Tracking Expenses & Finances - How Do You Do It?

CheeseBeans on 28/07/2021 - 10:45

Wondering how everyone here tracks the Hisense tv's, Dr Oetteker pizzas and seiko watches they buy here.

I keep a running google sheet every week recording my balances (debit account, mortgage, mortgage redraw and any credit cards), as well as going through my spending for the week and tallying up utilities/bills, travel/automotive expenses, food and drink, household, and discretionary spending.

Are there any good (and safe) apps anyone would recommend?

Ideally I'd want to use Money in Excel, though it doesn't look like it works in Australia.

Financial

Comments

  • Dumax on 28/07/2021 - 10:46
    +6

    I use Pocketbook

    • Doy on 28/07/2021 - 11:26
      +4

      Their privacy policy isn't particularly appealing..

      • capslock janitor on 07/08/2021 - 12:09

        How about Frollo?

      • JDNE on 11/08/2021 - 10:40

        Hey mate, I know it's a bit late on the thread, but what's wrong with the privacy policy?

        • Doy on 11/08/2021 - 10:46

          They pretty clearly say they'll collect & store quite comprehensive amounts of data, that they can share it with 3rd parties, and that it only 'may' be de-identified. Not worth.

          • JDNE on 11/08/2021 - 10:47
            +1

            @Doy: That's quite disappointing actually, been using them for awhile.
            I'm a massive fan of the Z1P brand too. Might have to see their policies for consumers also.

            • Doy on 11/08/2021 - 10:48
              +1

              @JDNE: Totally… So many of these services I'd be happy to pay a small fee for, but it's just normalised now that our privacy is raided and sold off. Needs to change.

    • cate-g on 29/07/2021 - 07:46

      Same. Have been using it for years

    • trankillity on 29/07/2021 - 08:54

      Pocketbook helped me a lot when I was saving for a house. Really helped me understand where my money was going.

  • MS Paint on 28/07/2021 - 10:52
    +4

    The CBA app does enough expense tracking for what I care.

    • CheeseBeans on 28/07/2021 - 10:53
      +1

      That would be good, though I'm with St. George and they do nearly nothing. When I had my ANZ CC it was almost usable though

  • everydollacounts on 28/07/2021 - 10:59
    +8

    Nothing beats Google Sheet/Excel for my own customization. Adding to what you already do, I also track my expected tax return - great for buying non-essential things guilt free every EOFY.

    • redfox1200 on 29/07/2021 - 07:31
      +3

      But a tax refund is still your own money, why is it guilt free? It just means you paid too much throughout the year

      • everydollacounts on 29/07/2021 - 10:42

        Each to their own mindset

      • Nereosis on 11/08/2021 - 11:21

        Every tax lodgement I have done in my life has resulted in a return of $1000+; is that not normal?

        • redfox1200 on 11/08/2021 - 13:08

          depends on what you earn and what deductions you have

          if you have additional income from shares or property then you will likely pay more tax.

          if its just employment income and basic deductions you will probably get about that.

  • wearabloodymask on 28/07/2021 - 11:03
    +6

    this website is incredible - https://cspersonalfinance.io/

    it has a free version but also a $8 once off paid version that can track everything for wealth - property, shares, side income etc etc. it also constantly gets updated and has feature requests. for the price it is pretty amazing

    • Team Ozgiftcards on 28/07/2021 - 18:13
      +1

      Very interesting sheet!

    • ozbloke2 on 29/07/2021 - 09:30

      it looks great! can it link to your bank accounts/home loan account etc. and update automatically? or do you have to enter that info manually?

      • JSONBourne on 29/07/2021 - 11:07

        I use the paid one, it doesn't link to your bank account (feature for me) as it's more for net worth/overall finances than transactions but it's super automated so entry is minimal. Really handy for tracking your investments/property/balances across each month and it has a bunch of other handy features. I use Pocketbook for transactions but this for pretty much everything else.

    • JSONBourne on 29/07/2021 - 11:05

      Also use this and it's incredible. The paid version just had a FIFO calculator added to it too which is brilliant.

    • bamzero on 11/08/2021 - 16:18

      Looks interesting, also $6 until 14/8

  • Blue Cat on 28/07/2021 - 11:10
    +13

    By earning more than what I am spending. Don't need to track anything lol

    • CheeseBeans on 28/07/2021 - 11:15
      +6

      I also earn more than what I'm spending- doesn't mean that keeping track of what I'm spending is a bad idea…

      Unfortunately the bank seems to agree lol. On applying to refinance my mortgage I had to supply my budgets, accounts etc. all over again even though I've paid down an additional 30k on my mortgage in the last 18 months

      • Blue Cat on 28/07/2021 - 11:41

        I thought banks would only care about "official" documents, like bank statements, and not some user made spreadsheets they did themselves?

