Quicken Alternative

Ventucky Red

Ventucky Red

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Jon
Any recommendations on an alternative to Quicken... Quicken has moved to a SAS model and I am not to keen on being held hostage every year to manage my money... I spent a good amount with them in 2017 and they are no longer supporting the automatic downloads from many of the traditional 401K and IRA investment houses with out the upgrade to the 2019 or 2020 cloud editions..

Thanks
 
For the mac, check out Banktivity. That does the job for us.
 
I’m a YNAB fan but it’s not really a complete Quicken replacement. That said, I haven’t seen anything I actually needed Quicken for in a very long time.

Certain business things I needed something more akin to QuickBools but there were ample and cheaper options for that. I went with Xero. However they have upped prices since I started using them.

Almost all of the software that downloads transactions in near real time from banks and such uses one of two major companies that do that with web scraping. Some use both.

Intuit still runs their own AFAIK. Generally if Mint can get it (intuit company) their other software can.

Due to the way their customer service has operated, I suspect YNAB uses both major sources. Complaints that a particular institution has failed are usually resolved with “we changed something, try it now” and it works again.

It’s amazing the entire industry got stuck on Quicken and their venerable file formats for so long. They really need an information transfer standard that’s open and extensible.
 
Facing the same issue for pc.
Here is a fairly comprehensive list to read and choose from.
At the bottom is some further explanation or you can click on each one for more information.

Split transaction is a biggie for me, and download transactions, and tracking\reporting expenses.


https://wallethacks.com/best-quicken-alternatives/
 
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I have been using Microsoft Money Sunset edition to manage my checking account. I've tried other free accounting packages and just couldn't find one that did the job the way I wanted.

Then I quit balancing my checking account. What a waste of freakin' time that was.
 
denverpilot said:
Warning: Personal Capital will spam, call, and otherwise annoy the holy hell out of you. If you want to try it use a throwaway email and phone number.
Click to expand...
This is true. The reason that it is "free" is that they want to sell you other services.
 
I'm just using an old copy of Quicken. when it stops loading on newer computers (only a matter of time) I'll be in the same boat though.
 
I’m using YNAB but they just went to subscription platform too. You can still use the standalone but they just won’t support it anymore. I also have Quicken 2000 on my Windows 7 machine and it’s working. 19 years, I can’t believe it. I’m not going to try to put it on my new windows 10 machine.

YNAB is much more user friendly and helpful with budgeting, searching, filtering and so one. I’m very annoyed about going to subscription, I suppose I have to pull the trigger. They claim you get a discount if you migrate from the original.
 
steingar said:
I'm just using an old copy of Quicken. when it stops loading on newer computers (only a matter of time) I'll be in the same boat though.
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As of Nov 2019, or around there, old versions of Quicken will continue to work but no access to the servers for stock updates. Older versions are 32 bit, not supported by the new versions. So I can continue to use Quicken 2004 or 2007 on my older Mac but only in local mode. Which is why I keep that computer around.
 
murphey said:
As of Nov 2019, or around there, old versions of Quicken will continue to work but no access to the servers for stock updates. Older versions are 32 bit, not supported by the new versions. So I can continue to use Quicken 2007 on my older Mac but only in local mode. Which is why I keep that computer around.
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Yah, that's what I'm dong. No downloads or anything. Be damned if I'm going to subscribe to this nonsense. I don't subscribe to books, why would I to software? I feel badly that they were having trouble milking enough cash out of us.
 
I just went ahead with the subscription. It's $49.99/year; for both Mac and Windows versions (meaning you get both if you want them both).

Ok, now let's hear the lectures on my fiscal irresponsibility. ;)
 
denverpilot said:
Warning: Personal Capital will spam, call, and otherwise annoy the holy hell out of you.
Click to expand...
Interesting. I didn't have any issue from my demo of Personal Capital?? I had demo'd all 4 of the options I listed above when looking to transition away from QB Pro when I retired, but elected to continue using my unsupported QB Pro for managing my limited requirements plus still use a QB back up file to transfer info to my accountant.
 
Ventucky Red said:
Personal Finance stuff...
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If your need is more toward investment tracking vs personal money tracking, you may want look at Morningstar.com. I have a MS Premium account ($199/yr) that I use to track all my investments plus it provides a number of tools I can apply to my current portfolio or research new investment opportunities. They usually have a free 14 trial available.
 
