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Simple Personal Finance Tracking with GnuCash

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Re: Simple Personal Finance Tracking with GnuCash

#271

Post by gwd »

PascLeRasc wrote: post #171
monksy wrote: post #166

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree with the "I will teach you to be rich" (it's a book) approach a bit more than "i can't buy a $5e coffee daily". Their approach is more like a performance engineer. You look at the biggest costs first and reduce it down. I.e. Ask for a raise, refinance your place, find a cheaper place to rent, etc. When you get down to the coffee you would be faced with: is it cheaper to make good quality coffee, or am I payin…

I love the IWTYTBR philosophy too. My favorite part is the concept of "guilt-free spending". Once you get the "big wins" down like you talked about, you can set aside 15-20% of your monthly net income to be spent any way you like. This seems intuitive at face value, but the example Rami uses with buying a $150 pair of cashmere sweatpants brings it home. It was inside his $500/month or whatever "guilt-free spending" b…

>Once you get the "big wins" down like you talked about, you can set aside 15-20% of your monthly net income to be spent any way you like.

In fact, I think no matter what your budget is like, it's important to have at least some "doesn't have to be justified" budget set aside, even if it's just $5 a month. If your monthly "doesn't have to be justified" budget is $5, and you decide to blow that $5 on an expensive coffee every month, that's perfectly OK and you shouldn't feel guilty.

Re: Simple Personal Finance Tracking with GnuCash

#272

Post by sequoia »

zhdc1 wrote: post #219
sequoia wrote: post #189

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> More time to enjoy life! What if I enjoy life by buying a fancy coffee & drinking it on my walk to work? The downside of your formulation of "why buy coffee? you could be enjoying life instead!" is that this worldview encourages people to feel guilty about buying coffee. Extreme frugality has its place, but remember that "your life" that you have to enjoy isn't something that starts in 5 years or 10 years or once y…

Yeah, but how fancy is the fancy coffee though? Are we talking Starbucks or a three day roast sourced from a micro lot in Kenya? If it fits your budget, go for it, but let's not confuse convenience with enjoyment or quality.

I say this in order to share constructive feedback, because I know a lot of people on HN are not great at "tone" and sometimes appreciate an explanation why their comment might accidentally offend:

This comment is very condescending and pointlessly critical. You suggest that I do not know how to enjoy coffee correctly, and am instead perhaps "confusing convenience with enjoyment." Rest assured that, I, along with basically everyone, can be trusted to know what they themselves enjoy or do not enjoy, without your advisement.

To clarify, I am using "fancy" as a shorthand for "expensive," i.e. a $5-6 coffee rather than a $2 coffee.

Re: Simple Personal Finance Tracking with GnuCash

#273

Post by imnotreallynew »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #225
koonsolo wrote: post #215

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Especially when you are a customer at multiple banks.

Doubly especially when you're a developer that can handle a proper API themselves, and do a better job at it than all the startups that will pop up to sell you a budget management service, nothankyou. All these years I wanted a widget that would display three numbers and a graph on my phone's home page. A total sum of money on all my non-savings accounts across all banks, the amount I already spent today, and a "burn…

> because the API endpoints needed don't exist unless you're a company with a large enough budget to afford it.

I’m pretty sure Plaid’s free tier is more than enough for the use case you suggest.

Re: Simple Personal Finance Tracking with GnuCash

#274

Post by hammock »

cascom wrote: post #60

I’ve been using Gnucash for my personal finances for a several years now, and really love it - it’s not dead simple, and requires an understanding of double entry bookkeeping, but where it really shines is flexibility. A couple of examples are as follows: 1. Expenses in the future - If I book a bunch of plane tickets for later in the year today, I can book those expenses in those months in which I’m traveling (pre-pa…

These are great examples, thank you for putting this list together. I use mint to track transactions + a running spreadsheet of account balances. These are exactly all of my gripes with my current system.

