Ok, I've never commented but this is something I have extremely strong feelings about - having spent the better part of a month searching for the perfect 'personal finance' application. Here's my dilemma; I need an app that has an appropriate level of detail (I.e. All my transactions and the relevant info) without including stuff that would put me at risk (account numbers, name and address etc.). Ideally it would aggregate, but so long as it can import from common file types, I think that would be ok too. And on top of that i need the ability to categorize each transaction, set budgets for each category, compare those budgets to reality, and adjust everything as needed. Finally - and this is the kicker - I need the ability to project into the future. I need to be able to say "ok, in august I'll get three paychecks - how should I allocate that money?" or December plan for a large expense, and subsequently save each month and adjust for months where I save too little or a little extra. No small feat believe it or not. This would be an iPad only app - iPod touch and iPhone are great mobile tools but lack the screen size in my opinion to truly replace the laptop for this purpose. I honestly don't care about giving details because if someone could write this GREAT - I'll buy it! I have tried almost every single reputable app out there to see if it will meet all these needs and such a thing just does not currently exist. Mint.com is the closest contender, but the app itself (rather than the online system which is really impressive) leaves a lot to be desired. The best app i've seen is homebudget, but even that isn't quite right and requires a couple workarounds (and lacks a true 'projection' feature). I have a spreadsheet that I've been using, but excel on the iPad (I.e. Numbers) isn't quite there yet, so I'm left cobbling together a solution. I kind of can't believe this doesn't already exist, as each individual function is available in one app or another - so obviously the functionality is there. Maybe it's too expensive for the iPad price point (around $10 MAX for most personal finance apps) but if it solved all these problems, I'd buy it in a second - and be much more likely to stick to my budget as a result!
Hi, Guest. Thanks for your comment. Our primary goal here is to develop discussion among readers, and as the above commenter noted, these answers are available to everyone. We also don't require that responses have a certainly level of specificity, so readers are welcome to respond with as many or as few details about their ideas as they desire, from a point-by-point description to "better food app options."
Spot on and I so agree it comes down to greed and addiction.
Webster's definition of Greed: a selfish and excessive desire for more of something (as money) than is needed.
It becomes an obsession to where all they think of is money and how to save more of it, like its the number one thing in their life. It's almost as if it has gone so far as to become an idol, something they nurture and worship every week.
I, too, would like an app that could be used as a price book for multiple stores. There are some out there, but they don't cover the x-tra's that I'd like to have in a good all-purpose shopping app.
I'd love if there were an app that could help identify birds, ducks, flowers, plants & leaves-which would especially be helpful while camping especially to avoid getting lost or avoid poison ivy.
I would love if there was an app that scouted out farmer's markets by entering the zip code close to home (or wherever you are). Being able to get locally grown food at the palm of my hand(held) would be amazing!
Maybe I haven't looked hard enough, but I'd love an inflation calculator app. Right now I just have Westegg bookmarked on my iPhone, but a nice app would be spectacular!
This topic has been very popular on the blogosphere lately. I think coupons are nice and I'll use them if I happen to see them. I never thought about how greedy this could be though! I think it would be nice if these people donated some of their findings to charity or shelters, but I'm sure they don't.
i am so app illiterate, so there may actually be one like this out there, but one that tracks your steps (like pedometer), as well as tells you how many calories you've burned doing "normal" (housework, grocery shopping, etc) tasks
I buy bulk as often as I can, though unfortunately the nearest store with bulk bins is 45 minutes away. I stock up on flour, sugar, nuts, grains, and dried fruit. I've asked if they can add pasta too, but they say they're out of room. If only more stores would embrace bulk!
I've tried following budgets with specific guidelines as to how much I can spend on each category each month and failed multiple times. What I find works for me is that I use my income from the previous month to pay all my bills at the beginning of the month including setting aside $100/mo for a vacation I'm planning on taking next year and I have $165/wk automatically sent to a checking account I use for my everyday spending including gas and food when that's gone I can't buy anything else until the next week. It takes some planning to make sure I have enough money for gas to last me til the next monday when the money is deposited but it keeps me on track and if I have any extra I can splurge for something for myself.
I mostly agree with you. My husband & I watch that show. We have said over and over again that it is indeed organized hoarding, and that unless you're donating your mass stockpiles to shelters or military families or some sort of other "good cause" then really it's gluttony, and it's a little disgusting.
I will say though, that for me, that show has been life-changing. I didn't realize how the system worked, and I never clipped coupons before. I have taken a small handfull of tips from that show (I wrote about them here: http://sundaefunnies.blogspot.com/2011/04/extreme-coupon-bandwagon.html) and applied them to my life. I won't clip coupons for things I wouldn't normally use, or that aren't healthy for my family. No one needs 857 candy bars, or 77 bottles of mustard. That's just insanity. And greed. But in the month and a week that I've been actively couponing, I have saved enough money to make a car payment. No one will complain about that. I don't have a bajillion candy bars, or 1200 bottles of soda stock-piled in a closet, but I do have a freezer full of frozen veggies that cost me $32 with a savings of $219, a half a dozen bottles of body wash that I paid .19 cents each for, 4 jars of peanut butter that I saved $3 a jar on, granola bars for my daughters lunches, etc.
