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I have a Mint account that I plan to delete at some point because it isn't helpful in that it doesn't work with all my FI's. I have a spreadsheet for recurring costs but I do need a system to better track spend, I have struggled with whether I should nickle and dime myself, I know some people set daily spending limits. Budgeting is rough. I will have to check out some of the suggestions in this thread.
I have used Ynab for years. From the old system and to the new one, so I was grandfathered in at the original price. I'm not sure of the current cost for the subscription. The thing I like, is when I needed to pay closer attention to where my money was going, I did a manual budget, and didn't import. I did that for all of 2020. Now I am back to importing, but that option is always there if I feel as though my unplanned spending is inching up.
I will add that there is a learning curve. I think I started in 2012, so it's intuitive for me at this point.
So for those of you that do it manually, does that mean you enter all your transactions manually? Or download from you FI as a CSV and import?
I really wish quicken still had their pc based version where you could store locally in the cloud. I don't like having my data in the cloud.
I would manually enter my transactions and reconcile once a week or so. This kept things from getting unruly. Most of my stuff is on auto pay, so it was usually just ensuring that everything was paid when it was supposed to be paid.
@Kidcat wrote:I would manually enter my transactions and reconcile once a week or so. This kept things from getting unruly. Most of my stuff is on auto pay, so it was usually just ensuring that everything was paid when it was supposed to be paid.
I download all of my transactions weekly as well. That's a good idea to have things on autopay. I thought about using my Nfcu rewards card to set my bills to autopay and then just pay that bill off once a month. That will help my credit, allow me to not have to go on billers site to make payments or mail off multiple payments and also I can earn a nice size cash reward monthly that I can use as spending money to further help my budget.
I've used ynab for a few years... I don't really consider it a "tracker" though - to me it's more of an active/thoughtful budget system. If you just want a tracker, there are probably better systems.
And since I"m "new"ish to YNAB, I pay the 83.99/year fee. I don't mind paying for it because they are always updating it and adding new features. Honestly, sometimes I wish they'd slow down with the new features. I quite like it, and they're popular enough that I think if it works for you, it works for you. It does have a pretty good learning curve for a budget program, but there's a lot of great support, community (reddit, fb, forums), and tutorials (the only thing I ever had trouble with was how to make cashback/cashrewards for credit cards work, and I still think the work around is dumb, but it works). but again, for just a tracker? I wouldn't recommend it.
And +1 on manual import. I manually import and then periodically (at a minimum - once a month) reconcile my accounts to be sure I haven't done anything boneheaded.
@designated_knitter wrote:So for those of you that do it manually, does that mean you enter all your transactions manually? Or download from you FI as a CSV and import?
I really wish quicken still had their pc based version where you could store locally in the cloud. I don't like having my data in the cloud.
I do it all manually. When I make a transaction, I put it in the ledger right away or save the receipt and do it at home. Credit card alerts make sure I don't miss anything.
I have to applaud everybody who budgets and tracks their expenses against said budgets; that is something I've never had neither time nor patience to do, and probably never will.
Question for y'all; have you seen a benefit from a tight control of budget and expenses compared to before you tracked it all? If so, what benefits do you realize from your tracking?
@Horseshoez wrote:I have to applaud everybody who budgets and tracks their expenses against said budgets; that is something I've never had neither time nor patience to do, and probably never will.
Question for y'all; have you seen a benefit from a tight control of budget and expenses compared to before you tracked it all? If so, what benefits do you realize from your tracking?
Well I actually have a savings now. I'm wasting so much less money now that I'm able to put away over $300 a month ($300 is in the budget but I take whatever is left that I don't spend and put that into savings too at the end of the month). That doesn't sound like much but for someone with less than $19K income, that's a huge achievement. Never in my life have I been able to say I have $5K saved before and I would have more if I didn't decide to build a new computer ($1400) and buy an Xbox Series X ($620 with tax and warranty) with my stimulus checks. I was always one of those people who lived paycheck to paycheck and I paid a ton of interest carrying balances on my cards so I could go to raves, parties, clubs, and bars rather than plan for my future.