4 ms·

Show HN: My first iOS app to track Net Worth. How do you track your net worth?

11 points by artem31 7y ago

artem31 7y ago
It has always been difficult for me to track all petty expenses, such as coffee, a new T-shirt or a haircut. But at the same time, it is very important for me to know how much money I have in each period of time. I used a lot of expense tracking apps, but usually I forgot to add something, and as a result, the actual balance in 99% of cases does not match with balance inside the app, so every month I added the correct results to the money trackers manually. Also, money trackers usually show Expenses / Income, but I wanted to find out how much money I had just last month, and now, to see the difference in the total amount. I did this in Excel, but then the idea came to me to create an application for these purposes without additional functions, so that people can spend only a few minutes a month, but get excellent statistics about their overall financial balance. Do you track all of your expenses daily? Do you track your net worth somehow? What applications or services do you use?
- whalesalad 7y ago
  Seems odd to conflate your net worth with little expenses like haircuts. I see how they are related, but at the same time they aren’t.
  - artem31 7y ago
    I know, I used expense trackers but they are not pretty good to track net worth, because of this I did track net worth in excel before creating the app)
    - itake 7y ago
      The problem I have with apps like this is its virtually impossible to accurately track networth. At any given time, I am owed money (like a tax refund) or I am making an "investment" (like renovating my house to increase its value). Does your app calculate the current market value of real estate or vehicles?
hsnewman 7y ago
Personal capital is what I use.
- artem31 7y ago
  Nice. Are you satisfied with it, what's the most valuable feature for you there? Or maybe some features that you want to see but they are not there? I've built my app to be simple but effective :)
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
  - madamelic 7y ago
    I also use Personal Capital. Something annoying about finances is dealing with negative numbers. If my credit has changed by -$500, at a glance, does that mean I have paid off $500 or does that mean my debt has grown by $500? Obviously this can be figured out from digging in deeper, but I like "at a glance" stats. What I am saying is to add context clues. Rather than giving a plan number with negatives, maybe $500 but green means "paid off" and $500 but red means "grown". I don't know of a person that would see a red $500 and think they paid off $500. Negatives are hard, especially when credit is already backwards.
    - artem31 7y ago
      An example dept balance -$2000 then it decreases on $500. In that case -$2000 + $500 = -$1500 (+$500 should be green) I'm I get you right?
LVB 7y ago
Parallel to detailed transaction tracking, I have a spreadsheet called "Simple Net Worth" that approximates the goals of this app. Just a set of balances I update every so often manually, which is good to capture the accounts/assets that aren't easily tracked elsewhere. The app looks nice but seems to have a deal-breaker: how do I enter debt? My mortgage is very much a part of my net worth calculation, but I see no way to mark an account as a debt or enter a negative number.
- artem31 7y ago
  You are right. We are planning to add negative values in next updates. Have some problems with graphs when negative values is bigger than positive :) As a workaround right now you can copy "-" symbol and paste it before balance value. But note, that graphs can be displayed incorrectly. Will be fixed in next releases.Anything else that need to be improved? And thanks for the feedback!
  - LVB 7y ago
    Other feedback would be: * passcode protection, like other security features, are not good "pro" upsells IMHO. That should be in the free version. * Maybe too expensive for a basic calculator, especially priced as a subscription. I have little appetite for more subscriptions.
    - artem31 7y ago
      Passcode it's just an additional feature, you can keep your data safe by setting iPhone's protection (Touch or Face ID). About the price, we actively work on other functionality as well. An example tracking all your incomes. Expenses will be counted automatically based on balances and incomes. This is only the first version, so a lot of thing to do, but since I do this using my own savings it takes time :) Thanks for the feedback!
SyneRyder 7y ago
Quicken Desktop (or rather, the Australian fork, Reckon Accounts). Their licensing is really awful - to the point of the company having faced Consumer Affairs rulings - but it's a really good program, very fast to use, and I have 20 years of data in there. There's a lot of us out there who would love to switch away from Quicken/Reckon the company, but keep Quicken the product. (Tried Moneydance, GNUcash etc, they're just not quite as good, though Moneydance is closest.)
- artem31 7y ago
  Yes, I read about some problems with Quicken. Do you mostly use Desktop versions only? Or mobile as well? Thanks for sharing these apps, I will investigate them, maybe will implement some of their cool features :)
bhandziuk 7y ago
Been using YNAB (https://www.youneedabudget.com/ https://www.youneedabudget.com/) for about 8 years. Very satisfied with it. The app is pretty good but the philosophy of financial management they advocate is the real seller.
- artem31 7y ago
  Yes, it's good as I know. What features are most important/useful for you in YNAB? And thanks for your comment :)
davchana 7y ago
I use a simple spreadsheet with rows of 1st of every month. First few columns are Assets (Bank Checking, Savings, Retirement, Investments) Then Liabilities such as Credit Cards, Loans). Then the simple sum of these two in next column gives my Net Worth for that month. Next Column adds its to the same of previous month, giving me total net worth. Then a %age change from last month. All balances are as per 1st of month.
- artem31 7y ago
  I do the same. But using the BalanceViewer it's even more easily and informative (at least for me). And I hope other users will love it as well :)
dougk16 7y ago
I know a lot of people use spreadsheets, but I figure why not take it to the next level? So I'm starting to use a SQLite database with a simple bash CLI front-end for prompting new entries, generating reports, and simplifying some SQL queries. Anytime I find myself dropping down to raw SQL I try to wrap it behind a simple command for the next time. I want to start adding some REST calls, e.g. to get the current spot price of gold, so I can compare it to my original buy prices. Good luck with the app, it looks really sleek. And I like how you included a question in your Show HN title to lure me in. :)
- artem31 7y ago
  Very interesting solution to use SQL queries :) However it difficult for a lot of people to use DB to track net worth especially to people who is not familiar with SQL, I think spreadsheets a bit easier XD Thanks for the feedback, still have a lot of work to do with the app, but hope it will help in net worth tracking. The question was a key! Do you use some kind of tracking app on your mobile device?
  - dougk16 7y ago
    I agree SQL is way too hardcore for the average person, but the CLI wrapper makes it a little more approachable. Still a little too hardcore for most people but one cool part is that I can generate spreadsheets easily as well. Anyway no I don't use a mobile app since this is more for long-term tracking and not something I need to update or query on the go, so mobile wouldn't make sense for my use cases. I'm probably a bad example though since I don't use mobile apps at all really.
    - artem31 7y ago
      I hope to have a web version of BalanceViewer as well in the future)
pruthvishetty 7y ago
Charles Schwab.
- artem31 7y ago
  Cool, didn't hear about it before. I will check it out. What killer feature do you like the most in it?

