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Do you use any budgeting software/apps?
- Thread starter outunderthestars
- Start date
ZombiePlatypus
Member
Does Mint still require login info to your bank? Is it really safe?
Also what's YNAB and how does it compare?
Also what's YNAB and how does it compare?
SecretMoblin
Member
Yes, Mint still requires login info for your bank/credit card/investment/loan/etc. accounts. It's secured, but it's up to you if you don't feel comfortable letting another site have access to it. It's an Intuit (TurboTax, QuickBooks) company, so take from that what you will. They also are pretty up front about targeted ads and offers based on your transaction history.
You Need A Budget is essentially a spreadsheet budgeting program with a clean UI that forces you to enter and track your money manually. The philosophy is that you assign every dollar you earn a "job", and follow through.
I prefer Mint just because I do well enough with my money and I prefer the automated, "one-stop shop" system along with all the neato graphs and charts, but lots of people like the discipline that YNAB imposes.
RoadHazard
Gold Member
I use my common sense. Unless your personal finances are ridiculously complex, or money is very tight, it's really not that hard. I just kind of know how much room I have in my budget each month. I only have a few spreadsheets to keep track of my investments (balancing between different funds, etc) and such.
But it's good for people who don't have that "sense", for sure.
(Sorry if this sounds elitist or whatever. It really isn't meant that way.)
But it's good for people who don't have that "sense", for sure.
(Sorry if this sounds elitist or whatever. It really isn't meant that way.)
I'm in the same boat with YNAB. Only been using it a year but knowing what job every dollar has and setting up savings goals/times and tracking everything is extremely empowering IMO.
It does have a learning curve but the new phone app is really good and once you learn that payments for credit cards are transfers from your checking/savings to the credit card it starts to click.
I have to manually enter savings and checking account transactions but have my credit cards all importing automatically. I did find myself going over budget in certain categories until I started being diligent about entering credit transactions in the app as they happen. Now i'm always up to date and just match them as they come in.
Well they have my personal info from doing my taxes so it's like whatever.
NoblesseOblige
Banned
I tried to, but then realized I keep such an accurate mental check of my spending and earnings that it was redundant. It's actually super easy when you've minimized your expenditures. I only make maybe a dozen transactions a month.
Been using YNAB for ~4 years and don't plan on stopping anytime soon.
You no longer have to manually track your money. It now allows you to sync with your bank accounts automatically. It's nice but then again I do side with entering things manually because it makes you think about each purchase a little bit more.
You no longer have to manually track your money. It now allows you to sync with your bank accounts automatically. It's nice but then again I do side with entering things manually because it makes you think about each purchase a little bit more.
I just use a spreadsheet with columns for bills, other expenses, and income. At the end of the month I total it up and make sure bills plus expenses is less than income, and more the value of all my accounts to stay aware of whether they are going up. It's pretty manual, but makjes me very aware at all times of what I'm spending.
ZackieChan
Member
Yep. I actually have a clue what's going on with my money now.
I tried a bunch of spreadsheets and Mint-type apps. YNAB is the only one that works, and I think that's because it only deals with money you have, not with future projections and stuff. Lots of amazing features. I pay for the subscription, but it's paid for itself many times over already. Can't recommend YNAB highly enough.
I actually tried it years ago and didn't understand. You need to do the training and wrap your head around the method. Once you do, all will become clear.
Their new mobile app is great, too.
SecretMoblin
Member
Oh, that's quite nice, thanks for the info. It's just nice to have all my various accounts attached to a single login rather than juggling 9 different tabs to keep track of things.
I'm rather tight with money so a quick glance at a pie chart or bar is sufficient for my needs, but I absolutely believe those who say that the more involved tinkering of YNAB helps. Having a budget and sticking to it is such a great feeling, especially as it can help reduce or eliminate financial anxiety once you see that you can actually do more with your money than you might think.
