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If you haven’t checked out YNAB.com, it’s my go-to for budgeting. I find it useful because it has auto-import like mint, but with flexible categories. There’s

If you haven’t checked out YNAB.com, it’s my go-to for budgeting. I find it useful because it has auto-import like mint, but with flexible categories. There’s no way I’m going to enter in every transaction (not to mention the dozen automatic subscriptions). To me, automatic import is a must. From there, it does a fantastic job of helping me plan for next month and track spending across time. After 2 years, I have a clear sense of how much we spend on car repairs, vacation, Christmas, etc. Anyway, I’m not affiliated with them, I just enjoy the tool.

jgalvez 8y ago
I just realized something sad: the reason I never went through using any of ledger-cli, YNAB and Mint etc is that I never really made enough money that it got so complicated it wouldn't fit a single file (lol)
- amerine 8y ago
  Living a life aiming for this simplicity seems like a worthwhile endeavor.
- iambateman 8y ago
  HA! Well your budgeting tool is nevertheless quite minimal and beautiful. Thx for sharing. ;)
- pvinis 8y ago
  You have to start somewhere, right? :D Also, these tools are not for managing your multi-millions. They are for making you aware about your spendings and earnings, so you can plan better. The numbers are not important. The percentages are, though. (Disclaimer, I am not using any of these tools in their full potential, but I'm trying. I have used ledger mostly, and now I am trying out ynab. I want me to get better with money management.)
  - infinite8s 8y ago
    Yeah, once you hit the multi-millions money management means a completely different thing!
- probst 8y ago
  You really don't need a lot of money to use something like YNAB. I have been using YNAB for nearly 5 years now, and it has in fact made me feel a lot richer! It puts you in full control over the money you actually have, and gets you into the habit of saving for the expenses you will have before they are actually due. That way spending the money doesn't feel like a burden and has no noticeable impact on your ability to pay for other things. Highly recommend checking it out irrespective of how much money you are making!
- kqr 8y ago
  Create the habit of using powerful tools while it's easy! That way, you won't fail to do so later on when you have more money.
dorian-graph 8y ago
While YNAB is great, it's a shame they moved to a subscription based service.
- iambateman 8y ago
  I mostly agree, except that bank connection is a moving target and they pay a vendor to supply the connection logic. Is it ridiculous that I have to pay money every month just to get my transactions in a useful format? Yes. But that isn't their fault, in my opinion. They charge $7/mo and Netflix charges $11, while I personally get way more value from my $7 going to YNAB. :)
  - acct1771 8y ago
    Who are they paying, out of curiosity?
    - opencl 8y ago
      Plaid[1] is only company I know of offering this sort of API. Maybe there are others, I wasn't able to find any from a quick google search. You can actually get a dev account (free with up to 100 bank accounts) and pull your own transaction data with it. I've been meaning to write a little tool to import from them into GnuCash. [1] https://plaid.com/ https://plaid.com/
      - anamexis 8y ago
        I believe Yodlee also offers this type of API. https://www.yodlee.com/products/ https://www.yodlee.com/products/
      - dustinmr 8y ago
        I happen to have been looking around at this earlier today. I found an open source project named Firefly III[1], that uses an API called Spectre[2]. Same deal, free for a certain number of bank accounts, but looks like you need to contact them to set up your API access. Incidentally, I recently saw an iOS app that had been using the Spectre API as well. [1] https://firefly-iii.org/ https://firefly-iii.org/ [2] https://www.saltedge.com/products/spectre https://www.saltedge.com/products/spectre
djhworld 8y ago
I really like the budgeting approach in YNAB, but the software could do with some more reporting capabilities, as well as being able to track investments and so on. I've never found the 'perfect' piece of personal finance software that works for me. Some people say MS Money Sunset is the one true way but it sounds like a pain to get working on OSX. Could never get on with the double entry approach in ledger or GNU cash, the workflow/approach just doesn't feel intuitive to me and I struggle with it.
- iambateman 8y ago
  Completely agree. Reporting in YNAB is a weakness, and investment tracking is downright silly. I have to manually go in and update my balance for investments once/month or so. They're set up to "track", but functionally do not.

jgalvez 8y ago

I just realized something sad: the reason I never went through using any of ledger-cli, YNAB and Mint etc is that I never really made enough money that it got so complicated it wouldn't fit a single file (lol)

amerine 8y ago
Living a life aiming for this simplicity seems like a worthwhile endeavor.
iambateman 8y ago
HA! Well your budgeting tool is nevertheless quite minimal and beautiful. Thx for sharing. ;)
pvinis 8y ago
You have to start somewhere, right? :D Also, these tools are not for managing your multi-millions. They are for making you aware about your spendings and earnings, so you can plan better. The numbers are not important. The percentages are, though. (Disclaimer, I am not using any of these tools in their full potential, but I'm trying. I have used ledger mostly, and now I am trying out ynab. I want me to get better with money management.)
- infinite8s 8y ago
  Yeah, once you hit the multi-millions money management means a completely different thing!
probst 8y ago
You really don't need a lot of money to use something like YNAB. I have been using YNAB for nearly 5 years now, and it has in fact made me feel a lot richer! It puts you in full control over the money you actually have, and gets you into the habit of saving for the expenses you will have before they are actually due. That way spending the money doesn't feel like a burden and has no noticeable impact on your ability to pay for other things. Highly recommend checking it out irrespective of how much money you are making!
kqr 8y ago
Create the habit of using powerful tools while it's easy! That way, you won't fail to do so later on when you have more money.

dorian-graph 8y ago

While YNAB is great, it's a shame they moved to a subscription based service.

iambateman 8y ago
I mostly agree, except that bank connection is a moving target and they pay a vendor to supply the connection logic. Is it ridiculous that I have to pay money every month just to get my transactions in a useful format? Yes. But that isn't their fault, in my opinion. They charge $7/mo and Netflix charges $11, while I personally get way more value from my $7 going to YNAB. :)
- acct1771 8y ago
  Who are they paying, out of curiosity?
  - opencl 8y ago
    Plaid[1] is only company I know of offering this sort of API. Maybe there are others, I wasn't able to find any from a quick google search. You can actually get a dev account (free with up to 100 bank accounts) and pull your own transaction data with it. I've been meaning to write a little tool to import from them into GnuCash. [1] https://plaid.com/ https://plaid.com/
    - anamexis 8y ago
      I believe Yodlee also offers this type of API. https://www.yodlee.com/products/ https://www.yodlee.com/products/
    - dustinmr 8y ago
      I happen to have been looking around at this earlier today. I found an open source project named Firefly III[1], that uses an API called Spectre[2]. Same deal, free for a certain number of bank accounts, but looks like you need to contact them to set up your API access. Incidentally, I recently saw an iOS app that had been using the Spectre API as well. [1] https://firefly-iii.org/ https://firefly-iii.org/ [2] https://www.saltedge.com/products/spectre https://www.saltedge.com/products/spectre

djhworld 8y ago

I really like the budgeting approach in YNAB, but the software could do with some more reporting capabilities, as well as being able to track investments and so on. I've never found the 'perfect' piece of personal finance software that works for me. Some people say MS Money Sunset is the one true way but it sounds like a pain to get working on OSX. Could never get on with the double entry approach in ledger or GNU cash, the workflow/approach just doesn't feel intuitive to me and I struggle with it.

iambateman 8y ago
Completely agree. Reporting in YNAB is a weakness, and investment tracking is downright silly. I have to manually go in and update my balance for investments once/month or so. They're set up to "track", but functionally do not.