        • CheeseBeans on 28/07/2021 - 11:50
          +2

          You're asked to provide your own budget estimates (average spending on bills, food, discretionary etc.), AND official documents, which they then go and compare (as well as comparing to average/typical expenses in Australia based on your age and income). If there's any major discrepancy you're likely to be declined, even if you can clearly demonstrate ability to repay.

          • Blue Cat on 28/07/2021 - 12:00
            +1

            @CheeseBeans: That’s good to know if I ever need to refinance. Thanks.

            • CheeseBeans on 28/07/2021 - 12:03

              @Blue Cat: Yeah I expected it to be very straightforward, though they asked for pretty much the same amount as information as when I first applied (the amount of info required increased substantially with responsible lending & numerous banking enquiries)

    • jellykingdom on 28/07/2021 - 12:47
      +6

      Yeah ditto, my wife tries to do it occasionally but honestly I just don't care for budgetting. Really, every time we do the exercise we end up finding we don't have many ways we could save money. Phone/internet is fairly fixed, groceries are fairly fixed, car is fairly fixed, bills are fairly fixed, and then there's discretionary on top which varies a bit but not that much (if you dont' spend one month on clothes for e.g, you'll likely spend on takeaway, or holiday, etc). It just ends up feeling like a waste of time, so i just don't bother

      • Blue Cat on 28/07/2021 - 12:50
        +3

        we end up finding we don't have many ways we could save money … It just ends up feeling like a waste of time, so i just don't bother

        Spot on, 100% exactly my experience. I guess "budgeting" helps if you are a person who likes to spend a lot, but for someone who is always conscious about their every purchase, it is just a waste of time.

      • Mokr on 28/07/2021 - 13:51
        +1

        Phone/internet is fairly fixed, groceries are fairly fixed, car is fairly fixed

        Sent from iphone…

        • Nereosis on 11/08/2021 - 11:26

          Is your point that an iphone is expensive?

      • [Deactivated] on 28/07/2021 - 14:27
        +1

        Completely agree with this. Every single time I make a budget to see where I can cut costs, I found out that I don't have anything to cut unless I sacrifice on things that enhance QoL. I'd rather not live like a pleb to save a few $. Retirement can wait an extra couple years, big deal.

        • jellykingdom on 28/07/2021 - 14:42
          +1

          i mean i guess there's a difference between being "wasteful" and "not budgeting". i know that we're not wasteful, we have fun and enjoy our money. But i also know that we aren't paying over what we should be for phones/internet/power etc

          But yeah definitely agree re QoL. Why waste your life when you're young enough and can enjoy it??

  • rcc12 on 28/07/2021 - 11:44
    +4

    I use YNAB.

    • burningrage on 28/07/2021 - 12:25
      +1

      I use the combination of Microsoft Money Deluxe Sunset (free - this year is my 7th year using this) and YNAB.

      YNAB though is extremely expensive.

      • macfudd on 28/07/2021 - 20:31
        +3

        I like YNAB but still have the old Steam version. It's good but it'd be tough to recommend the newer monthly subscription version.

      • bamzero on 29/07/2021 - 19:43
        +2

        Pretty sure my dad is still using Money 97…

        Can download Money Deluxe Sunset from the internet archive

  • tsunamisurfer on 28/07/2021 - 11:50
    +2

    I track my expenses on Excel, it is the most powerful tool to do it.

    It may not be as sexy as the apps available but it works great.

    AMP had a really thorough one but it has been removed for an online version which is still good.

    https://www.amp.com.au/banking/calculators/budget-planner-ca…

  • upended on 28/07/2021 - 12:00
    +1

    Excel with custom macros tailored to my needs. Does an excellent job.

  • uncompressed on 28/07/2021 - 12:07
    +1

    I use Google Sheets and run a week-by-week cash flow with a calculated amount set aside and transferred to separate accounts for different purposes.

    1. Home loan
    2. Bills (mobile phone, utilities, internet, rates etc)
    3. Education (kids classes, school fees etc)
    4. Groceries + dining out
    5. Savings + investments
    6. discretionary spending

    I don't keep a budget but since all the outgoings have been set aside, and there's a fixed amount for groceries and eating out, there's really nothing left to deal with.

  • WizMuncher on 28/07/2021 - 12:26

    I started a programming project about 5 years ago with Python / PYQT. I like programming and the advantage is it is completely customizable and you know exactly how it works. Also you tend to hit a wall with spreadsheets, this is like the next dimension.

    • CheeseBeans on 28/07/2021 - 12:32

      Do you have it pull your banking data directly? That's the big roadblock I've got. A while ago microsoft/excel made a plugin which could pull the data directly into a dynamic sheet but I don't think it works in Australia.

      • WizMuncher on 28/07/2021 - 13:50

        Yeah, I use the Beautiful Soup Html / Xml web scraper python package. Not as elegant as I'd like but gets the job done.

