can use it without doing that? It also shows how the design of interfaces (if that's the term) has moved on since MS last updated it!

Security from what? All youre doing is entering offline data

Herbyme

Zero_Sum wrote: »

Security from what? All youre doing is entering offline data

I may have misunderstood but it seemed to be asking for bank account details to link to?

It says:

Manage your accounts. Set up Money to track your checking, savings, and credit card accounts, as well as your loans and investments. If it's supported by your bank or brokerage, you can have your account information updated automatically every day.

cloud_dog

You can enter as much or as little detail as you like. For example, I might have an account called 'My Savings', and it is pointless entering all the account/organisation information because I may move it frequently depending on who is paying the best interest rate.

You used to be able to synch MS Money with a number of bank accounts, unsure if this is still available (possibly not). Alternatively you should be able to simply download transactions from an online bank account and then import it in to MS Money.

You can password protect MS Money if you wish.

The UI is dated and the UX could well be behind the running but, it does everything I need perfectly with some but little input. I run:

• 5 Bank accounts
• 7 Investment accounts
• 5 Pension accounts
• 4 Savings accounts

Oh, and it is free.

We also manage our household inventory for insurance purposes within it (recording details of valuable items with images etc).

bobobski

Another vote here for YNAB. If it seems complicated (or even if it doesn't), attend some of their webinars - they are free to join and they are live so you can ask questions - I still attend them occasionally to keep me on the straight and narrow even though I've been using YNAB for 4 years.

One important lesson YNAB has taught me is to separate the concepts of "where is my money" and "what is this £ assigned to do" - my "pots" are budget-side only and not physical.

I'm sure there's other good budgeting software but I can't say I've used anything else - YNAB does everything I need it to do and more.

(And no I don't work for them )

Zero_Sum

carolinerunner wrote: »

I may have misunderstood but it seemed to be asking for bank account details to link to?

It says:

Manage your accounts. Set up Money to track your checking, savings, and credit card accounts, as well as your loans and investments. If it's supported by your bank or brokerage, you can have your account information updated automatically every day.

Mines an older version where you cant do that, but even the auto update is optional. You dont have to link it if you dont want to & just keep it entirely offline.

bobobski

demetra wrote: »

@bobobski out of curiosity, do you use YNAB online or YNAB 4 (the desktop software)? Are there major differences between them, is it worth switching?

I joined just as they were starting nYNAB so I never used YNAB4. Perhaps that makes me more likely to like this version! Maybe see if you can do a trial of nYNAB alongside your desktop version? One of the main features I like is the app, as I like to log (and check remaining budgets) as I shop.

bobobski

I meant to add: I don't link my accounts. To me, it's an unnecessary security risk (unlikely to be covered by banks if something goes wrong), plus it defeats the point of logging as soon as you spend and not just when it clears in your account.