Ask HN: Any nicer alternatives to Mint for personal budgeting?
17 comments
That's an interesting subscription model. I'm curious how it'll turn out.
In the meantime, I wasn't sure what "sync" meant in the context of your app. I had to read a lot of your page before I understood (even after reading this post first).
I actually thought you meant syncing bank accounts or something similar.
In the meantime, I wasn't sure what "sync" meant in the context of your app. I had to read a lot of your page before I understood (even after reading this post first).
I actually thought you meant syncing bank accounts or something similar.
What else have you used and what are you looking for? Specifically, can you list features (essentials and nice-to-haves).
Do you want it browser based? Standalone - mobile, desktop, both?
Does it need auto-import of transactions from your financial institutions?
Do you need budgeting or accounting or both?
EDIT:
I've used Mint for a long time, I like them for tracking my accounts but never quite got the hang of using it for budgeting.
I liked YNAB (standalone) for putting my inflow/outflow in terms of a monthly view, and their general financial philosophy is really good for people trying to get out from under debt (even small amounts) and move towards being more financially stable. It's useful if for nothing other than that. Their reports were also nice ways to view my money over time, to see where I could cutback on spending to make room for savings or other planned spending. It doesn't do auto-import, but does handle importing CSV files if you can download them from your bank/cc company. Other pros, it works on mobile and desktop using dropbox as the syncing mechanism. This is nice since that means syncing isn't tied to YNAB (though does require Dropbox to continue operating, safe for a few more years I imagine).
I tried their web version and was left dissatisfied. Lacked reporting, but gained auto-imports. So tradeoffs, also cost $5/month (discounted if you pay for the whole year).
I like ledger as an accounting tool, but I haven't got the hang of its budgeting mechanism. It's a CLI tool, but uses a plaintext file for managing your transactions. ledger-mode in emacs is solid, and it plays well with org-mode. I won't say this is "nicer" than Mint. It is, however, a good bit more powerful. It's a full-featured accounting system that's fairly approachable for programmers (IMO). There are some variants like hledger which are mostly compatible, but also offer some extra niceties like a self-hosted web interface.
I tried GnuCash, but found its interface on OS X particularly unpleasant and buggy so I didn't get far. More feature complete for accounting, I did setup budgets and thought I'd like it. But, again, the glitchy interface on OS X drove me away from it before I got far enough to really decide.
Do you want it browser based? Standalone - mobile, desktop, both?
Does it need auto-import of transactions from your financial institutions?
Do you need budgeting or accounting or both?
EDIT:
I've used Mint for a long time, I like them for tracking my accounts but never quite got the hang of using it for budgeting.
I liked YNAB (standalone) for putting my inflow/outflow in terms of a monthly view, and their general financial philosophy is really good for people trying to get out from under debt (even small amounts) and move towards being more financially stable. It's useful if for nothing other than that. Their reports were also nice ways to view my money over time, to see where I could cutback on spending to make room for savings or other planned spending. It doesn't do auto-import, but does handle importing CSV files if you can download them from your bank/cc company. Other pros, it works on mobile and desktop using dropbox as the syncing mechanism. This is nice since that means syncing isn't tied to YNAB (though does require Dropbox to continue operating, safe for a few more years I imagine).
I tried their web version and was left dissatisfied. Lacked reporting, but gained auto-imports. So tradeoffs, also cost $5/month (discounted if you pay for the whole year).
I like ledger as an accounting tool, but I haven't got the hang of its budgeting mechanism. It's a CLI tool, but uses a plaintext file for managing your transactions. ledger-mode in emacs is solid, and it plays well with org-mode. I won't say this is "nicer" than Mint. It is, however, a good bit more powerful. It's a full-featured accounting system that's fairly approachable for programmers (IMO). There are some variants like hledger which are mostly compatible, but also offer some extra niceties like a self-hosted web interface.
I tried GnuCash, but found its interface on OS X particularly unpleasant and buggy so I didn't get far. More feature complete for accounting, I did setup budgets and thought I'd like it. But, again, the glitchy interface on OS X drove me away from it before I got far enough to really decide.
> I tried their web version and was left dissatisfied. Lacked reporting
However, if you absolutely need it, there's a browser extension called Toolkit for YNAB: https://github.com/toolkit-for-ynab/toolkit-for-ynab. Besides reports it adds some more essential features like search.
We are working on building https://claritymoney.com/ . Any mint user out there should definitely check us out. We are funded by top investors and led by a experienced founders. We are taking a serious and strategic approach towards personal finance. We are accepting Beta sign ups currently but you can find some helpful screenshots on the website. Hope this helps !! Let me know if you have any more questions !!
I like YNAB, and personally I like the SAAS version as I found having to sync via dropbox annoying and I'm a linux user so having to run it in wine was also annoying.
Echoing everything stated here.
YNAB recently got the ability to automatically pull your bank transactions, but I would actually recommend against this for a few reasons.
1. This the same problem mint has, there's a delay on the order of DAYS a lot of the time. Makes it hard to tell how much of a given category you have left.
2. Actively recording expenses the second you spend the money is easy, and a really good habit, because you'll be more in touch with where your money is going, with fewer surprises.
YNAB recently got the ability to automatically pull your bank transactions, but I would actually recommend against this for a few reasons.