  • Fizzydrink on 28/07/2021 - 13:34
    +1

    I have a spreadsheet, worked out all bills annually , and divided by 2 (paid fortnightly)
    This goes in one account/card (where all bills come out)

    whatever is left goes into a different account, where my wife spends it.

    • Mugsy on 29/07/2021 - 08:33

      So the moral of the story is to have enough debt that what goes in will go out before one's wife spends it?

  • Mokr on 28/07/2021 - 13:56
    +2

    shares/eft as well, - using sharesight not sure if it does it right

    • badg3rz on 29/07/2021 - 07:25

      Same here

  • Team Ozgiftcards on 28/07/2021 - 18:14
    +2

    I use waveapps - a free accounting software.

  • stralya on 28/07/2021 - 19:13
    +2

    I use Moneybrilliant

  • konstantinos on 28/07/2021 - 19:15

    I use tillerHQ to scrape all my accounts - super too. It’s an elegant solution because it just dumps transactions into a spreadsheet I can do whatever I like with.

    Then I use my own gsheets template to categorise expenses and budget out for the year ahead.

    I’m toying with the idea of actually making my own tool, because I’m inevitably going to hit limits with sheets, and so I can find more trends and analysis.

    I’ve been using it for 1.5 years now, no issues so far.

    • Snoochem55 on 29/07/2021 - 00:17

      So you obviously need to trust TillerHQ with your login credentials to various accounts? Not a bad idea though since I manually enter my transactions into a spreadsheet on a weekly basis which is annoying.

      I am thinking of writing my own scrapping tool in Python/Selenium once I get some free time.

      • konstantinos on 29/07/2021 - 20:50

        That's right - but it's no different to trusting a pocketbook, moneybrilliant et al.
        However, it's not free - which is what I appreciate - they're making money from you, not by selling your data to someone else.

  • garddn on 29/07/2021 - 07:44
    +1

    I use the money manager app. Fairly easy to use. I just input my spending at the end of each day. Doesn't take long.

  • Lurk Hartog on 29/07/2021 - 08:07
    +2

    Up Bank does a pretty good job of it.

  • thrillhouse on 29/07/2021 - 08:27
    +1

    I'm using Frollo, and before that Pocketbook. I prefer Frollo, but I don't often find myself diving into it that much.

    • exceladdict on 29/07/2021 - 09:22

      Have just started testing frollo. A number of accounts still can't use open banking so it doesn't give me the full picture (I am not interested in the slightest in the screen scraping technology used for other accounts) but as open banking expands, frollo and others will become fantastic.

      • thrillhouse on 29/07/2021 - 09:33
        +1

        Absolutely. I am with ING who unfortunately don't (yet) support Open Banking, but it's on their roadmap for this year, and I will make that switch immediately.

      • capslock janitor on 07/08/2021 - 12:18

        So CDR vs Yodlee - Enter via CDR option?

    • capslock janitor on 07/08/2021 - 12:17

      Interesting did a quick comparison - Frollo has many more institutions included than Pocketbook.

      Even saw platforms I didn't expect such a Paypal, SelfWealth, Raiz. Safe??

  • Mugsy on 29/07/2021 - 08:32
    +1

    Custom spreadsheet… been using it for over 15yrs now. Tracks everything I need it to from expenditure (broken down into categories), sources of income, bank account balances, debt I'm still owing, etc etc. For most people it's a lot of effort but when one is trained in data entry and spreadsheets, it's not tedious.

  • boscom on 29/07/2021 - 09:41

    Same here. Custom spreadsheets for savings and expenditure and use free Investsmart Account for Assets (Shares, Home, Funds, Super etc) and Liabilities (Loans,Credit Cards etc) to track Net Worth.

    https://www.investsmart.com.au/portfolio-manager/get-started

  • goodster on 29/07/2021 - 11:29

    Checkout the GNUcash program - free, open source and all platforms.

    • CheeseBeans on 29/07/2021 - 11:53

      This has a lot of the features I want- looks really good

  • Mark1159 on 29/07/2021 - 11:36

    Pencil and pad - mine go back to 1978

  • Rako on 29/07/2021 - 13:54

    Microsoft Money
    Still available.
    https://money-plus-sunset-deluxe.en.softonic.com/
    Programs that download your data from banks require you to give your passwords to others which is in breach of your agreement with the banks.

  • susannetsv on 29/07/2021 - 18:22
    +1

    Try Quickbooks online, you can enter the transactions anywhere and can reconcile against bank & credit card statements, also makes doing your tax very easy. It is always a great way to budget as you can see exactly how much you have spent on everything.

  • cimrak on 29/07/2021 - 20:25

    I use both PocketBook (primary) and MoneyBrilliant (secondary, just testing so far)

  • cashless on 30/07/2021 - 10:07

    I use my c/card statement

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