What is a good budgeting software?

[kr43002]

So for that past 3 years I have budgeted from a google spreadsheet. I have it setup to do 2 periods a month where I add in any income from 1-15 or 16-EoM. I then put in all my bills under the income and have a formula where it takes income - expense = remainder. Its simple and it works well. 

I just bought quicken and I like how it takes actual tranactions instead of just going off my budget, where I tend to group things like rent/util or uncategorized spend. It's nice that I can use the software anywhere, like the google sheet. I don't like how its not as simple to lay out your budget. I have been messing around with the software and created a second file without linking tranactions to try and "mimic" the google sheet idea where I go off budget instead off transaction based. I also like the fact that I can have the budget straight on the desktop as the core version than have mobile and web versions as the second one. I don't like how you get locked out of alot of features on the web version though if your file used desktop at all.

Going from the google sheets for the past 3 years to this new software has really opened my eyes that there is more to doing a budget than just writing down spend/save/income. Now that I got this setup, I wonder if there is a better program to use. That leaves me with a few questions:

• What Software do you recomend?
• What do you like about it?
• What do you not like about it?

[TheRedHat]

I use YNAB (You Need A Budget)

It's hard to pinpoint just one thing that I like about it. However, I have every single account, debt and asset listed on one page so I can see an overall view of my net worth and how I'm doing all in one glance. I like the concept of giving every dollar a purpose and it has helped me plan for basically any and all upcoming and rare expenses or bills, so I'm never caught off guard or by surprise. I have all my banks and credit cards hooked up to it, so all transactions show up automatically so tracking credit cards is very simple. I like that I can check my budget anywhere on any computer or phone at any time.

The only thing I "don't like" is that it is a subscription based service and has a learning curve, but I budget for that and once you understand how to use the software, it will serve you well.

[minski]

I am a YNAB user as well. In one of the Facebook groups, someone asked about Quicken vs YNAB and one of the most common things I read was that those who have had experience with both say that Quicken is best for accounting and YNAB is best for budgeting.

[Kidcat]

YNAB.  I like it so much I just gave both my sons gift subscriptions. Worth every penny

[Michizane]

I use Truebill and love it. I use the paid version which allows you to pick how much you pay per month starting at $3 (anything above is pretty much a donation). It pulls transactions and allows me to categorize my spend and budget. 

[calyx]

Another YNAB user here.   I like that it's proactive instead of tracking.   And while some people prefer forecasting (budgeting money they're going to get instead of just what they have), I like that it doesn't focus on it.    It's also as automatic as you want it to be (I enter things manually instead of importing, though I do use "goals" as a hint of forecasting).    It has a bit of a learning curve (not as bad as it used to be) and a really active community w/ helpers (official and unofficial).   

They are a subscription service, but they're very, very active in their social media groups (forums, reddit, & facebook) and are always updating and tweaking their services and apps.   They just did a huge app overhaul on android, which has made it far more useable (I was an alpha/beta tester - though I do prefer the web app).

[Yankee2]

I'm a 20+year Quicken user.  Huge fan by the way.

I have never used the budget portion of the software, mainly follow the spend in the expense categories during the month and modify my spend that way.

So if your mainly looking for placing every dollar to a monthly plan, (and not much more)  it may not be the best option.

But following and tracking your total spend over a longer time period, I can't think of a better product.

[bobnathan0295]

---

@kr43002 wrote:

So for that past 3 years I have budgeted from a google spreadsheet. I have it setup to do 2 periods a month where I add in any income from 1-15 or 16-EoM. I then put in all my bills under the income and have a formula where it takes income - expense = remainder. Its simple and it works well. 

I just bought quicken and I like how it takes actual tranactions instead of just going off my budget, where I tend to group things like rent/util or uncategorized spend. It's nice that I can use the software anywhere, like the google sheet. I don't like how its not as simple to lay out your budget. I have been messing around with the software and created a second file without linking tranactions to try and "mimic" the google sheet idea where I go off budget instead off transaction based. I also like the fact that I can have the budget straight on the desktop as the core version than have mobile and web versions as the second one. I don't like how you get locked out of alot of features on the web version though if your file used desktop at all.

Going from the google sheets for the past 3 years to this new software has really opened my eyes that there is more to doing a budget than just writing down spend/save/income. Now that I got this setup, I wonder if there is a better program to use. That leaves me with a few questions:

• What Software do you recomend?
• What do you like about it?
• What do you not like about it?

---

It depends on your computer literacy skills. I personally use Microsoft Excel and Google Sheets. I have tried Microsoft Money and Quicken in the past. There are many online offerings these days. I do not think I will try them based on my experience with Quicken and Money in the past.

[MySunrise271]

I started out with Mint but mostly found it was tracking and not so much with budget and minding my spend. Now I'm a YNAB user and really like the improvements from when I first looked at it back in the mid 2000s. Like that it focus on money I have now not planned. This is a huge shift for me as I was always spending on next paycheck dollars. The app is cool and the web interface is also easy to navigate. A bit of a learning curve but leaps better than earlier versions. And lots of community support, workshop,podcasts, social channels, etc. so there's lots of help if you just stick with it 🙂. I actually have real savings toward major expenses now, categories to give every dollar a purpose, debt pay down is exciting and I'm reframing my finacial habits for the better future me. Yes there is a subscription fee but I'm planning for it and that makes it doable.  That's the best part, I can see the plan and therefore work it more efficiently.