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Good budgeting software?

ravenvii

ravenvii

macrumors 604
Original poster
Mar 17, 2004
7,585
494
Melenkurion Skyweir
What I basically want to do is a software that basically divides my single bank account into multiple "accounts." Basically I'd assign some money to go into those accounts (which would be for something, for instance, "New MacBook Pro Fund" or whatnot).

Is there such software? Is that basically what Quicken/QuickBooks does (I've never used those before)? I don't want to buy Quicken/QuickBooks if it is - I hate Intuit.

So... any suggestions/recommendations? If it has the ability to pull information from my bank, that'd be great, too.
 
I believe that ChaChing might be close to what you're looking for. Not fancy, but you can make your own accounts and it's not by Intuit. ;)
 
I tried ChaChing and don't really like it... it's a bit confusing, and what's up with the "master vault"? And in my account, it doesn't actually tell me how much money I have right now. Just a list of transactions. A bit useless.

And it'd be nice if there's a program that can download and sync my transactions. You know, like MobileMe ;)
 
ravenvii said:
I tried ChaChing and don't really like it... it's a bit confusing, and what's up with the "master vault"? And in my account, it doesn't actually tell me how much money I have right now. Just a list of transactions. A bit useless.

And it'd be nice if there's a program that can download and sync my transactions. You know, like MobileMe ;)
Click to expand...

Unfortunately your requirements sound a lot like the features of Quicken, which you have indicated you do not want to use. Perhaps search around VersionTracker some more, but I am not aware of any other apps of this nature.
 
~Shard~ said:
Unfortunately your requirements sound a lot like the features of Quicken, which you have indicated you do not want to use. Perhaps search around VersionTracker some more, but I am not aware of any other apps of this nature.
Click to expand...

Ugh, I do hate Intuit, but that Financial Life seems nice, like they're actually trying a little this time. Does Financial Life have bank account online syncing?
 
ravenvii said:
What I basically want to do is a software that basically divides my single bank account into multiple "accounts." Basically I'd assign some money to go into those accounts (which would be for something, for instance, "New MacBook Pro Fund" or whatnot).

Is there such software? Is that basically what Quicken/QuickBooks does (I've never used those before)? I don't want to buy Quicken/QuickBooks if it is - I hate Intuit.

So... any suggestions/recommendations? If it has the ability to pull information from my bank, that'd be great, too.
Click to expand...

Hi,

Try Budget ( http://www.snowmintcs.com/products/index.php )
Available for the Mac and Windoze and works on the envelope budgeting model. It costs a few dollars/pounds but you can try before you buy. I ended up using MoneyDance but only because I am taking a different approach, not because Budget wasn't any good.

Hope this helps,
Craig.
 
Wow, Budget is neat. It's pretty close to what I want.

Unfortunately it doesn't have online syncing, so it just makes it too cumbersome, which will eventually mean abandonment by me. I need it to be easy and sync'd so I'd actually be inclined to use it.
 
ravenvii said:
Wow, Budget is neat. It's pretty close to what I want.

Unfortunately it doesn't have online syncing, so it just makes it too cumbersome, which will eventually mean abandonment by me. I need it to be easy and sync'd so I'd actually be inclined to use it.
Click to expand...

Hi,
You can import QIF files so wouldn't that allow you to load up bank transactions? Depends on your bank allowing you to download QIF files but mine certainly does.

Cheers,
Craig.
 
craig1410 said:
Hi,
You can import QIF files so wouldn't that allow you to load up bank transactions? Depends on your bank allowing you to download QIF files but mine certainly does.

Cheers,
Craig.
Click to expand...

Yeah, but you have to go online, login into their online banking, then click a few links to get the download. And you have to do this every time you need it to sync. It's not "live" you know?
 
iBank 3

Check out iBank 3 from IGG Software... my wife and I use it instead of Quicken. I don't know if it would automatically budget for you though. You could buy some envelopes and put cash in them.
 
ravenvii said:
Yeah, but you have to go online, login into their online banking, then click a few links to get the download. And you have to do this every time you need it to sync. It's not "live" you know?
Click to expand...

Yeah I realise that, it's what I do every week... :)
To be honest I'm not comfortable with a program which can automatically access my bank account. I like to be the one who logs in using my security info. Maybe I'm old fashioned...

I think you're going to struggle to find everything you want in one package to be honest but good luck all the same.

Cheers,
Craig.
 
andypullen said:
Check out iBank 3 from IGG Software... my wife and I use it instead of Quicken. I don't know if it would automatically budget for you though. You could buy some envelopes and put cash in them.
Click to expand...

Heh, I've thought about doing the real life envelope thing :D Maybe I'll do that after all.

I've tried iBank, I'm very impressed, it's better than all the others I've tried, and it has online syncing too. I couldn't get it to work, but it's there. Not bad, but still seems not as efficient as the real life envelope thing. ;)
 
I'm suprised noone has said this yet but I'm a big fan of iBank! Google it! Its a great financial application for OSX!
 
ravenvii said:
What I basically want to do is a software that basically divides my single bank account into multiple "accounts." Basically I'd assign some money to go into those accounts (which would be for something, for instance, "New MacBook Pro Fund" or whatnot).
Click to expand...
I've not seen this particular method of budgeting: I've been using MS Money and others for years and they are organized around actual bank accounts. But with that system you could create accounts to represent your savings goals.

Or you can use Excel or Numbers and do this easily. Have a spreadsheet with your total savings amount and then have the various savings and expense categories and divide up your total savings into those. Use the "sum" function to make sure everything adds up correctly.
 
~Shard~ said:
Unfortunately your requirements sound a lot like the features of Quicken, which you have indicated you do not want to use. Perhaps search around VersionTracker some more, but I am not aware of any other apps of this nature.
Click to expand...

iBank is the app that I have found to be the closest to Quicken functionality. It also has a great design if you place any importance into that.
 
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