Ask HN: Do you use budgeting software? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: Do you use budgeting software?

#21

Post by PenguinCoder » Thu, Jun 14, 2018, 5:29 PM UTC

gregorymichael wrote: post #8

Built an ad-hoc system using flask, Google Spreadsheets, and Twilio (where I work) that my wife and I have been using for 18 months now -- far longer than any other system has stuck. - budget tab: tracks category + allocated budget for the month - expenses tab: tracks date, amount, category, description - when we spend money, my wife and I text, eg, "13.31 restaurants lunch at chipotle" to a Twilio number. A flask ap…

I am definitely interested in technical details on putting something like this together.

Re: Ask HN: Do you use budgeting software?

#22

Post by neivin » Thu, Jun 14, 2018, 5:29 PM UTC

aguynamedben wrote: post #18

Yes, YNAB, it rocks: https://www.youneedabudget.com/ They have an opinionated, cult following that seems a bit weird at first, but if you approach the situation with humility and the real need to budget you'll realize YNAB is really good. You want opinionated software when it comes to something like budgeting. You want a system you buy into and has been proven to work, not a system that lets you do anything how you w…

Actual budget just looks like a YNAB rehash, but worse...

Re: Ask HN: Do you use budgeting software?

#23

Post by kadabra9 » Thu, Jun 14, 2018, 5:29 PM UTC

I use a combination of Personal Capital to get a high level overview of income and expenses by category, along with a custom Google Sheet I made that breaks out projected and actual spend by category. I started out using Mint and was largely happy with it, but found the PC interface much cleaner and faster, along with a better mobile app. That, along with my own personal dislike of Intuit as a company, was enough for me to switch to Personal Capital.

Each weekend I'll take a bit of time over coffee and breakfast to review, mostly to keep tabs of how much money is flowing towards certain categories and how I am doing towards my own personal financial goals.

It's a great habit to get into, and once you get the hang of it, its truly eye opening, but I'd caution not to become too obsessive over it. Life happens, some times you will go over in some categories, and thats OK. Learn to roll with the punches.

Re: Ask HN: Do you use budgeting software?

#24

Post by theparanoid » Thu, Jun 14, 2018, 5:30 PM UTC

I used to use Mint. I'm not an impulsive spender so there was minimal benefit. It doesn't require software to figure out most of my disposable income goes towards housing, health insurance, and car expenses.

Re: Ask HN: Do you use budgeting software?

#25

Post by Jacqued » Thu, Jun 14, 2018, 5:31 PM UTC

cschneid wrote: post #5

YNAB is pretty great. I allow it sync transactions from my bank accounts, but its budgeting system works fine if you're willing to enter transactions in manually. It is a refined form of envelope budgeting, and allowed me to go from an engineer that made a lot of money, but spent willy-nilly to an engineer that knows what's up, and with a rising net worth. I like that it encourages you to look at the money you actual…

Second this.

I've been using YNAB for two years now and pay the yearly subscription. I'm from Europe so I can't connect it to my bank accounts, so I enter every single thing by hand, and it works fine for me so far.

I've grown to like budgeting and generally managing finances which is pretty helpful now that I work as a freelancer through my corporation.

Re: Ask HN: Do you use budgeting software?

#26

Post by aguynamedben » Thu, Jun 14, 2018, 5:32 PM UTC

bartozone wrote: post #15

The biggest problem that I find with programs like mint is that they aren't real time. Even my bank accounts aren't current. They often lag 24 hours, so when I look it may seem like I have more than what I do ... so I guess (often wrong, or forget something) what I spent the day before and try to mentally assign that amount to different categories (like groceries, Transportation, restaurants, etc). Does anyone know s…

YNAB gets around this in an interesting way with their "age your money" concept.

When you spend money, you aren't looking at your account to see how much actual money you have. You're looking at your budget to see how much money you previously allocated for a specific purpose.

The idea is that you are spending your "oldest" money, i.e. money that you earned 6 months ago. Any money that came in yesterday is just gravy and you'll budget that later.

In practice, transactions hit YNAB same day or next day for me. If you're wondering if you have money for something, you just pull up the mobile app and check the budget category. Unless you go on a crazy instant buying spree in a single category, there shouldn't be a problem deciding if you have money budgeted for something.

Re: Ask HN: Do you use budgeting software?

#27

Post by cm2012 » Thu, Jun 14, 2018, 5:32 PM UTC

I use Mint to track my habits retroactively. I wouldn't have guessed otherwise that I spent $20k on Amazon alone last year, and $12,000 on Seamless! It really adds up. It also makes adding up business expenses at the end of the year a breeze.

Re: Ask HN: Do you use budgeting software?

#28

Post by rxdazn » Thu, Jun 14, 2018, 5:32 PM UTC

I'm using YNAB while manually inputting each transaction, rather than having it linked with my accounts. It might sound like a hassle at first but it's just a reflex now, whenever I buy something I just enter it in there. At the end of each week I'll open up my bank app and compare what is in there against what I have in YNAB and this flow has been fine for me. I had tried a few other apps before but I couldn't stick to any of them, the idea of budgeting upfront and then adjusting as purchases are done, moving money from one category to another, really clicks for me.

It works great and has drastically changed the way I spend money since I've started using it, I'm much more aware of what I can actually spend and less stressed. The reporting features are also great to see how much I spend on average on a given month etc.

Pricing has gotten a bit steep for new members but I still think it's really worth it, it's the most useful service I'm subscribed to. Some of Android app recent UI changes were a bit questionable but I got used to them.

Re: Ask HN: Do you use budgeting software?

#29

Post by grimgrin » Thu, Jun 14, 2018, 5:33 PM UTC

zumzumzum wrote: post #13

gregorymichael wrote: post #8

Built an ad-hoc system using flask, Google Spreadsheets, and Twilio (where I work) that my wife and I have been using for 18 months now -- far longer than any other system has stuck. - budget tab: tracks category + allocated budget for the month - expenses tab: tracks date, amount, category, description - when we spend money, my wife and I text, eg, "13.31 restaurants lunch at chipotle" to a Twilio number. A flask ap…

What is it about this system that you like better than YNAB? (new or 4)

The interface is anything that sends SMS (well or a google spreadsheet, which can be viewed on many devices), and all party members can get an alert on spending.

I like it

Re: Ask HN: Do you use budgeting software?

#30

Post by aguynamedben » Thu, Jun 14, 2018, 5:33 PM UTC

cschneid wrote: post #5

YNAB is pretty great. I allow it sync transactions from my bank accounts, but its budgeting system works fine if you're willing to enter transactions in manually. It is a refined form of envelope budgeting, and allowed me to go from an engineer that made a lot of money, but spent willy-nilly to an engineer that knows what's up, and with a rising net worth. I like that it encourages you to look at the money you actual…

+1, I use the syncing but originally YNAB didn't have that feature and you entered things by hand. Either works.