How do you track your savings

funkymonkey

I just wondered if anyone knows of a good app or even a template eXcel sheet for tracking all my little savings accounts

currently i have my Moneybox LISA, FD Regular saver, Virgin Money Regular Saver, Coventry reg saver and marcus acct. oh and premium bonds :rotfl:

Id love to have them listed on one app where i can manually add the amounts and their interest rates, or even if there was a good excel template where i could have them all listed on one page.

Does anyone have any good suggestions?

Zero_Sum

Setting up an excel spreadsheet should be fairly simple

colsten

I use AceMoney, which is very similar to MS Money, used by many here.

AceMoney is supported and has a one-time charge. MS Money is free as it's no longer supported.

I think there's also a free Google personal finance manager though I have never used it myself.

Brian65

If you have an excel spreadsheet you can upload it to Google sheets through their Chrome browser, then share prices update automatically. You can save it to Google Cloud - OK I know you can save it to hard drive or memory stick - and I do that periodically to keep another back up - but Google cloud has the advantage it constantly updates - you can access it from any PC - so any problem with your PC and you haven't lost your files. And its all Free

MovingForwards

I just stick mine on a spreadsheet, access it via my phone, pc or tablet and update it with little effort required.

I've a 12 month spreadsheet, each month is updated as and when throughout the month. On the last day I copy the balances to the new month and repeat the process.

It's low tech, has all my account names in the first column, months along the top, I even have it autosum at the bottom

Each year I create a new tab, start the process over and can see how things have changed since I started it.

Fingerbobs

I use a spreadsheet, which started out as a simple list of all my accounts with their respective balances, but I've extended it and added all sorts of features to it over the years and it's now become quite a beast.
I'd be lost without it now, as I'd never remember the details of all my accounts.
Needless to say, it's backed up in triplicate.

Brilley

..excel spreadsheet updated monthly..simples. You cn then calculate whatever information you think you may need and it's easy to add, delete or change any account details..

Eco_Miser

Open Office Calc spreadsheet, updated as and when transactions occur.

funkymonkey

Ok thank you everyone. It seems an excel spreadsheet is the way to go!

Doshwaster

I have been using MS Money for over 15 years and have a mountain of historic data in there. However, it has become increasingly frustrating to use in an age when all other apps synchronize across devices so I have recently started to use https://my.moneydashboard.com/ which automatically connects to multiple accounts in the background using the new Open Banking protocols and is available anywhere via a browser or mobile app.

Of course for some things you can't beat a simple Excel or Google spreadsheet.

colsten

Doshwaster wrote: »

I have been using MS Money for over 15 years and have a mountain of historic data in there. However, it has become increasingly frustrating to use in an age when all other apps synchronize across devices so I have recently started to use https://my.moneydashboard.com/ which automatically connects to multiple accounts in the background using the new Open Banking protocols and is available anywhere via a browser or mobile app.

Of course for some things you can't beat a simple Excel or Google spreadsheet.

I have similar historic data, as well as my current budget data, in AceMoney/MS Money. I have tried Moneydashboard, and other similar 'modern' tools, and have concluded they are not for me.

They are probably ok if you have just a handful of accounts but they become totally unusable if you have dozens of accounts, which I have. In the time it takes to refresh my accounts, I have long done my manual reconciliations a few times over. Add to this that neither Moneydashboard nor any of the others actually cover(*) all savings, and investment, providers, you can't avoid manual reconciliation anyway. At least AceMoney/MS Money, or home-made spreadsheets, allow you to add any and all of your accounts, so they are the only tools out there which can guarantee you a complete view of your total finances.

The other significant shortfall of the Moneydashboard is that you can't import your history. Obviously not a problem for anyone who starts out with a clean sheet but it's a massive inhibitor for me. So I will probably stick with AceMoney for the next 30-40 years

* I think the reason Moneydashboard etc can't connect to all providers is that not all providers actually offer Open Banking APIs. As it's not compulsory to offer them, I think this situation will prevail for many years to come. I am quite happy with providers who distribute any spare money they have to their customers rather than on nice-to-have technology enhancements.