Short and to the point: YNAB or Moneywell (my choice) - everything else is imo a glorified Excel sheet, that doesn't help you manage your money but only tells you where it went, when you run out of it.
Some years ago I had a difficult relationship with my financial situation myself: I always had enough money and I never had any debt, but I was living from paycheck to paycheck, like most people do, I guess.
I felt, that there must be a better way and so I started looking for money management apps. I tried the most interesting ones (a decent interface and an iOS app were the minimum requirements) for multiple months: Money, Squirrel, Koku ... and I also tried others for as long as the free trial period allowed. Long story short: Every of those apps answered my usual question at the end of the month "Where did all my money go?" with beautiful graphs and wonderful charts. But that didn't stop the question appearing month after month.
Then a friend told me about YNAB and the whole philosophy behind it. I was intrigued and realized its potential, but found the interface so horrible, that I was sure I wouldn't use it in the long run.
That's when I remembered Moneywell, an app I tried several times, but never understood. But the experience with YNAB convinced me to give it another chance and really try do understand the thinking behind it.
Admittedly, it took me A LOT of time: Although they provide a lot of helpful articles and videos and also their support staff is great, Moneywell still has a very steep learning curve. The philosophy behind it is great and works flawlessly, but because it is so different to the usual "enter all your transactions and that's it" apps I took me a lot of time to fully understand how everything works together. But I'm so glad I pulled through!
When I had finally everything set up and started spending (and living) according to those principles it completely changed my way of interacting with money. I almost immediately stopped living from pacheck to paycheck, but have a complete overview of all upcoming bills and expenses now AND (the important thing) at the same time complete confidence and security, that I will be able to pay them. In the ~3 years I'm using Moneywell I saved a considerable amount of money without any real effort and I'd be able to just spend it, because I know I will still have enough money for all upcoming expenses.
Without any exaggeration I can say, that Moneywell changed my life like no other application before. Besides 1Password it's my only "trusted system" and I'd pay almost anything for keep using it.
And yes, although this sounds like an paid advertisement I'm just an extremely satisfied customer. :)
Short and to the point: YNAB or Moneywell (my choice) - everything else is imo a glorified Excel sheet, that doesn't help you manage your money but only tells you where it went, when you run out of it.
Some years ago I had a difficult relationship with my financial situation myself: I always had enough money and I never had any debt, but I was living from paycheck to paycheck, like most people do, I guess.
I felt, that there must be a better way and so I started looking for money management apps. I tried the most interesting ones (a decent interface and an iOS app were the minimum requirements) for multiple months: Money, Squirrel, Koku ... and I also tried others for as long as the free trial period allowed. Long story short: Every of those apps answered my usual question at the end of the month "Where did all my money go?" with beautiful graphs and wonderful charts. But that didn't stop the question appearing month after month.
Then a friend told me about YNAB and the whole philosophy behind it. I was intrigued and realized its potential, but found the interface so horrible, that I was sure I wouldn't use it in the long run.
That's when I remembered Moneywell, an app I tried several times, but never understood. But the experience with YNAB convinced me to give it another chance and really try do understand the thinking behind it.
Admittedly, it took me A LOT of time: Although they provide a lot of helpful articles and videos and also their support staff is great, Moneywell still has a very steep learning curve. The philosophy behind it is great and works flawlessly, but because it is so different to the usual "enter all your transactions and that's it" apps I took me a lot of time to fully understand how everything works together. But I'm so glad I pulled through!
When I had finally everything set up and started spending (and living) according to those principles it completely changed my way of interacting with money. I almost immediately stopped living from pacheck to paycheck, but have a complete overview of all upcoming bills and expenses now AND (the important thing) at the same time complete confidence and security, that I will be able to pay them. In the ~3 years I'm using Moneywell I saved a considerable amount of money without any real effort and I'd be able to just spend it, because I know I will still have enough money for all upcoming expenses.
Without any exaggeration I can say, that Moneywell changed my life like no other application before. Besides 1Password it's my only "trusted system" and I'd pay almost anything for keep using it.
And yes, although this sounds like an paid advertisement I'm just an extremely satisfied customer. :)