For clarification -
mint.com
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mint&hl=en
Not Mint Linux. ;)
Adam
On 21 August 2012 14:39, Adam McCullough <
ajmccul1@asu.edu> wrote:
> I just use mint. It does most of what I want, and the integration with my
> bank records is a snap to set up.
>
> Adam
>
>
> On 21 August 2012 11:49, Matt Graham <Matthew.H.Graham@asu.edu> wrote:
>
>> From: Michael Butash <michael@butash.net>
>> > I've attempted probably no less than 4 times over the past 5 years or
>> > so to get [GNUcash] working in efforts to track finances more
>> effectively,
>> > but never once got the hbci stuff working with my bank(s) to do so.
>> That
>> > bit was quite cryptic and frustrating
>>
>> I haven't tried that, since I usually have fewer than 5 bank transactions
>> per
>> day, so entering these by hand is easy/fast. Getting Finance::Quote
>> installed
>> and set up for tracking stock/mutual funds was relatively easy once I'd
>> read
>> the fine manual.
>>
>> > That and the accounting knowledge required to use it effectively simply
>> > eludes me as much seemed to assume I actually understood accounting.
>>
>> Take a look at the basic help,
>> http://gnucash.org/docs/v2.4/C/gnucash-help/help.html , and see if
>> anything
>> in
>> the advanced help ,
>> http://gnucash.org/docs/v2.4/C/gnucash-guide/index.html
>> is
>> interesting.
>>
>> The thing to do when setting up GNUcash is to start out your checking
>> account
>> opening balance with the opening balance on the first of (month), then
>> just
>> enter all the income/expenses from then til today that are on your bank
>> statement. Start your cash in wallet opening balance with the bills in
>> your
>> wallet. *DON'T* try to enter everything you have records of, just pick a
>> start date.[0] Then spend 5 minutes every day recording what you spent
>> that
>> day and what you spent it on.
>>
>> The real power of GNUcash is that it forces you to categorize every
>> transaction. $4.65 double venti marshmellow fluff mocachino every day?
>> That
>> accumulates in Expenses:Dining and then you say, "What in the name of
>> Richard
>> Stallman did I spend so much money on in Dining?" and then you think about
>> buying cheaper drinks.[1]
>>
>> Split transactions and scheduled transactions are also useful. Though if
>> I
>> were going to use scheduled transactions a lot, I'd schedule the expenses
>> <= 5
>> days in advance, so that your ledger reflects what you have *now*. And I
>> only
>> enter income transactions when I've actually got the money in my wallet or
>> bank account. (Somebody I know scheduled a bunch of expenses and income
>> transactions 180 days in advance, making it look as though she'd paid off
>> her
>> credit card on the overview window when there was still $1000 on it.
>> While
>> that might make you feel better, it doesn't reflect current reality....)
>>
>> FWIW, I haven't had any formal accounting training at all, and I managed
>> to
>> get GNUcash mostly figured out in 2000-2001, when the documentation was
>> sort
>> of incomplete.
>>
>> [0] Accountants, feel free to gasp in horror here.
>> [1] Not if you file everything under Expenses:Miscellaneous , so don't do
>> that. You'll probably need to create a few custom accounts. I have
>> Expenses:Cat , you may need Expenses:Dog or Expenses:Kid .
>>
>> --
>> Matt G / Dances With Crows
>> The Crow202 Blog: http://crow202.org/wordpress/
>> There is no Darkness in Eternity/But only Light too dim for us to see
>>
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>
>
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