Comments on: Better Budgeting Software: YNAB or Quicken?

By: Charlie Brown

Charlie Brown — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 23:30:41 +0000

Hello CK,

I think your prediction came true. As I visit the Intuit web sites, I see many complaints about MINT.

Also one should be wary of Quicken 2012. Apparently, it is an unmitigated disaster.

Charlie Brown

By: Bob

Bob — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 16:58:41 +0000

Gina: check out the fabulous YNAB support page before you give up. The videos address all your concerns. YNAB helps you live off LAST months income… as weird as that sounds… by creating a buffer, automatically.

http://www.ynab.com/support

By: Gina

Gina — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 06:34:31 +0000

I’m on my 2nd day of trying out YNAB and I’m frustrated. I get that it’s a budgeting tool but I want to keep track of the payments we’ve made and payments to come and money coming in and of course the budgeted expenses but I haven’t figured it out yet.

My father uses quicken and he’s been using it for 5 years. Of course the difference between us is he has more investments to monitor than I do. I have yet to try it. I have yet to see which program suits my needs.

I am using excel which is a lot of work, but I get my ideas from YNAB on how to organize my spreadsheets.
I’m thinking YNAB might not be the one I’m looking for.

By: aua868s

aua868s — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 08:30:43 +0000

i guess its from adobe?

By: aua868s

aua868s — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 08:28:50 +0000

“innoslice”???…never heard of it before…would like to hear about it from you.

By: jessy

jessy — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 01:56:34 +0000

I have always used notebook and pencil for my budgeting, and it has worked great for me. For minimal stuff that I do, I couldn’t find a software that helps me replace my notebook and pencil method. Recently, I found a software called ‘innoslice’ which was more or less what I needed. However, I am not able to give any feedbacks on this yet; I would be able to comment on it when I use it for a couple of months.

By: aua868s

aua868s — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 22:48:05 +0000

sorry…i was refering to quicken online…got to see how quicken desktop software works..

By: Chris

Chris — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 22:03:54 +0000

Thanks Caitlin!

By: Chance

Chance — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 16:30:37 +0000

A great response to the Quicken vs YNAB question, Jim.

Quicken is certainly more focused on “total” money management while YNAB is almost entirely focused on the budget. But what YNAB does, it does extremely well. YNAB is really a budgeting methodology first and (great) software second.

I’m working on a review of YNAB 3 and hope to finish it in the next day or two. I’ll be sure to post again when it’s finished!

By: Eric

Eric — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 23:57:28 +0000

I have used Quicken, Mint, YNAB, and Mvelopes.

For budgeting: Mvelopes and YNAB are both fantastic. However, Mvelopes is ridiculously expensive and an online app, whereas YNAB is a one-time, very affordable purchase, and YNAB 3 is looking to be absolutely incredible.

YNAB is the best budgeting software out there for your money, hands down.

For overall financial picture: Quicken and Mint are both great. I don’t think the learning curve is that steep, but the detail of Quicken can be a little overwhelming at times. Mint does a good job at keeping it simple. The only reason I would use Quicken would be for tracking investments (for tax purposes) and tax-deductible expenses to export to TurboTax.

In comparing the two, I like Mint better because it is so much easier to use and if you use the “tag” system well I think you could also do well at tracking tax-deductible expenses.

By: Caitlin

Caitlin — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 17:47:26 +0000

Hrm, did it eat my first comment?

YNAB Pro costs $49.95 and YNAB 3 will cost $59.95

By: finco86

finco86 — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 17:00:59 +0000

Just did the 7 Day Trial at YNAB and thought that it worked pretty well for what it does, the budget. You can have all of your checking, savings, and credit cards accounts visible so it might take a little time to set up and get comfortable with how things work.

I have been a Quicken user for many years and just love the full picture it provides. Its budgeting features are not as good as YNAB, but they can work if your take the time to learn their system and have everything categorized.

But, like others have said, if you want to do a budget without much else, YNAB is a good choice. If you want a fuller picture, Quicken does this well. YNAB will be cheaper.

By: Chris

Chris — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 14:45:40 +0000

Are talking about just the budgeting features on YNAB? What do you do for management?

By: Chris

Chris — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 14:39:55 +0000

Do you think 3.o will cost more than 2.0 when it arrives? I would like to start using it.

By: Chris

Chris — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 14:32:04 +0000

Mint has been great for me except for when smaller institutions don’t allow this type of third party connection through Mint.