1. This the same problem mint has, there's a delay on the order of DAYS a lot of the time. Makes it hard to tell how much of a given category you have left.
2. Actively recording expenses the second you spend the money is easy, and a really good habit, because you'll be more in touch with where your money is going, with fewer surprises.
I've tried a few of them: GNUCash, YNAB, and BudgetSimple. Neither of them were useful to me. What was useful was just every other week taking a half hour with my wife and looking through our accounts and recent spending and medium-term plans and just talking.
I fail to see the value in sorting my personal spending into categories, especially when it means that I have to take a couple hours a week to either manually enter each item or to correct the mislabeling.
I fail to see the value in sorting my personal spending into categories, especially when it means that I have to take a couple hours a week to either manually enter each item or to correct the mislabeling.
I just posted my this weekend project here :-)
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12490297
But it's not "nicer" by any means, but much more private. Also, caters to control freaks.
But it's not "nicer" by any means, but much more private. Also, caters to control freaks.
Another vote for YNAB! I've been using it for a few years now without regrets. It works internationally as well :). I used mint for a while but found it limited and buggy - it served mostly as an aggregate feed of my various accounts in the U.S.
I'll join in with recommending YNAB, with a caveat that it's really an opinionated methodology encoded into software, and the main benefit IMO is from the methodology. A comparison might be OmniFocus vs. GTD.
I haven't used the newer web-based version enough yet to know whether you can really roll your own system on top of it, but I suspect you'll find path of least resistance is to do it their way. The good news there is that they explain their way very well, with lots of supplementary material available.
I haven't used the newer web-based version enough yet to know whether you can really roll your own system on top of it, but I suspect you'll find path of least resistance is to do it their way. The good news there is that they explain their way very well, with lots of supplementary material available.
YNAB has been recommended as more pro-active rather than monitoring Mint-style.
They have transitioned to SaaS but it looks like you can still get v4 on Steam.
They have transitioned to SaaS but it looks like you can still get v4 on Steam.
Have you considered getting by without a budgeting app? I used to go through exactly this sort of mental exercise that evaluating and selecting the perfect personal finance app would bring. It's like I could solve my financial problems forever through the power of thought. That my ability to see where the money was being spent was somehow impeded because I lacked the right software.
In the end, there's only one rule that counts: spend less than you earn (or earn more than you spend - either way, you need to have control over at least one of these variables or you're totally fucked anyway).
Sorry to be so blunt. Of course, some people like the process of keeping on top of statement reconciliation - hell, I used to be one of them. And there's no doubt that watching your net worth increase will bring pleasure to your day.
But it's easy to become obsessed. It's only now that I've surrendered the "comfort" of knowing where my money went that I realise I was actually stressed out all the time. These days, I'm a little more relaxed about things - so long as we stick to normal spending patterns and don't splurge on spontaneous things, we'll probably be ok.
In my case, I can live with this level of uncertainty. Ignorance is bliss, and all that.
(I'll echo the other sentiments around here: YNAB was my favourite. I never tried Mint.)
In the end, there's only one rule that counts: spend less than you earn (or earn more than you spend - either way, you need to have control over at least one of these variables or you're totally fucked anyway).
Sorry to be so blunt. Of course, some people like the process of keeping on top of statement reconciliation - hell, I used to be one of them. And there's no doubt that watching your net worth increase will bring pleasure to your day.
But it's easy to become obsessed. It's only now that I've surrendered the "comfort" of knowing where my money went that I realise I was actually stressed out all the time. These days, I'm a little more relaxed about things - so long as we stick to normal spending patterns and don't splurge on spontaneous things, we'll probably be ok.
In my case, I can live with this level of uncertainty. Ignorance is bliss, and all that.
(I'll echo the other sentiments around here: YNAB was my favourite. I never tried Mint.)
I recently found a new personal finance app named Geltbox Money that eliminates the need for third party aggregation services.
the user can aggregate his own data without exposing private data to any third parties /web site.
This new technology enables the user to download his financial information from any financial institution.
the user can aggregate his own data without exposing private data to any third parties /web site.
This new technology enables the user to download his financial information from any financial institution.
Try Fentury https://www.fentury.com/
You can link your bank accounts, it has a browser version and a mobile app as well. I could link my bank accounts and I'm from Romania - I can't do that with Mint.
I've used NeoBudget a virtual envelope budgeting system for years. You do have to manually upload your bank transactions but I really like the visual virtual envelope UI. https://neobudget.com
YNAB and I just heard of an app called moneylover
GnuCash.
I really like YNAB
YNAB 4. Not the cloud version because it has no transaction import (!)
Once they desupport YNAB4 maybe time for me to create OSS version ;-)
Once they desupport YNAB4 maybe time for me to create OSS version ;-)
https://financier.io
I just recently launched, so there might be rough edges. It's almost feature complete, though. It's very similar to YNAB 4. It's $12/year with syncing. No signup is required and no internet connection is required -- it syncs when you have a connection. Mobile app to come!
I would really appreciate any feedback. :) For the next week, I'm giving out the first year for free (just email [email protected] or PM me on reddit).
I have a recent Reddit post with more info here: https://www.reddit.com/r/ynab/comments/527wiv/ynab_alternati...
Thank you! Alex