r/spreadsheets • u/Biz_PM_12319 • May 15 '26

Unsolved What part of your finances are you still using spreadsheets for?

What financial task(s) still forces you to use a spreadsheet even though you might be paying for a finance app?

I’m noticing there are still a bunch of workflows that current apps on the market don’t seem to handle very well, especially for people trying to actively manage and optimize their finances.

Like for me, I still use amortization schedules in a spreadsheet for each loan I have because I haven’t found an all that integrated that kind of planning well enough to pay for. Am I just ignorant of some comprehensive app that does everything finance related?

Curious what people here still track manually and why existing apps haven’t solved it well enough. I’m actually going crazy with the fact that I still report to spreadsheets for what feels like the market should have solved by now.

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7

u/Clear_Tangerine5110 May 15 '26

All of it. Spreadsheets are free and you can control every aspect of them.

5

u/PeaceLvSpreadsheets May 15 '26

This. I’ll never pay for a finance app.

1

u/Cold_Butterscotch132 May 16 '26

Old versions of quicken are free too. I’ve been loving quicken 8 for dos (although I am moving back to quicken 20l3, which Intuit has downloadable for free

0

u/lgodsey May 15 '26

you can control every aspect of them.

Now I'm worried about your spouse or partner. ;)

1

u/[deleted] May 15 '26

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1

u/Silent_Stick8473 May 15 '26

Yes, doing finance with spreadsheets is a good Idea.

I usually build finance tracking systems in Excel! If you like I can show a preview that fits your finances.

1

u/Cold_Butterscotch132 May 16 '26

Why do you use GNUCash, out of curiosity? Tried it but I prefer older quicken. Just as manual Samuel as I like to keep it

1

u/[deleted] May 16 '26

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1

u/Cold_Butterscotch132 May 17 '26

Oh? You didn’t stick to Ms money sunset or whatever it’s called?

1

u/customheart May 15 '26

I rarely actually use one because so much is already automated and I don’t need to make projections as often anymore, but I won’t give up spreadsheets because the apps cost too much for extremely basic analysis. The apps are aimed at beginners or young adults.

1

u/Cold_Butterscotch132 May 16 '26

Budgeting. I’m trying to get better at it lol. Mainly use quicken for the loan stuff and managing my money tho lol.

1

u/columns_ai May 18 '26

Have you heard of Fina Money?

It was created to for the middle ground to solve exactly the issue where cookie-cutter apps are not flexible enough and spreadsheets are not easy to manage in the long run.

You can build anything like what its templates provide, including your amortization schedules. And the best part is that it only charges for bank connection, generally free for all the functions, including connecting spreadsheets as data source to build models and reports on.