DiipuSurotu
Banned
Google Sheet on computer + a corresponding Google Form for quick input on mobile
Randolph Freelander
Member
No apps, no real budget, I just constrain my spending via bank account shenanigans.
I have 2 checking and 1 savings account. 1 checking is reserved for my mortgage, car payment, HOA, and 1 fixed CC bill. I use it for nothing else. The other is for any other bill and my daily expenses. My savings account is for excess and is also a funder for 1 of the checking accounts.
The idea is I'm paid every other week. My employer supports multiple deposits, so I split it between all 3 accounts. The "big ticket" checking gets half of what it needs for the month with each check. The "small item/daily" checking account gets a fixed amount for 1 week only. The savings account gets the excess, and I have a scheduled transfer from it to the small checking account on alternating weeks, so that I have a steady stream of available funds in it, but no more than what I need to get through that week.
As long as I live within those means, I don't care what I buy. I can't go nuts, or else I have to schedule an additional transfer from savings, and who wants to do that?
After a while, the accumulated extra excess in savings goes over to an investment account.
I have 2 checking and 1 savings account. 1 checking is reserved for my mortgage, car payment, HOA, and 1 fixed CC bill. I use it for nothing else. The other is for any other bill and my daily expenses. My savings account is for excess and is also a funder for 1 of the checking accounts.
The idea is I'm paid every other week. My employer supports multiple deposits, so I split it between all 3 accounts. The "big ticket" checking gets half of what it needs for the month with each check. The "small item/daily" checking account gets a fixed amount for 1 week only. The savings account gets the excess, and I have a scheduled transfer from it to the small checking account on alternating weeks, so that I have a steady stream of available funds in it, but no more than what I need to get through that week.
As long as I live within those means, I don't care what I buy. I can't go nuts, or else I have to schedule an additional transfer from savings, and who wants to do that?
After a while, the accumulated extra excess in savings goes over to an investment account.
BlueBadger
Banned
I had Mint on my phone for a while. It's free and pretty great if you're serious about budgeting. I think it's made by the same people who make TurboTax.
Mint is safe. I used it for a long time. It's made by the company that makes TurboTax.. So if you use TurboTax for your taxes, you can feel pretty comfortable with Mint as well.
Mint is safe. I used it for a long time. It's made by the company that makes TurboTax.. So if you use TurboTax for your taxes, you can feel pretty comfortable with Mint as well.
ZackieChan
Member
I wanna see you in a year in the Retirement Investment thread, when you're baller as fuck from YNABing for a year. Seriously, stick with it and the method, and you'll be on the way to a changed life.
cheermancy
Member
I have Mint on my phone but I never actually look at it.
I should probably get on that.
I should probably get on that.
I'm wondering that as well. They advertise that all info is encrypted.
I used to use YNAB + Mint, but moved to using a custom annual spreadsheet + Mint.
I like the YNAB approach a lot, I jumped in and started using it (pre-subscription, the standalone version from Steam). As they made their transition, I created a custom spreadsheet with tabs to plan budgets, track expenses, summarize data - a pain to create but fully customized for me, so it works exactly how I want. I track all expenses manually and have a rolling tally of all accounts at any time. I really like the flexibility of having all of the data and can create pivots, charts, formulas to get pretty much whatever lens I want.
Mint is a fantastic tool, to me, and covers my local credit unions, all my banks, my 401k, student loan vendor... even my paypal account. So I managed to get ALL my account information rolling into Mint, making it easily accessible - their mobile app works well for me. I primarily use Mint to balance my custom spreadsheet, so I can logon Mint and view all accounts across all accounts instead of logging on 10+ sites to view transactional data - Mint is kind of my personal financial data warehouse. But, I never liked (maybe just don't understand) Mint's budgeting and balancing features. So the combo works great for me.
As someone stated above, I think the more important thing than the tool is the diligence of actually tracking and balancing your accounts and expenditures, regardless of the tool.
