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personal finance software

B

buckuxc

macrumors regular
Original poster
Aug 28, 2003
208
0
hey all,

I'm looking for a good program to keep track of my personal finances. I used MS Money before I switched. I've tried out Quicken 2004, but it seems a hell of a lot less intuitive then MS Money. Money did a better job with categories and with setting not just bills but also recurring paychecks. Are there any alternatives to Quicken that are more like Money or are better than either? I wouldn't object to spending money on it, but freeware or inexpensive shareware would be nice. Thanks.

sps
 
B

buckuxc

macrumors regular
Original poster
Aug 28, 2003
208
0
after using quicken for awhile...

I'm back to looking for a better financial software package. The one thing I can think of off the top of my head that MS Money did have, but Quicken does not (nor does iCash, though I've only just started using the program..it's hard to tell the features when things are disabled, isn't it?) is the ability to track interest on accounts. When I set up a credit or loan type account in MS Money, I could put the interest rate. This doesn't seem possible with either of these programs for the Mac.

The other problem I had with Quicken (but I don't know what iCash does) is if I wanted to make a payment on one account (say my credit line) with money from a checking account, I couldn't transfer it from one register to the other and categorize it as payment (if this is possible, it wasn't intuitive). Therefore, I had to enter the transaction in both registers. This to me doesn't make much sense. Maybe I could set this up in the Bills section, but why can't I just do it by hand in the register? Not every bill I have is recurring, etc. Anyway, I want to be able to transfer an amount from one account to another and categorize it. Is that a feature I'm just overlooking (i.e., Bills) or is there are program that does this better?

Does anyone have any suggestions as to some real full-featured finances programs for the Mac? That way I won't have to spend hours downloading and testing every single one of them. Thanks.

sps
 
J

jywv8

macrumors 6502
Jan 11, 2003
322
0
Chicago
Me too!

I'm looking for an alternative to Quicken, too, but I have yet to find one. Quicken has been fine for my checking, savings, and credit card accounts, but I think their investment account stuff really stinks. For one, I am entirely unable to record a security spin-off using their "investment action" menu. And it can't seem to handle rounding with fractional shares properly, so I always end up having to put in 1 cent commissions and other crap. (And this is with Quicken 2004.)

I've looked at Liquid Ledger, but I am completely turned off by their GUI/model. The other apps I've looked at can't handle investments or handle them just as poorly as Quicken. Ick.
 
wordmunger

wordmunger

macrumors 603
Sep 3, 2003
5,124
3
North Carolina
buckuxc said:
Anyway, I want to be able to transfer an amount from one account to another and categorize it. Is that a feature I'm just overlooking (i.e., Bills) or is there are program that does this better?
Click to expand...

I use quicken, but I wouldn't want to be able to do this. Why? If I'm paying off my credit card, that's not a category. The real category is the item I purchased. So if I went out to dinner and paid $50 on my credit card, the category is "dining." When I write the check to the credit card company, I'm transferring money from my bank account to my credit card account. The money was already spent. This keeps me from paying just $25 on my credit card and forgetting that I *actually* spent $50 on dinner. Another way of putting it is this: if I had a separate category for "credit card," then my accounts wouldn't add up--I'd be paying for everything twice.

If you want to know how much money you've transferred between accounts, you can specify "include transfers" in your report view, and these transfers will be included.
 
M

murphydog

macrumors newbie
Jul 23, 2002
1
0
Moneydance

I have used Quicken going back to '94, but I have completely given up on it. It has somehow gotten so bad I refuse to pay another dime for it.

My main criterion for selecting financial software is the ability to do on-line banking and bill pay such has Quicken allows. Moneydance is the only one that I have found that will do this.

All in all, it is rather complete and serves my needs well. There are still some rough edges on this application, but development and user involvelment is very active. It is a complete breadth of fresh air to make an inquirey, and get a response within the day!
 
Sun Baked

Sun Baked

macrumors G5
May 19, 2002
14,937
157
Don't forget about

http://www.myob.com/us/

Though it really isn't designed to be a "personal" finance package, so no emphasis on the on-line banking/investing end of the spectrum.

Decent business accounting package, but it did take them forever to bring back the multi-user aspect to their accounting package.

Though I know their full-blown package (when you need a QuickBooks and above level) can handle just about anything somebody in a small-medium business may throw at it -- I haven't downloaded a demo their $99 Lite Version (Firstedge), so I don't know how limiting it is.
 
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