Best money app? Not YNAB.

[QueenOfIce]

I'm looking for something that will whizz through my incomings and outgoings and sort into categories so I can see exactly where my money is going and how much I can save.

I'm interested in Ontrees and money dashboard but I've read that they are aggregators which store your data on their server and should anything happen you are no longer covered by your bank as they have a policy about third parties.

I'm sure these websites are safe but nothing is 100%, wondered if anyone uses either of these or can recommend another alternative.

Disclaimer I cannot do spreadsheets!

Following

Can you elaborate about why YNAB isn't a consideration, because that might help to give suggestions, especially as Ontrees is just like YNAB

I couldn't get to grips with ynab and also you have to pay for it. As I'm trying to budget better and save more I don't want another outgoing even if it is 3.99 a month!

Ahh, ok. The fee, I would say, is irrelevant. You would save far, far more than £3.99 per month. In fact, many hundreds (if not thousands) of YNAB users have found that to be true.

But, if you can't get to grips with it, fair enough. It's a real shame, though, because it's a cracking system, and I believe it's life-changing. I've been using it for a number of years, but this year, I decided to get to grips with my utilities and other outgoings, to really save money.

Because I have a line in YNAB for every regular outgoing, it was really easy to look at each one and run a check for any savings that could be made. I've saved £50 pm in real terms on my gas and electricity (£4 in actual terms - my old supplier wanted to increase my tariff by £46 pm as I came out of a fix), £40 pm on phone/broadband/TV, £70 pm on mobile phones, £10 pm on Netflix (cancelled), £187 refunded due to being excessive insurance cover from Domestic and General, £120 refund due from Scottish power for overpayment, £9 reduction in union fees as I realised that it wasn't all compulsory, so asked them to take the voluntary aspects off (I have to be in a union because I'm a nurse). So £175 per month saved in the last two weeks, plus £300 due to be refunded, which was painless because I had all the information available through YNAB.

As for other products, I think Ontrees is very similar, but I would agree to be cautious about the 3rd party authorisation issues. I couldn't use it anyway because I'm with Co-op bank and their log in method foxes 3rd party log in portals.

Generally, all money management systems will require you to categories the transactions, and they are all essentially spreadsheets that look pretty.

Theres one called Plum. I've not tried it though.

Sounds great for you lougle, I am looking for something whereby it's all automatically taken care of. Because ynab is US based it doesn't update for UK so have to input manually and that's where I lose the will to live

You shouldn't have to, Queen (I'm not trying to convert, you, honest ). If your bank allows you to download your statements as a .csv file, QIF file, OFX file, or QFX file, it will import into YNAB, then all you have to do is assign it to a category. Even then, you can manage payees, so that from that moment on, it will remember what you did and do it for you.

Ooh, I’ve just asked the same question over in credit crunch as I wasn’t sure what other money forums there were so I’ll be keeping a keen eye on recommendations here sorry not at all helpful

You shouldn't have to, Queen (I'm not trying to convert, you, honest ). If your bank allows you to download your statements as a .csv file, QIF file, OFX file, or QFX file, it will import into YNAB, then all you have to do is assign it to a category. Even then, you can manage payees, so that from that moment on, it will remember what you did and do it for you.

Arrrgh, I'm so sorry! I couldn't post at all, so messaged MNHQ, and it must have been a glitch. But in case you couldn't read my message, you shouldn't have to input it all manually......

I'll report 5 of my posts, shall I? I'll look like I've got a really bad attitude!

Lougle looks like you're definitely trying to convert me

Well if something is worth saying once, it's with saying 6 times, surely? 🤣

You can do spreadsheets, not that hard and free if you use open office or similar.

A paid budget app is like a book on decluttering - defeats the object.

Ok I should say that spreadsheets and the like overwhelm me and the little time I get with my family I don't want to spend in front of a computer entering numbers. I'd like an app that does it for me!

I use ynab. I just drop a bank file into it and it's all there. Takes seconds. Then you have to categorize each transaction (it learns them as you go along). You then need to categorize each transaction which you would have to do with any app.

I have been using it for 2 years and it has transformed our finances. (Was massively overdrawn when I started, now 5 figures are sitting in the account. All without too much pain). Totally worth paying the small fee.

OP, at the risk of reviving a zombie thread, I recently came across YOLT that seems to work great in the UK (connects to many different banks), but isn't actually accessing your account in terms of being able to make transfers, etc. But it's all in one place so you can see the big picture (and you can set up some budgets etc. if you want). I like it so far, although it's perhaps worth saying that I didn't get on with YNAB either when I tried it in the past! Hope this might help someone.