11 points by artem31 7y ago

It has always been difficult for me to track all petty expenses, such as coffee, a new T-shirt or a haircut. But at the same time, it is very important for me to know how much money I have in each period of time. I used a lot of expense tracking apps, but usually I forgot to add something, and as a result, the actual balance in 99% of cases does not match with balance inside the app, so every month I added the correct results to the money trackers manually. Also, money trackers usually show Expenses / Income, but I wanted to find out how much money I had just last month, and now, to see the difference in the total amount. I did this in Excel, but then the idea came to me to create an application for these purposes without additional functions, so that people can spend only a few minutes a month, but get excellent statistics about their overall financial balance. Do you track all of your expenses daily? Do you track your net worth somehow? What applications or services do you use?

whalesalad 7y ago
Seems odd to conflate your net worth with little expenses like haircuts. I see how they are related, but at the same time they aren’t.
- artem31 7y ago
  I know, I used expense trackers but they are not pretty good to track net worth, because of this I did track net worth in excel before creating the app)
  - itake 7y ago
    The problem I have with apps like this is its virtually impossible to accurately track networth. At any given time, I am owed money (like a tax refund) or I am making an "investment" (like renovating my house to increase its value). Does your app calculate the current market value of real estate or vehicles?

hsnewman 7y ago

Personal capital is what I use.

artem31 7y ago
Nice. Are you satisfied with it, what's the most valuable feature for you there? Or maybe some features that you want to see but they are not there? I've built my app to be simple but effective :)
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
- madamelic 7y ago
  I also use Personal Capital. Something annoying about finances is dealing with negative numbers. If my credit has changed by -$500, at a glance, does that mean I have paid off $500 or does that mean my debt has grown by $500? Obviously this can be figured out from digging in deeper, but I like "at a glance" stats. What I am saying is to add context clues. Rather than giving a plan number with negatives, maybe $500 but green means "paid off" and $500 but red means "grown". I don't know of a person that would see a red $500 and think they paid off $500. Negatives are hard, especially when credit is already backwards.
  - artem31 7y ago
    An example dept balance -$2000 then it decreases on $500. In that case -$2000 + $500 = -$1500 (+$500 should be green) I'm I get you right?

