Drew31 and EricGold, how much work did it take to take each institution's download and transform it into a single format that you use in your sheet?Same experience in my home, but I had to tinker for years before I and my wife were satisfied. I grade myself as an adept layperson when it comes to SS. Pivot tables and compound formulas surely, and a little scripting. I recently learned Google sheets' Lambda functions thinking they were cool and practical (and because I want my coding legible), but I have yet to actually use them. These days we track expenses out of habit, curiosity, and some degree of micro-management and OCD on my part. My wife tracks purchases mostly to convince herself there has not been fraud or identity theft. She also appreciates me bringing all my non-online receipts to her for entry out of nosiness.This will never be a popular answer, but I still contend building your own spreadsheets is the best way.
To each their own, but life for me got easier, not harder, once I built my own spreadsheets and left Quicken, YNAB, others behind.
A long time ago I set up credit cards to auto-pay the full balance as frequently as the the card allowed. I happily give up the interest implied in a grace period to gain near real time cash flow. I am still capable of occasionally over drafting (OD) the checking account out of laziness or forgetfulness but my bank (USAA) has an OD feature so good, it is reason alone to stay with them: immediate notice, prime rate APR and no fees. For me it makes ODs a matter of pennies since I can cash out some money market at Schwab and transfer to my OD account in about 2 days. If USAA continues to deteriorate, I may eventually transfer checking to Schwab. For now things are "Good Enough"
I used to also review credit card statements to catch fraud, but these days I'm pretty comfortable relying on Google Pay for two reasons: one, virtual CC numbers are used; and 2, I get notifications of purchases on my phone that I glance at, confirm, and forget. I find that chore easier a bit at at time, and when my memory is fresh. But since my wife is the primary shopper offline, my preferences barely count here. Online purchases are different for us. I have an engrained habit of immediately logging any purchase in the SS, and since it is customized exactly to our preferences it only takes a few seconds (literally) to input the data exactly how I want it, and I'm already on the computer.
Perhaps the killer feature that sealed Google Docs' SS for us is the sharing. Others are catching up but Google is the king of the cloud
Statistics: Posted by Uncle Morris — Tue Jul 02, 2024 1:15 am — Replies 816 — Views 170576