"Slowen"

I always hated Quicken, and their upgrades.

Now subscription? No thanks. I'd rather use one of these...
2ba6f2214fcc8af16b67584ec5421445.jpg
 
I moved to Moneydance a couple of years ago as I am not a fan of SAS.
Stupid name, but gets it done.
Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android. Install on as many machines in your household as you like, with as many users/DBs as you need.
https://moneydance.com/
 
To avoid Quicken's subscription, if you only want to import quotes (and if you're willing to spend two minutes instead of two seconds), here's the workaround I've used for years:

1. In Yahoo quotes (or similar):
- keep a 'portfolio' with a list of your symbols (no need to enter info other than symbol)
- 'export' (this creates a csv file) upload_2019-12-26_17-22-21.png

2. In Excel (or similar),
- clean up the csv file: delete all columns after the first two, and delete header row
- Save as csv
- CTRL-W CTRL-W to close file

3. In Quicken,
- import prices as csv upload_2019-12-26_17-27-8.png

Most people don't want to bother with this, but for the thrifty few, it always works.
 

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JoeSelch said:
I moved to Moneydance a couple of years ago as I am not a fan of SAS.
Stupid name, but gets it done.
Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android. Install on as many machines in your household as you like, with as many users/DBs as you need.
https://moneydance.com/
Click to expand...

Using Moneydance still as well. I really just use it for bank account recons, so it’s pretty under-utilized. It lets me keep track of what categories I spend each month, which lets me see analyze those over time to see if percentage of total spend increases over the years. Also helps track utilities and such.
 
Do any of these alternatives do transaction splitting well? That is the biggest thing that keeps me with Quicken. Being an accountant, I track everything. I don’t just count my paycheck as net, I have the splits so that at tax time I can make sure the W-2 people did it right. Most import stuff (i.e. Mint) does splits but won’t remember the splits the next time it imports the transaction from the bank. Even lately Mint has been forgetting the categories I normally assign to some vendors. Drives me crazy.
 
NealRomeoGolf said:
Do any of these alternatives do transaction splitting well? That is the biggest thing that keeps me with Quicken. Being an accountant, I track everything. I don’t just count my paycheck as net, I have the splits so that at tax time I can make sure the W-2 people did it right. Most import stuff (i.e. Mint) does splits but won’t remember the splits the next time it imports the transaction from the bank. Even lately Mint has been forgetting the categories I normally assign to some vendors. Drives me crazy.
Click to expand...

YNAB splits transactions by category. Good question about whether it would remember the split, I don’t have any regular transactions that are split. Paycheck would just import the deposit amount. For gross I’d have to do that manually and that’s far too much work. I guess when I get the w-2 it’s not hard to figure out if they did it right.

When YNAB forgets the categories it’s because the transaction is not identical to the previous one. Something changes in the “payee” charge line.
 
Rushie said:
YNAB splits transactions by category. Good question about whether it would remember the split, I don’t have any regular transactions that are split. Paycheck would just import the deposit amount. For gross I’d have to do that manually and that’s far too much work. I guess when I get the w-2 it’s not hard to figure out if they did it right.

When YNAB forgets the categories it’s because the transaction is not identical to the previous one. Something changes in the “payee” charge line.
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Yeah, well when my wife goes to Walmart, I go through the receipt and split what was groceries and what is household. What can I say? Accounting as a profession fits me.
 
NealRomeoGolf said:
Yeah, well when my wife goes to Walmart, I go through the receipt and split what was groceries and what is household. What can I say? Accounting as a profession fits me.
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LOL! I don’t split the Walmart receipts like that. But it bugs me! I usually throw Walmart into groceries unless going for something specific like mulch (lawn care category) or detergent and paper products (household supplies).

The Amazon orders are what gets me. I don’t have much trouble categorizing my own but every couple of weeks I send Mark a screenshot of all the “uncategorized” Amazon purchases and ask him what they’re for. Poor guy used to go figure out each one but now just says “they’re all hobby or household repair/maintenance”. Well, how much of each is which?

Actually, all I really want to know is that these are legitimately his and not fraud. I have created a category called “random and unknown Amazon expenditures,” and if it’s not a big item that he identifies then I throw it in there and just assume it’s roughly 50/50 hobby and household maintenance. My OCD wants to account for every penny but you have to draw a line somewhere when it’s not worth the trouble.

