Comments on: The Future of Personal Finance Tools http://www.lazymanandmoney.com/the-future-of-personal-finance-tool/ Saving, Earning, and Investing Money Mon, 22 Mar 2010 04:54:42 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Slinky http://www.lazymanandmoney.com/the-future-of-personal-finance-tool/comment-page-1/#comment-87751 Slinky Tue, 03 Jun 2008 21:56:05 +0000 http://www.lazymanandmoney.com/the-future-of-personal-finance-tool/#comment-87751 I agree that the major failing of budget/expense tools is their lack of customization. You do it their way and that's that. I'm slowly working on my own program as I haven't found anything that suits the way I manage my finances. I currently use two excel spreadsheets with about a dozen pages between them and a program that isn't nearly what I thought it might be. RE: web based apps I know everyone is crazy about online apps for everything right now, but I don't feel comfortable giving over all of my financial information to be stored in someone else's database. So online apps aren't the be all, end all for everyone either. I agree that the major failing of budget/expense tools is their lack of customization. You do it their way and that’s that. I’m slowly working on my own program as I haven’t found anything that suits the way I manage my finances. I currently use two excel spreadsheets with about a dozen pages between them and a program that isn’t nearly what I thought it might be.

RE: web based apps
I know everyone is crazy about online apps for everything right now, but I don’t feel comfortable giving over all of my financial information to be stored in someone else’s database. So online apps aren’t the be all, end all for everyone either.

]]> By: Jayme http://www.lazymanandmoney.com/the-future-of-personal-finance-tool/comment-page-1/#comment-86780 Jayme Sun, 25 May 2008 14:45:03 +0000 http://www.lazymanandmoney.com/the-future-of-personal-finance-tool/#comment-86780 I currently use mint, and i like it quite a bit. however some of my accounts do not show up, such as my loan and my line of credit. further more i can not track spending i am doing with cash in that program which i would like to be able to do. furthermore in the budgetting section there is nothing for income so while i can somewhat figure out what i am spending it has no comparison to what i am making. this is extremely important to me since i am in a job where in addition to a steady paycheck i make tips. so income is a lot harder for me to track and fluctuates a lot from month to month I currently use mint, and i like it quite a bit. however some of my accounts do not show up, such as my loan and my line of credit.

further more i can not track spending i am doing with cash in that program which i would like to be able to do.

furthermore in the budgetting section there is nothing for income so while i can somewhat figure out what i am spending it has no comparison to what i am making. this is extremely important to me since i am in a job where in addition to a steady paycheck i make tips. so income is a lot harder for me to track and fluctuates a lot from month to month

]]> By: AndyS http://www.lazymanandmoney.com/the-future-of-personal-finance-tool/comment-page-1/#comment-86600 AndyS Fri, 23 May 2008 17:31:50 +0000 http://www.lazymanandmoney.com/the-future-of-personal-finance-tool/#comment-86600 Some of the commercial providers should look to open source pf tools coming out in the market place. They are free and have tons of options (largely due to the fact that they are open source). I recently had a post on this topics and am using the tool reviewed. Some of the commercial providers should look to open source pf tools coming out in the market place. They are free and have tons of options (largely due to the fact that they are open source). I recently had a post on this topics and am using the tool reviewed.

]]> By: Andrea http://www.lazymanandmoney.com/the-future-of-personal-finance-tool/comment-page-1/#comment-86599 Andrea Fri, 23 May 2008 17:25:20 +0000 http://www.lazymanandmoney.com/the-future-of-personal-finance-tool/#comment-86599 I've been checking out a lot of these sites/programs lately, trying to find one that has exactly what I want. I like Quicken, for the ability to schedule bills and have them show up in my register ahead of time. I always know at least 2 paychecks ahead whether I'm going to have enough to cover everything. I like Geezeo's budgeting system, much like the envelope system (unfortunately, I can't seem to get one of my Canadian credit cards to work properly on the site). PearBudget's (the downloaded excel chart) is a little less fancy, but works just as well. Wesabe didn't really do anything for me that Quicken doesn't already do, though I really liked how they recorded your updating process locally on your own computer. I was hoping to get more useful tips out of it, but they were all pretty useless to me, and I don't really care about joining groups. For right now I think I'm going to stick with my old version of Quicken (which isn't connected to my bank accounts at all, and I enter everything manually) along with PearBudget, while I try to keep my budget in check and pay off my debts. Once my financial goals shift, I'll probably take another look at some of the other options available. I’ve been checking out a lot of these sites/programs lately, trying to find one that has exactly what I want.

