Personal Finance packages.

[Workingman]

On Cafe, Ossie posted about cash being king and also about the Inland revenue and he got me thinking..... Do people use offline / desktop cash tracking? I do.

A while back my bank changed its login system for the website which includes a customer number, PIN and one-time passcode delivered via mobile phone. It is very secure, but also a pain just to check my balance. At that time I was going through some old disks and found a free copy of Microsoft Money, which I installed. It was discontinued in 2009 so I was surprised that it still worked with W10. I also found a couple of others for comparison and they are AceMoney Lite (free for two accounts) Money Manager EX, free and open source and GNUCash which is also open source and free. I like using my bank's website for making transactions and checking statements and balances etc., but I do not need to be there every day. For a balance and running total I just needed something simple, hence the software.

MM and GNU are very comprehensive, so much so that you could run a business with them, and they link directly to the bank's website so that you can do all the things you would do as if you were there. Maybe a bit OTT for what I needed. Money Manager EX is simple and works.

However, for a simple budgeting and transaction checker I use AceMoney. I have set up a schedule with DD and Standing Order payments / deposits and they are entered automatically, and whenever I am out and use my debit card I enter each receipt when I get home. I now know what my balance is at any time without going to the bank website and it also gives me a 30 day forecast using the schedule.

All of them are worth a look if you want to keep an eye on your cash. I was ever so sloppy, but now I am on top of things.

[TheOstrich]

I'd agree those sentiments, WM, it does no harm to keep track of your finances as you go along, especially your available bank balance. I don't actually know the two bits of software you mentioned (when I was working, we were using much more sophisticated programmes like Quickbooks and Sage) but something simple is all that is needed to do the deed.

I'm even less refined than you these days. I prepare a simple monthly budget on an Excel spreadsheet a year in advance showing direct debits, standing orders and regular income, so on, then I update it every month with one-off debit card or cheque transactions, and then I check it to the bank statements I get each month. Works for me!

[Workingman]

Ossie, I also had a spreadsheet, a dummy month to C&P with the last balance on one sheet being the starting one on the next. It worked, and worked well, but the new software is so much easier. Each new payee is added to a list so each transaction is picked from a menu then fill in the blanks.

I also remember Sage, thank goodness all that is behind me.

[Suff]

My first job in computing was to write Sales Invoicing software which interfaced directly into Pegasus accounts and add the sales into the ledgers automatically. Pegasus didn't provide the customer management functions that we did and it gave our customers a real boost to be able to enter sales direct into the accounts ledgers from their order and delivery tracking systems. We wrote in binary direct to the ledger files.

Today I just track my account. I find the apps on the mobile with fingerprint login work best for me. I buy too many small bits and pieces to have an easy tracking of my account so I just put up with what I can get from the banks. Anything else would just be overhead.

[Workingman]

Horses for courses.

My bank's login system is very secure, but also a pain, and I don't have the app. I never use my phone for any financial stuff.

I just find the desktop package gives me an easy ready reckoner for the day-to-day stuff and it also makes checking my monthly statement a breeze. I am now paperless so I can see both on screen at the same time and can tick off withdrawals and deposits all in one go.