And then there’s Christmas and birthday. I track all the finances and so when I see the charge to “John Kelly Chocolates” it’s ... you spent that much on me? :):D Such a sweet guy.
 
NealRomeoGolf said:
Yeah, well when my wife goes to Walmart, I go through the receipt and split what was groceries and what is household. What can I say? Accounting as a profession fits me.
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lol.. I do the same. Almost to a fault. Everything has a category.
Aspirin would be medical supplies, vitamins would be health supplements.
I don't like the ones that are on the fence.
Like Qtips...I use them for lot's of stuff.
Electrical tape? Tools? Electrical?

where do you put duct tape!?

misc ;)
 
NealRomeoGolf said:
Yeah, well when my wife goes to Walmart, I go through the receipt and split what was groceries and what is household. What can I say? Accounting as a profession fits me.
Click to expand...

I do that in YNAB. Mostly because otherwise it comes out of the wrong budget category since it’s really a zero-based budgeting tool more than a tracker.

I also stick a specific “color” category on anything tax related so at the end of the year I can just query that color. And business stuff.

If you enter things by hand YNAB will match on dollar amount when it imports the transaction most of the time and not change anything but I usually only do that for tips at restaurants. Everything else I fix the categories after it imports. It seems to handle both just fine.

Credit cards in YNAB confuse people. They show up as a debt you have to pay and you do a transaction from checking or savings or whatever to the card when you pay it. Normal for anyone who knows business accounting, confusing for the average debt user who carries a balance. YNAB will treat the card balance against your money available for spending assuming you need to pay it which drives balance carriers nuts. It’s basically saying “You don’t have that money to spend. Pay your card.” LOL.
 
denverpilot said:
Credit cards in YNAB confuse people. They show up as a debt you have to pay and you do a transaction from checking or savings or whatever to the card when you pay it. Normal for anyone who knows business accounting, confusing for the average debt user who carries a balance. YNAB will treat the card balance against your money available for spending assuming you need to pay it which drives balance carriers nuts. It’s basically saying “You don’t have that money to spend. Pay your card.” LOL.
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I love that about YNAB. I had to learn it at first but it’s really the best way. You download transactions against the credit card and they are “spent” at that point in time as far as YNAB is concerned. Which is as it should be. It makes it easier to pay the CC bill when it comes due because the payment doesn’t change your total balance. You don’t categorize the payment at all, you just transfer money from one account to the other. If you started with $15,000, you still have $15,000 after you pay the CC bill. Your $15,000 depletes when you import the CC transactions.
 
Skyrys62 said:
lol.. I do the same. Almost to a fault. Everything has a category.
Aspirin would be medical supplies, vitamins would be health supplements.
I don't like the ones that are on the fence.
Like Qtips...I use them for lot's of stuff.
Electrical tape? Tools? Electrical?

where do you put duct tape!?

misc ;)
Click to expand...

Miscellaneous is the bane of every accounting professional in existence, lol. I avoid using it like the plague even if I have to journal entry the expense to a less than ideal GL account.
 
SoonerAviator said:
Miscellaneous is the bane of every accounting professional in existence, lol. I avoid using it like the plague even if I have to journal entry the expense to a less than ideal GL account.
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One of the things I have been doing at the subsidiary I am working at is getting them off of miscellaneous. The integration team did a bad job with the local ledger mapping to the corporate ledger. Still lots to improve but I have left my mark.
 
I have a budget item that’s as close to Misc as I’ll allow. It’s a $100 and called “Stuff I forgot to budget for”. Using it requires a new budget item be added no matter how small. LOL.

And my wife is the OCD one. Riiiiight.
 
I'm a Moneydance fan. Win, Mac, Linux plus iOS and Android. Decent licensing policy. And a fair price.
 
FWIW, anyone still using Quicken - especially the cloud version - should read their terms of service and privacy policy about what they can and will do with your data. Perhaps you will still be comfortable, I'm not comfortable at all (and haven't been for a decade or more). It's not just about what you pay for the product - they make their real money from your data (even if it's just to market you more stuff).

You should also read this article on tech privacy in general: https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2019/12/31/how-we-survive-surveillance-apocalypse/
 
I've been waiting for this:

Dear David,

You're receiving this email as a registered user of Quicken 2017.

If you have not yet upgraded to Quicken membership, all of your connected services will no longer be supported as of April 30, 2020:
 
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