So while I agree with most of what you said, I will say that it has been a life-changing show for me. It takes a lot of time and organization. I'm sure like all things, this too shall pass. But in the meantime, I'm all about saving a few bucks whereever I can!
To me, these extreme couponers are as sick as hoarders and people with OCD. While I do spend about an hour a week couponing and save a lot on my grocery bill (as well as get things like shampoo, shavers, etc free most of the time), I don't stockpile or have a basement full of stuff. I also have a family of 8 so we go through the stuff we buy!
We choose to buy in bulk because of the cost savings we can achieve by using coupons and store promotions. Often times, the manager will throw in a futher discount if you say, "If I buy 3 cases of X, can I get a 10% discount".
With a family of 7 and several friends that someitmes share in our deals, we rarely find that we've bought too much. Since we know that we'll eat X amount of gallons in spaghetti sauce every year, we have no problem buying 100 bottles when it's on sale for $.15 a bottle, or buying 200 boxes of cereal when it's going for $1 a box.
Although it may seem excessive, our annual grocery bill is less than most families of 3 people and it stems from jumping on deals when we see them and buying items on our terms.
I have been couponing for many years and the show is just ridiculous. I am thankful that is a fad that I know will fade. People will realize that it is not easy to clip, organize and use coupons all the time. They will also realize that they cannot get the same deals as they people on TV and they will get bored and quit. It just upsets me that the stores and manufactures are becoming more strict because of the shows and ordinary couponers like me can no longer save as much as before.
Wisebread, long time reader. Not cool. Offering incentives to aggregate app ideas to use or sell. Don't misuse your popularity for gains like this, I'm not gonna stop following you yet, but this officially earns the right to be my least favorite move by you guys.
You can download free or almst free-e-books from Amazon to your PC. No Cost.
Ok, I've never commented but this is something I have extremely strong feelings about - having spent the better part of a month searching for the perfect 'personal finance' application. Here's my dilemma; I need an app that has an appropriate level of detail (I.e. All my transactions and the relevant info) without including stuff that would put me at risk (account numbers, name and address etc.). Ideally it would aggregate, but so long as it can import from common file types, I think that would be ok too. And on top of that i need the ability to categorize each transaction, set budgets for each category, compare those budgets to reality, and adjust everything as needed. Finally - and this is the kicker - I need the ability to project into the future. I need to be able to say "ok, in august I'll get three paychecks - how should I allocate that money?" or December plan for a large expense, and subsequently save each month and adjust for months where I save too little or a little extra. No small feat believe it or not. This would be an iPad only app - iPod touch and iPhone are great mobile tools but lack the screen size in my opinion to truly replace the laptop for this purpose. I honestly don't care about giving details because if someone could write this GREAT - I'll buy it! I have tried almost every single reputable app out there to see if it will meet all these needs and such a thing just does not currently exist. Mint.com is the closest contender, but the app itself (rather than the online system which is really impressive) leaves a lot to be desired. The best app i've seen is homebudget, but even that isn't quite right and requires a couple workarounds (and lacks a true 'projection' feature). I have a spreadsheet that I've been using, but excel on the iPad (I.e. Numbers) isn't quite there yet, so I'm left cobbling together a solution. I kind of can't believe this doesn't already exist, as each individual function is available in one app or another - so obviously the functionality is there. Maybe it's too expensive for the iPad price point (around $10 MAX for most personal finance apps) but if it solved all these problems, I'd buy it in a second - and be much more likely to stick to my budget as a result!
Hi, Guest. Thanks for your comment. Our primary goal here is to develop discussion among readers, and as the above commenter noted, these answers are available to everyone. We also don't require that responses have a certainly level of specificity, so readers are welcome to respond with as many or as few details about their ideas as they desire, from a point-by-point description to "better food app options."
My wife is a nurse, and I would love for her to have an app that would let her chart more easily.
I love PBR. It is much better than Bud and I used to drink nothing but Bud.
Spot on and I so agree it comes down to greed and addiction.
Webster's definition of Greed: a selfish and excessive desire for more of something (as money) than is needed.
It becomes an obsession to where all they think of is money and how to save more of it, like its the number one thing in their life. It's almost as if it has gone so far as to become an idol, something they nurture and worship every week.
I, too, would like an app that could be used as a price book for multiple stores. There are some out there, but they don't cover the x-tra's that I'd like to have in a good all-purpose shopping app.
I'd love if there were an app that could help identify birds, ducks, flowers, plants & leaves-which would especially be helpful while camping especially to avoid getting lost or avoid poison ivy.
