» Technology related financial stuff, sort of…

Technology related financial stuff, sort of…

I’ve found myself, as of late, trying a bunch of online money management software. I’ve tried Mint, Wesabe, Quicken Online, and Buxfer one other (that I thought started with a B and was owned by Google, anyone?). All of them except Quicken Online have one major feature missing that stopped me from using the site. There is no way to add in an upcoming transaction and have it reconcile when the transaction posts. Without that feature the web application is virtually useless to me. My bank’s website actually gives me a better up to the minute view of what’s available in my account because it shows what transactions are pending but haven’t posted. So the problem with all of these is if I have an outstanding check that is neither pending or posted then I’ll think I have more money than I really do. But who writes checks anyway?

Well sometimes I just have to don’t I. At any rate, call me old school, I like to enter in my transactions and then have the software reconcile them once they are posted. The problem with Quicken and Microsoft Money is using them on only one computer. I wanted to accewss account information from anywhere and enter transactions while at work for instance. So began my quest for an online money management program.

Mint and Wesabe offer some cool features. Mint has offers that are intended to save you money. Mint will take a look at your accounts and make recommendations. Like a credit card with a lower interest rate or savings accounts with higher interest rates. Wesabe is almost a social networking site for money. With Wesabe users can make suggestions about things. For instance, if Wesabe sees that you spend money at Starbucks it will offer “tips” suggesting using a prepaid Starbucks card to control you coffee drinking spending. Which in my case is totally out of control.

I must say that the buzz around Mint also solidified my resolve to find online money management, but in the end I sticking with Quicken Online. Which really stinks because it costs $2.99 a month. While it offers adding a transaction the reconciling process misses quite a few. Thus I end up with duplicate transactions. That did not occur too frequently with the desktop version of Quicken or Microsoft Money. Overall though Quicken Online is a good web application. The graphs, charts, and budgeting systems are on par with the other contenders plus it has my holy grail of upcoming transaction additions. While having all your accounts online is a security risk it is nice to know I don’t have to worry about backing up my financial data.

I should mention that all of these sites allow you to see all of your accounts in one place. Also in the Wesabe forums they promise to deliver upcoming transactions that reconcile. I’ll be saying bye bye to Quicken Online if that ever happens. If anyone knows of a free site that offer upcoming transactions please let me know.