I like Quicken, for the ability to schedule bills and have them show up in my register ahead of time. I always know at least 2 paychecks ahead whether I’m going to have enough to cover everything.

I like Geezeo’s budgeting system, much like the envelope system (unfortunately, I can’t seem to get one of my Canadian credit cards to work properly on the site). PearBudget’s (the downloaded excel chart) is a little less fancy, but works just as well.

Wesabe didn’t really do anything for me that Quicken doesn’t already do, though I really liked how they recorded your updating process locally on your own computer. I was hoping to get more useful tips out of it, but they were all pretty useless to me, and I don’t really care about joining groups.

For right now I think I’m going to stick with my old version of Quicken (which isn’t connected to my bank accounts at all, and I enter everything manually) along with PearBudget, while I try to keep my budget in check and pay off my debts. Once my financial goals shift, I’ll probably take another look at some of the other options available.

]]> By: Lazy Man http://www.lazymanandmoney.com/the-future-of-personal-finance-tool/comment-page-1/#comment-86529 Lazy Man Thu, 22 May 2008 22:43:06 +0000 http://www.lazymanandmoney.com/the-future-of-personal-finance-tool/#comment-86529 KS: I think that's not a crazy notion. I had mentioned that Wesabe in the past. I think there will be some consolidation in the field and either there will be a merger or they'll each build out their product lines to have both aspects. KS: I think that’s not a crazy notion. I had mentioned that Wesabe in the past. I think there will be some consolidation in the field and either there will be a merger or they’ll each build out their product lines to have both aspects.

]]> By: KS http://www.lazymanandmoney.com/the-future-of-personal-finance-tool/comment-page-1/#comment-86528 KS Thu, 22 May 2008 22:37:16 +0000 http://www.lazymanandmoney.com/the-future-of-personal-finance-tool/#comment-86528 I think Wasabe & Mint should merge and we would have a pretty robus site meeting everyones requirement! I use both for diffrent reasons as I get diffrentbenifits from them and they both have features that I would like to be able to use together. I think Wasabe & Mint should merge and we would have a pretty robus site meeting everyones requirement! I use both for diffrent reasons as I get diffrentbenifits from them and they both have features that I would like to be able to use together.

]]> By: Bill http://www.lazymanandmoney.com/the-future-of-personal-finance-tool/comment-page-1/#comment-86510 Bill Thu, 22 May 2008 15:55:54 +0000 http://www.lazymanandmoney.com/the-future-of-personal-finance-tool/#comment-86510 Excellent article. I've used Quicken for about 6 years. And although it was nice to know what I spent, I really wanted to get ahead of the game and see what I was spending as I spent it. Sure, I've tried to keep track of my daily expenses by writing them down and I also tried sticking to a budget. But none of that really seemed to work as well as I wanted it to work. So, last week I signed-up for the free 30-day trial of David Bach's "Automatic Money Manager". So far, it's easy to use and it seems to really be helping me to keep on top of my spending. After a month of so, I'll let you know how it's working for me. By the way, I totally dig your blog. It's great. Keep posting. Bill Excellent article.

I’ve used Quicken for about 6 years. And although it was nice to know what I spent, I really wanted to get ahead of the game and see what I was spending as I spent it. Sure, I’ve tried to keep track of my daily expenses by writing them down and I also tried sticking to a budget. But none of that really seemed to work as well as I wanted it to work.

So, last week I signed-up for the free 30-day trial of David Bach’s “Automatic Money Manager”.
So far, it’s easy to use and it seems to really be helping me to keep on top of my spending. After a month of so, I’ll let you know how it’s working for me.

By the way, I totally dig your blog. It’s great.
Keep posting.
Bill

]]> By: Ben @ Trees Full of Money http://www.lazymanandmoney.com/the-future-of-personal-finance-tool/comment-page-1/#comment-86494 Ben @ Trees Full of Money Thu, 22 May 2008 09:51:39 +0000 http://www.lazymanandmoney.com/the-future-of-personal-finance-tool/#comment-86494 In my opinion, it would make sense to have one finance program that offered different levels of control instead of trying to be one size fits all. For instance when I was first starting down the road of financial progress I wanted to know exactly were every last dime was being spent. As time went my budgeting requirements evolved to were I had a really good idea how much cash I would need for my monthly living expenses without having to write out each individual expense. Developing software that is one size fits all is about as likely as finding a blogger who's advice is 100% appropriate for every person regardless of his or her circumstances. In my opinion, it would make sense to have one finance program that offered different levels of control instead of trying to be one size fits all.