Re: Simple Personal Finance Tracking with GnuCash

#275

Post by TeMPOraL »

slavoingilizov wrote: post #255
julianeon wrote: post #179

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This reminds me of that Upton Sinclair quote: 'It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it.' I think banks benefit from a certain amount of sloppiness. Get hit by a finance charge here, accumulating unnecessary interest on a credit card there? Who cares! Let the bank handle it, don't worry, banking should be convenient... So despite endless paeans to cust…

You're overestimating banks abilities: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanlon%27s_razor

I don't think it applies. Your bank's website and app are two best places they can use to upsell you their financial products. Exposing the data in a sane way would cut directly into their profits.

Re: Simple Personal Finance Tracking with GnuCash

#276

Post by 72deluxe »

biddlesby wrote: post #208
somebrody wrote: post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yep, emotional solutions work better for many. An example: 1) Pay rent and all bills on time, fully. This is sacred. It is called the Golden Rule for a reason. 2) After rent and bills, take the rest out in cash. a) Split the cash into the number of weeks it needs to cover. b) Split the cash for each week into two equal parts. Put one half in an envelope labeled "Monday" and the other half in one labeled "Friday". c)…

I would love to do this, but I live in a country where cash isn't a thing. It's explicitly not accepted in most places. How can I spend the same effect if I only have a debit card? I am wondering if two accounts or a currency card is a good idea. But it's just not the same as having a physical pile of cash that you can judge how fast it's going down and how much is left

Every purchase can involve a receipt. Put the value of the receipt onto a spreadsheet after each purchase. Discard the receipt. Get into a habit of doing it.

Also, spend on a credit card instead of debit. The credit card takes the fall in case of fraud or scam but this is not the case with debit cards and you'll be out of pocket.

Alternatively, spend each item on different credit cards, eg. fuel on one, food on another, partying/treats on another. You will be able to quickly see how much you're spending using their apps, or the realisation of how often you're getting one particular card out of your wallet.

Re: Simple Personal Finance Tracking with GnuCash

#277

Post by TeMPOraL »

imnotreallynew wrote: post #273
TeMPOraL wrote: post #225

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Doubly especially when you're a developer that can handle a proper API themselves, and do a better job at it than all the startups that will pop up to sell you a budget management service, nothankyou. All these years I wanted a widget that would display three numbers and a graph on my phone's home page. A total sum of money on all my non-savings accounts across all banks, the amount I already spent today, and a "burn…

> because the API endpoints needed don't exist unless you're a company with a large enough budget to afford it. I’m pretty sure Plaid’s free tier is more than enough for the use case you suggest.

Took a look, it looks promising. With two caveats. One:

  Plaid supports institutions in the following countries:

    Canada ( 'CA' )
    France ( 'FR' )
    Ireland ( 'IE' )
    Netherlands ( 'NL' )
    Spain ( 'ES' )
    United Kingdom ( 'GB' )
    United States ( 'US' )
My country (Poland) is unfortunately not on the list.

Two, there's some mention that "Some European institutions use an OAuth authentication flow, ...". I can't find any info on how long the OAuth tokens are valid, but I suspect they'll be short-lived enough to destroy any possibility of having a script placed in cron.

Re: Simple Personal Finance Tracking with GnuCash

#278

Post by andrewzah »

anitil wrote: post #140
lifeisstillgood wrote: post #125

Aaaaaaaaarrrrrrrgggggggghhhhh! I just want a bank account and to have that bank record my spending and let me download it, securely, and automatically. I mean the European Union has taken years to force, yes force banks to do this, and it is basically still broken. I don't want to spend this much effort on something so obviously solvable. It just offends me. Yes that is the right word. And, finally, none of this matt…

I know you're not asking directly for advice, but if you'd be interested, I find the following is the easiest way of keeping a budget. 0. Forget about tracking things down to the dollar, or even the tens of dollars. That level of precision is unnecessary. If a coffee here or there is going to break your budget, it's already broken and you need to go in to panic mode. 1. Have a spreadsheet with vague monthly costs lik…

> 0. Forget about tracking things down to the dollar, or even the tens of dollars. That level of precision is unnecessary. If a coffee here or there is going to break your budget, it's already broken and you need to go in to panic mode

I strongly disagree. Entering every penny, and tagging every transaction correctly, lets you see where your money is going very quickly. A coffee won't break my budget but now I can see that I'm spending $x/month at my local cafe, etc.

