Budgeting Software for Mac

[nicolet]

If you use a software for budgeting and money management what do you use? Do you like it? Does it automaticaly connect to your bank and credit cards? I like Mint but it doesn't have all the bells and whistles.

[itrev82]

I use Moneydance. To me, its not really a budgeting application - more of a financial tracker. It will attach to accounts that can download Quicken, but most of my banks dont have that Quicken link. I download my transactions manually and import them into the program.

 

The nice think about Moneydance too is that its a multiplatform program - so it works on Mac, Linux, Windows, etc.

 

Another good budgeting program is You Need A Budget or YNAB. I think the looks of the program are awesome, but I have a hard time doing the "budgeting" aspect so I worry more about tracking past expenses vs. "budgeting". But its definately worth a look.

 

Both of those have iPhone apps too.

[KYBOSH]

IBank

[deep13]

I second the recommendation for YNAB. It took some getting used to, but well worth the time in my opinion.

[itrev82]

iBank is a good looking program. I liked v3 better... v4 made the transaction register too big for my taste. I remember using iBank when I first got my mac, but after a while it started getting REALLY slow and sluggish. Had some calculation errors start to develop too.

 

Have they fixed the speed issue when you start to get a large file?

 

Moneydance is definately no winner in the looks department, but its quick and works well.

[whodean]

I use Yodlee Moneycenter.

 

https://moneycenter.yodlee.com/

[KYBOSH]

Have they fixed the speed issue when you start to get a large file?

 

Moneydance is definately no winner in the looks department, but its quick and works well.

 

I have never experienced any lag time with ibank but perhaps my files arent that big. I have one for personal and one for business and they are only. A few mb.

 

I really like it and the reporting feature (income/expenses) is beautiful.

 

they have done a pretty good job correcting some a lot of the issues that had plagued earlier releases and new useful features are added with each major revision.

 

All in all, it all depends on what you are willing to commit to and spend time learning. I liked ibank from the beginning because it was designed for small businesses from the beginning. Easy to use, low learning curve and quick and fast results. Just so happens thats what i needed in my personal finance software to.

 

I tried Quickbooks for all of one day and knew that wasnt going to do it for me all.

[KYBOSH]

Oh yes, and the one thing i have learn from doing quite a few migrations is that you want to start a brand new file. No importing from another program as there will undoubtedly be incompatibilitys that can/will cause issues in reconciled balances and program performance.

 

I know it may seem like a non-starter for some. If you are like me you have/had years, and i mean YEARS of data saved up in quicken or MS Money and couldnt imagine not having it at your finger tips anymore. But the truth of the matter is you dont/wont need it as much as you think you do.

 

What i did was start a fresh file and downloaded as much data as i could for a given account (usuallly 90 days worth of transactions). And it was from there i started anew. I would initially have to go back and occasionally look at and for old transactions in my old program but as the days and weeks went by i did that less and less until they werent needed anymore.

[itrev82]

I agree -- when you start with a new program, you start a new file. I don't know how people import 10+ years of Quicken into another program and then get mad when it doesn't work. Maybe they have more money then I do, but I prefer to keep things smaller and condensed.

 

I like Moneydance.. its ugly as sin, but gives me all the details I need.