I have been using Quicken for years to track transactions in all my accounts. I can keep track of money coming in and going out. It allows me to look at everything in one place, see my balances, manage a budget, pay bills, etc. I have used Quicken for such a long time, I wonder if I am simply used to my method of doing things or is there something better.
What other programs are being used by the community? I think I would like to consider options.
I use countabout and manually upload my accounts. The cost is just $10 per year with manual upload.
I’m old-fashioned and don’t want to give permission to any accounting program to have access to my accounts. Countabout is one of the few programs that permits manual upload.
I use an Excel spreadsheet that I created. I used to use quicken, but about 8ish years ago I began having more and more difficulties with it. Eventually I gave up, saying, at least in my mind, “you obviously do not want my business, and are trying to destroy the program.”
As a project manager many years ago in a large mfg plant, the existing company software just did not cover the things I needed.
Took an all day business Excel course at the local JC. WOW…!!
I had no idea. Before long, I could make projections, pivot tables, % of high or low data, multi layered charts, even cells that would blink RED when the data was getting risky, based on my preset limits. Amazing.
I switched from Mint online when it was discontinued to Monarch online. There’s a fee but not too much. I mainly use it to aggregate my accounts (banks, brokerages, credit cards). I check it every day or two or three and categorize my transactions. Usually that’s automatic but sometimes a store or vendor isn’t recognized by the program.
I know that Clark and others say to check your monthly credit card statements for fraudulent charges but in my opinion it’s much easier to do that every few days. That way it’s fresh in your mind. If I waited a month, I’d probably forget why there’s a charge for an unrecognized shop or online vendor. It takes time to investigate whether it’s real or not, so in order to save time I just do that process frequently.
You can use many other advanced features on Monarch like budgeting but I stick to the account view and transactions view. No need for me to use everything that’s offered.
I have used Quicken for decades, but got tired of having to buy new versions every 3 years as they would change the format for connecting to bank accounts trying to force you to “upgrade”. And the new versions had the same defects as the old. So, I use Quicken 2008 and manually enter everything. I found I pay more attention when I have to manually enter stuff anyway.
Collects info from your financial accounts and puts them into a google or excel spreadsheet that you control. They don’t hold the data. Can be a little involved to set up but very powerful.