I like the YNAB approach a lot, I jumped in and started using it (pre-subscription, the standalone version from Steam). As they made their transition, I created a custom spreadsheet with tabs to plan budgets, track expenses, summarize data - a pain to create but fully customized for me, so it works exactly how I want. I track all expenses manually and have a rolling tally of all accounts at any time. I really like the flexibility of having all of the data and can create pivots, charts, formulas to get pretty much whatever lens I want.
Mint is a fantastic tool, to me, and covers my local credit unions, all my banks, my 401k, student loan vendor... even my paypal account. So I managed to get ALL my account information rolling into Mint, making it easily accessible - their mobile app works well for me. I primarily use Mint to balance my custom spreadsheet, so I can logon Mint and view all accounts across all accounts instead of logging on 10+ sites to view transactional data - Mint is kind of my personal financial data warehouse. But, I never liked (maybe just don't understand) Mint's budgeting and balancing features. So the combo works great for me.
As someone stated above, I think the more important thing than the tool is the diligence of actually tracking and balancing your accounts and expenditures, regardless of the tool.
Fragamemnon
Member
I've used agile planning and work tracking systems that were more intuitive than YNAB. I get what it does, but its UX and rigid design pattern just don't rub me the right way.
Spreadsheets and tracking everything+a unified account overview tool so I know "hey idiot the overflow account is full move it to investments!" to make sure I don't miss anything works for me.
Spreadsheets and tracking everything+a unified account overview tool so I know "hey idiot the overflow account is full move it to investments!" to make sure I don't miss anything works for me.
If I'm not mistaken, I think Mint has read-only access to the bank stuff. But I'm still wondering.
wandering goat
Member
I used the old YNAB app, which was a one-time purchase. The method is excellent though, so if I didn't have access to that (which ingeniously syncs to mobile and other computers via Dropbox), I'd consider using the subscription. One could design something similar in Excel if you have the knowledge to, but I appreciate having the mobile app that goes along with it and effortless syncing.
In a nutshell, YNAB is about budgeting the money you already have vs. what you're planning/expecting to make. The goal is to assign all of your money to categories and then follow those as best you can, or move money from one to another if you make any errors in judgement. That's easy enough to understand for regular expenses, but where it really helps is assigning money to future expenses. Like if you have a 1,200, once a year, insurance payment, you put $120 every month into your insurance category and then you already have the money accounted for when the payment comes due.
Essentially, your bank balances and such are meaningless (as those will rise and fall irregularly and are not a good indication of your ability to meet your obligations). As long as the balances in your categories cover your needs, you're assured that you have the money to do what you need. The eventual goal is to switch over from living paycheque to paycheque, or close to that, and have your current month's earnings be what cover future month's expenses, giving you breathing room with your money (in addition to any extra savings you've budgeted) and you never worry about whether the money will be there for what you need or not, because you already know it is. Any system that uses a similar method has my thumbs up.
In a nutshell, YNAB is about budgeting the money you already have vs. what you're planning/expecting to make. The goal is to assign all of your money to categories and then follow those as best you can, or move money from one to another if you make any errors in judgement. That's easy enough to understand for regular expenses, but where it really helps is assigning money to future expenses. Like if you have a 1,200, once a year, insurance payment, you put $120 every month into your insurance category and then you already have the money accounted for when the payment comes due.
Essentially, your bank balances and such are meaningless (as those will rise and fall irregularly and are not a good indication of your ability to meet your obligations). As long as the balances in your categories cover your needs, you're assured that you have the money to do what you need. The eventual goal is to switch over from living paycheque to paycheque, or close to that, and have your current month's earnings be what cover future month's expenses, giving you breathing room with your money (in addition to any extra savings you've budgeted) and you never worry about whether the money will be there for what you need or not, because you already know it is. Any system that uses a similar method has my thumbs up.
SecretMoblin
Member
This is their "Security" page, which explains a bit more about how they treat passwords. The info isn't quite as thorough as some may like.