Re: Simple Personal Finance Tracking with GnuCash

#279

Post by dionidium »

andrewzah wrote: post #278
anitil wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know you're not asking directly for advice, but if you'd be interested, I find the following is the easiest way of keeping a budget. 0. Forget about tracking things down to the dollar, or even the tens of dollars. That level of precision is unnecessary. If a coffee here or there is going to break your budget, it's already broken and you need to go in to panic mode. 1. Have a spreadsheet with vague monthly costs lik…

> 0. Forget about tracking things down to the dollar, or even the tens of dollars. That level of precision is unnecessary. If a coffee here or there is going to break your budget, it's already broken and you need to go in to panic mode I strongly disagree. Entering every penny, and tagging every transaction correctly, lets you see where your money is going very quickly. A coffee won't break my budget but now I can se…

Also, for most of the vast middle-class and below, an inability to track your spending down to the dollar is itself a sign that your budget is broken. Most of us don't have so many transactions coming in and out that this should be difficult and it's a possible sign of dysfunction if you do.

Re: Simple Personal Finance Tracking with GnuCash

#280

Post by Consultant32452 »

biddlesby wrote: post #208
somebrody wrote: post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yep, emotional solutions work better for many. An example: 1) Pay rent and all bills on time, fully. This is sacred. It is called the Golden Rule for a reason. 2) After rent and bills, take the rest out in cash. a) Split the cash into the number of weeks it needs to cover. b) Split the cash for each week into two equal parts. Put one half in an envelope labeled "Monday" and the other half in one labeled "Friday". c)…

I would love to do this, but I live in a country where cash isn't a thing. It's explicitly not accepted in most places. How can I spend the same effect if I only have a debit card? I am wondering if two accounts or a currency card is a good idea. But it's just not the same as having a physical pile of cash that you can judge how fast it's going down and how much is left

Anything that creates friction to over-spending is a benefit. It won't stop you outright, but over time it will tend to get the job done. Multiple accounts is a great way of doing this. I have several accounts. Some examples...

I have a 'bills' account. This has all my semi-fixed bills. Some bills like electricity fluctuate, but it's generally always in the same ballpark. Every paycheck the same amount of money goes into this account. It's enough to cover the bills plus a small bit to account for fluctuations. I also keep a "buffer" amount in this account. If we imagine that the buffer is $500. Then I don't worry until the balance drops below $500. Otherwise, everything going on in this account is "automatic."

I have an account dedicated to just my car. My car is paid for, and every month I put in a "car payment" into that account. Any repairs, new tires, etc. come from that account. This changes a flat tire from an "emergency" into a "minor inconvenience." When it comes time to get a new car, I usually have enough money in there to pay for the next car in full after trade-in.

I have an emergency/savings account. Every paycheck $55 goes into this account. It covers medical copays, house repairs, etc. that exceed my ability to pay out of my "day to day" budget. So a regular doctor visit gets paid for out of my regular money, but a hospital visit with a big copay gets paid for out of the emergency fund.

One part of my budget is, "Burn money." This is money I have budgeted for random shit that I just feel like getting. This is easily accessible, usually in cash, but could easily be a debit or cash card. When that runs out, I stop spending.

This kind of system isn't for everyone. And of course I could technically transfer money from any account to another in seconds on my phone. But just that tiny bit of friction between me and the bad decision GREATLY improves my behavior. I'm still not perfect, but I'm meeting my savings goals, and am quite happy with the results. Whatever system you devise for yourself, remember that friction between you and bad things is the key. I've heard of people going so far as to freeze their credit card in a glass of ice in the freezer. In order to be able to use it, they have to go through the annoying process of thawing out this big hunk of ice. It really gives them time to consider whether it's really worth spending that money/taking on that debt.

Also, think in terms of systems, not goals. A goal is wanting to save money. A system is a series of processes or behaviors that lead to a result. If you're a runner, your goal might be to run a marathon. Your system is the training schedule you complete every week. Systems are better than goals. There's lots of literature on systems vs goals you can read up on.

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