Ynab vs banktivity6/12/2023 I won't argue that GnuCash was easy to learn, but it was much easier than I expected. Generally I avoid all of the GnuXXX tools (windows guy) because while they are free, my time spent trying to learn how to use them is NOT. Late last year I found GnuCash and gave it a hesitant try-not expecting much. They all seemed to have at least one big negative as well (software bugs, broken accounts, missing features, difficult interfaces, etc.). They each had pluses, but none of them worked the way I wanted. I got frustrated and gave up on all of them. Over the years I have tried Mint, Quicken, YNAB, Personal Capital, and probably a few others. I had been searching for a replacement ever since it was discontinued with increasing levels of disappointment. I used Microsoft Money waaay back for all my finances (which were much less complicated then). Triceratop wrote:I'm a very happy GnuCash user. Unfortunately then, if the portfolio tracking/analysis isn't entirely useful, then the Personal Capital platform really isn't a worthwhile solution since there are other systems/platforms out there that do a much better job with tracking spending/budgeting/forecasting/reporting/etc AND have at least some level of investment portfolio analysis. As far as I can tell, there is no way to modify the fund's asset allocation manually (nor is there a way to create additional/custom spending categories on the banking side). For instance, we have the L 2040 fund at the TSP, and Personal Capital classifies it being invested entirely as "US Stocks," making our overall portfolio-level asset allocation look way more aggressive than it really is. Overall, I like it for it's kind of elegant simplicity however, the portfolio tracking is only useful if you only have funds that have readily available ticker symbols. I've been running Personal Capital in parallel now for a few months. The portfolio tracking stuff is great though. Just frank wrote:I'm still happy with Personal Capital, but I haven't used the budget features much. You can then report at the end of the week, month or year where your money went. You're looking at each category as you spend the money so that you don't over spend. As you spend your actual money, you log the transactions against the assigned categories. Each category has dollars assigned on where your income is SUPPOSED to go the next month. If you had $1,000 in income, you'd say $200 is going to student loans, $300 to groceries, etc. You then assign every dollar you input a job. You would create different budget categories for student loans and any other bills. You would track your income coming in from the various sources. In principal, here's how I would see it working: Regarding your goal of tracking where your "money is spent, cash flow, balances, student loans and to maximize deductions at tax time", you can absolutely do this in YNAB. I'd give it a shot first, but make sure you watch the training videos and get your spouse 100% on board otherwise it won't work. I'm an active YNAB user and it works, but it takes discipline. Would it be redundant to use quickbooks AND expensify to keep track of biz expenses? I would be seeing these expenses anyways if a credit card or bank account is being used.Īny thoughts on what would best fit our situation? Correct?Įxpensify seems great as it can keep track of all the receipts. YNAB seems like a straight budgeting tool and don't think it can all I'm looking for. I was looking at quickbooks, but everywhere I read it is not recommended for personal finances and would require two separate books. I want a program that allows us to get an overall idea of how our money is being spent, cash flow, balances, student loans and to maximize deductions at tax time. Each one also has their own bank accounts and credit cards. We are both sole proprietors and try best to keep our business and personal incomes separate. Each one of us has a 401k x 2, and one 403a. Spouse and I both have regular W2 salaries and each one also has additional income coming in as 1099. I am in the process of trying to get more organized.
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