LVB 7y ago

Parallel to detailed transaction tracking, I have a spreadsheet called "Simple Net Worth" that approximates the goals of this app. Just a set of balances I update every so often manually, which is good to capture the accounts/assets that aren't easily tracked elsewhere. The app looks nice but seems to have a deal-breaker: how do I enter debt? My mortgage is very much a part of my net worth calculation, but I see no way to mark an account as a debt or enter a negative number.

artem31 7y ago
You are right. We are planning to add negative values in next updates. Have some problems with graphs when negative values is bigger than positive :) As a workaround right now you can copy "-" symbol and paste it before balance value. But note, that graphs can be displayed incorrectly. Will be fixed in next releases.Anything else that need to be improved? And thanks for the feedback!
- LVB 7y ago
  Other feedback would be: * passcode protection, like other security features, are not good "pro" upsells IMHO. That should be in the free version. * Maybe too expensive for a basic calculator, especially priced as a subscription. I have little appetite for more subscriptions.
  - artem31 7y ago
    Passcode it's just an additional feature, you can keep your data safe by setting iPhone's protection (Touch or Face ID). About the price, we actively work on other functionality as well. An example tracking all your incomes. Expenses will be counted automatically based on balances and incomes. This is only the first version, so a lot of thing to do, but since I do this using my own savings it takes time :) Thanks for the feedback!

SyneRyder 7y ago

Quicken Desktop (or rather, the Australian fork, Reckon Accounts). Their licensing is really awful - to the point of the company having faced Consumer Affairs rulings - but it's a really good program, very fast to use, and I have 20 years of data in there. There's a lot of us out there who would love to switch away from Quicken/Reckon the company, but keep Quicken the product. (Tried Moneydance, GNUcash etc, they're just not quite as good, though Moneydance is closest.)

artem31 7y ago
Yes, I read about some problems with Quicken. Do you mostly use Desktop versions only? Or mobile as well? Thanks for sharing these apps, I will investigate them, maybe will implement some of their cool features :)

bhandziuk 7y ago

Been using YNAB (https://www.youneedabudget.com/ https://www.youneedabudget.com/) for about 8 years. Very satisfied with it. The app is pretty good but the philosophy of financial management they advocate is the real seller.

artem31 7y ago
Yes, it's good as I know. What features are most important/useful for you in YNAB? And thanks for your comment :)

davchana 7y ago

I use a simple spreadsheet with rows of 1st of every month. First few columns are Assets (Bank Checking, Savings, Retirement, Investments) Then Liabilities such as Credit Cards, Loans). Then the simple sum of these two in next column gives my Net Worth for that month. Next Column adds its to the same of previous month, giving me total net worth. Then a %age change from last month. All balances are as per 1st of month.

artem31 7y ago
I do the same. But using the BalanceViewer it's even more easily and informative (at least for me). And I hope other users will love it as well :)

dougk16 7y ago

I know a lot of people use spreadsheets, but I figure why not take it to the next level? So I'm starting to use a SQLite database with a simple bash CLI front-end for prompting new entries, generating reports, and simplifying some SQL queries. Anytime I find myself dropping down to raw SQL I try to wrap it behind a simple command for the next time. I want to start adding some REST calls, e.g. to get the current spot price of gold, so I can compare it to my original buy prices. Good luck with the app, it looks really sleek. And I like how you included a question in your Show HN title to lure me in. :)

artem31 7y ago
Very interesting solution to use SQL queries :) However it difficult for a lot of people to use DB to track net worth especially to people who is not familiar with SQL, I think spreadsheets a bit easier XD Thanks for the feedback, still have a lot of work to do with the app, but hope it will help in net worth tracking. The question was a key! Do you use some kind of tracking app on your mobile device?
- dougk16 7y ago
  I agree SQL is way too hardcore for the average person, but the CLI wrapper makes it a little more approachable. Still a little too hardcore for most people but one cool part is that I can generate spreadsheets easily as well. Anyway no I don't use a mobile app since this is more for long-term tracking and not something I need to update or query on the go, so mobile wouldn't make sense for my use cases. I'm probably a bad example though since I don't use mobile apps at all really.
  - artem31 7y ago
    I hope to have a web version of BalanceViewer as well in the future)

pruthvishetty 7y ago

Charles Schwab.

artem31 7y ago
Cool, didn't hear about it before. I will check it out. What killer feature do you like the most in it?