I would love if there was an app that scouted out farmer's markets by entering the zip code close to home (or wherever you are). Being able to get locally grown food at the palm of my hand(held) would be amazing!
Maybe I haven't looked hard enough, but I'd love an inflation calculator app. Right now I just have Westegg bookmarked on my iPhone, but a nice app would be spectacular!
This topic has been very popular on the blogosphere lately. I think coupons are nice and I'll use them if I happen to see them. I never thought about how greedy this could be though! I think it would be nice if these people donated some of their findings to charity or shelters, but I'm sure they don't.
Nobody is forced to give ideas. And the comments are open; so you can use them too if you would want to.
i am so app illiterate, so there may actually be one like this out there, but one that tracks your steps (like pedometer), as well as tells you how many calories you've burned doing "normal" (housework, grocery shopping, etc) tasks
I buy bulk as often as I can, though unfortunately the nearest store with bulk bins is 45 minutes away. I stock up on flour, sugar, nuts, grains, and dried fruit. I've asked if they can add pasta too, but they say they're out of room. If only more stores would embrace bulk!
I've tried following budgets with specific guidelines as to how much I can spend on each category each month and failed multiple times. What I find works for me is that I use my income from the previous month to pay all my bills at the beginning of the month including setting aside $100/mo for a vacation I'm planning on taking next year and I have $165/wk automatically sent to a checking account I use for my everyday spending including gas and food when that's gone I can't buy anything else until the next week. It takes some planning to make sure I have enough money for gas to last me til the next monday when the money is deposited but it keeps me on track and if I have any extra I can splurge for something for myself.
I mostly agree with you. My husband & I watch that show. We have said over and over again that it is indeed organized hoarding, and that unless you're donating your mass stockpiles to shelters or military families or some sort of other "good cause" then really it's gluttony, and it's a little disgusting.
I will say though, that for me, that show has been life-changing. I didn't realize how the system worked, and I never clipped coupons before. I have taken a small handfull of tips from that show (I wrote about them here: http://sundaefunnies.blogspot.com/2011/04/extreme-coupon-bandwagon.html) and applied them to my life. I won't clip coupons for things I wouldn't normally use, or that aren't healthy for my family. No one needs 857 candy bars, or 77 bottles of mustard. That's just insanity. And greed. But in the month and a week that I've been actively couponing, I have saved enough money to make a car payment. No one will complain about that. I don't have a bajillion candy bars, or 1200 bottles of soda stock-piled in a closet, but I do have a freezer full of frozen veggies that cost me $32 with a savings of $219, a half a dozen bottles of body wash that I paid .19 cents each for, 4 jars of peanut butter that I saved $3 a jar on, granola bars for my daughters lunches, etc.
So while I agree with most of what you said, I will say that it has been a life-changing show for me. It takes a lot of time and organization. I'm sure like all things, this too shall pass. But in the meantime, I'm all about saving a few bucks whereever I can!
Thanks for the post -
H
Hmm... I'm still looking for the perfect workout app. I've got a couple decent ones, but not one that quite does *everything*.
Wow this is really wierd
i would love to have an app where I could record the sound of a bird outside and have it identify what type of bird it is.
Ok thanks guys. I was having real trouble figuring that out for some reason.
To me, these extreme couponers are as sick as hoarders and people with OCD. While I do spend about an hour a week couponing and save a lot on my grocery bill (as well as get things like shampoo, shavers, etc free most of the time), I don't stockpile or have a basement full of stuff. I also have a family of 8 so we go through the stuff we buy!
We choose to buy in bulk because of the cost savings we can achieve by using coupons and store promotions. Often times, the manager will throw in a futher discount if you say, "If I buy 3 cases of X, can I get a 10% discount".
With a family of 7 and several friends that someitmes share in our deals, we rarely find that we've bought too much. Since we know that we'll eat X amount of gallons in spaghetti sauce every year, we have no problem buying 100 bottles when it's on sale for $.15 a bottle, or buying 200 boxes of cereal when it's going for $1 a box.
Although it may seem excessive, our annual grocery bill is less than most families of 3 people and it stems from jumping on deals when we see them and buying items on our terms.
Thanks for the link! And top 5 too! Thanks so much, Ashley!
I have been couponing for many years and the show is just ridiculous. I am thankful that is a fad that I know will fade. People will realize that it is not easy to clip, organize and use coupons all the time. They will also realize that they cannot get the same deals as they people on TV and they will get bored and quit. It just upsets me that the stores and manufactures are becoming more strict because of the shows and ordinary couponers like me can no longer save as much as before.
Wisebread, long time reader. Not cool. Offering incentives to aggregate app ideas to use or sell. Don't misuse your popularity for gains like this, I'm not gonna stop following you yet, but this officially earns the right to be my least favorite move by you guys.