For instance when I was first starting down the road of financial progress I wanted to know exactly were every last dime was being spent.

As time went my budgeting requirements evolved to were I had a really good idea how much cash I would need for my monthly living expenses without having to write out each individual expense.

Developing software that is one size fits all is about as likely as finding a blogger who’s advice is 100% appropriate for every person regardless of his or her circumstances.

]]> By: Matt http://www.lazymanandmoney.com/the-future-of-personal-finance-tool/comment-page-1/#comment-86370 Matt Wed, 21 May 2008 17:28:28 +0000 http://www.lazymanandmoney.com/the-future-of-personal-finance-tool/#comment-86370 I think customizability is what will make the application truly useful to everyone. By allowing me to manage my finances how I need to today while still giving me the flexibility to change this down the road would be essential. But I think by far the biggest and most important aspect would be to ensure all of this is online and platform/computer independent. I think customizability is what will make the application truly useful to everyone. By allowing me to manage my finances how I need to today while still giving me the flexibility to change this down the road would be essential. But I think by far the biggest and most important aspect would be to ensure all of this is online and platform/computer independent.

]]> By: David Carter http://www.lazymanandmoney.com/the-future-of-personal-finance-tool/comment-page-1/#comment-86344 David Carter Wed, 21 May 2008 15:28:54 +0000 http://www.lazymanandmoney.com/the-future-of-personal-finance-tool/#comment-86344 Right now my personal finances are pretty simple so I don't use any software. I don't balance a checkbook, no budget no nothing. I would like to start however, so if you ever find some software you really like be sure to post about it and I will probably try it out. Free is probably a requirement for me, b/c otherwise I wouldn't buy it. Right now my personal finances are pretty simple so I don’t use any software. I don’t balance a checkbook, no budget no nothing. I would like to start however, so if you ever find some software you really like be sure to post about it and I will probably try it out. Free is probably a requirement for me, b/c otherwise I wouldn’t buy it.

]]> By: Chris http://www.lazymanandmoney.com/the-future-of-personal-finance-tool/comment-page-1/#comment-86332 Chris Wed, 21 May 2008 13:55:09 +0000 http://www.lazymanandmoney.com/the-future-of-personal-finance-tool/#comment-86332 Great post, thanks for the info. You mentioned a few capabilities that are important to several user types, which typically boil down to "customization". I've enjoyed Mint (despite some technical difficulties well documented in their user forum -> duplicate transactions), but one issue is I'm shoe-horned into their predefined expense categories. Several of which are really silly. Auto-categorization with the ability to modify it is a no-brainer. A tool that would "learn" is ideal. Mint does this well, you click a button for an expense to always get categorized a specific way. Quicken I found (4 years ago) to be decent but not great at this. BOA has a budget tool, and it's actually decent, but the auto-categorization aspect stinks. The key to keep in mind is balancing the novice vs. power user. A tool should be logical and simple enough that my 68 year old Aunt could use it and get rolling in an hour, but have enough latent features that my super detailed wife wouldn't think the tool was built by a 6 year old. One option would be to adjust the level of features based on one's profile. Look forward to other readers' comments. Great post, thanks for the info.

You mentioned a few capabilities that are important to several user types, which typically boil down to “customization”. I’ve enjoyed Mint (despite some technical difficulties well documented in their user forum -> duplicate transactions), but one issue is I’m shoe-horned into their predefined expense categories. Several of which are really silly. Auto-categorization with the ability to modify it is a no-brainer. A tool that would “learn” is ideal. Mint does this well, you click a button for an expense to always get categorized a specific way. Quicken I found (4 years ago) to be decent but not great at this.

BOA has a budget tool, and it’s actually decent, but the auto-categorization aspect stinks.

The key to keep in mind is balancing the novice vs. power user. A tool should be logical and simple enough that my 68 year old Aunt could use it and get rolling in an hour, but have enough latent features that my super detailed wife wouldn’t think the tool was built by a 6 year old. One option would be to adjust the level of features based on one’s profile.

Look forward to other readers’ comments.

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