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Ask HN: As a freelancer, what's the best app to track finances?

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Re: Ask HN: As a freelancer, what's the best app to track finances?

#121

Post by seem_2211 »

nunodonato wrote: post #81
thibaut_barrere wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you are suggesting free or 1$/mo, then know it's not sustainable for me, at least in current conditions.

this is the challenge with a global marketplace, where prices are set based on where the developers live, but are paid by people living in different economic conditions :) I use Buxfer at the moment, which has a simple paid plan at 4.99, and a more complete one at 9.99 (with advanced features). I think offering more than one plan is a good idea, to catch different users at different price points. Unless your price is…

I would argue the opposite. I run a small business and find it hard to trust something at $4.99 a month, especially if it solves a real business problem.

Intuit is what, $50 a month? I don't see why this product doesn't capture a similar amount of value.

I'd be careful with a lot of these comments, because (generally speaking) HN users are very technically competent, but extremely tight fisted when it comes to money.

If you're a consultant who charges out $100 an hour for work, then having a tool that relieves your monetary stress for the equivalent of 15 mins work is a no brainer.

Why you'd cut your margins so heavily for an audience who will not value your work (if they won't pay $25, I'd bet you a pain in the ass they probably won't buy at $5, and if they do, they'll be extremely annoying and demanding).

Charge more, not less.

Re: Ask HN: As a freelancer, what's the best app to track finances?

#122

Post by rexpop »

LikeAnElephant wrote: post #118
justusthane wrote: post #107

It doesn't really have forecasting capability and isn't targeted at business, but just for personal budgeting and finance tracking, I love YNAB, and it works fine for variable income. It has actually changed my life (coming from no budgeting ;) There's a public API too, so you could probably build forecasting and more detailed reporting on top of it.

Can't second this enough. YNAB was really difficult to "get" at first, but it has removed nearly all the stress I used to feel about money.

How many hours a week do you spend in YNAB?

Re: Ask HN: As a freelancer, what's the best app to track finances?

#123

Post by spoiledtechie »

Dave Ramsey, - Every Dollar App.

Dave Ramsey is probably the biggest expert in helping people get out of debt and stay out of debt. While its a 8 step program, he requires you to sit down and budget.

Just one more accolade. He is known in circles as the best program to get people out of debt and fast.

Along with his program he offers an App called Every Dollar.

Its a must have if you know anything about budgeting personally.

Re: Ask HN: As a freelancer, what's the best app to track finances?

#125

Post by adamfeldman »

rexpop wrote: post #122
LikeAnElephant wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can't second this enough. YNAB was really difficult to "get" at first, but it has removed nearly all the stress I used to feel about money.

How many hours a week do you spend in YNAB?

Reviewing cleared transactions that automatically download into YNAB takes me under 3 min/day (they’re auto-categorized based on past inputs). I usually do this on desktop but it can all be done on iOS (and Android?) as well.

Initial setup of budget categories took me about an hour of reading docs and playing with the app. Historical transactions mostly aren’t available for import, so over the first 1-2 months of use you’ll fiddle with things as you get more data.

From there I found myself just reviewing the reports every so often as needed.

Re: Ask HN: As a freelancer, what's the best app to track finances?

#126

Post by hnruss »

I've been using the Everlance iOS app for a few months now, which tracks miles driven, revenue, expenses, and receipts. It supports having various types of work that need to be tracked separately. I also like that it stores receipts in the cloud. For me, tracking expenses is easier when it is right on my phone.

Re: Ask HN: As a freelancer, what's the best app to track finances?

#127

Post by inceptivecss »

I personally use Harpoon: https://harpoonapp.com/

The tracking and forecasting it provides are absolutely excellent. It absolutely lets you specify income, expenses, budgeting, existing and proposed projects, and since it lets you add estimated income for the future, you can get an excellent view of what your actual needs are in terms of future work and income.

For example, with my most up-to-date data I know that I'm booked solid with good income for the next two months, but for the rest of the year I need at least 1 project a month to meet my financial goals. I'm abstracting a bit, but it actually gives you hard numbers for where you're at and what you need in the future.

Feel free to toss me an email if you'd like to discuss this further. My email is in my profile.

Re: Ask HN: As a freelancer, what's the best app to track finances?

#130

Post by Dayshine »

wishinghand wrote: post #129

Just a note about your posting format- don't use the `pre` tag or backticks to quote long lines of text. They'll overflow and it's essentially impossible to read on mobile.

Why haven't ycombinator fixed this problem yet?

It's bizarre that a programmer focused discussion board doesn't support code or quote formatting. And even worse, doesn't strip out formatting that breaks!?

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