Integrated with Facebook?! You’re braver than me!
Hey, just started using Emma and Yolt apps (wanted to do a comparison of the 2 and others before settling on one to suit my needs). So from a review point of view I can only comment on the categorisation so far. I’ve found using the categories in Emma more restricted after using the more granular ones in Yolt first. I found the algorithm that groups similar transactions in Yolt better but could still be improved, although selecting single transactions to group in Emma a better process rather than selecting grouped ones in Yolt although it’s a little long winded.
I’m up for trialling YNAB as well but put off by only US and Canada banks integration and I have a few different accounts. Maybe I’ll use Emma or Yolt to see all my transactions then add them into YNAB and see how it works out. I’ll keep you updated with further findings as I use the apps more
Do people find all these apps really help? When I had a lot of credit card debt etc I used a spreadsheet to get myself out of out, and still use it to this day to manage my money I’ve never see a reason to use an app, but if there’s a compelling benefit then i might be tempted to switch
Yes.
I use a spreadsheet to monitor the aggregate balance of my accounts over long periods, including investments. I log balances for each account on a spreadsheet once per month.
But I also use an account aggregator to keep an eye on day-to-day transactions across my bank and credit card accounts. This gives me peace of mind and means I only need to spend a few seconds a day checking the recent transactions and I no longer bother reviewing statements at the end of the month, when I would invariably have forgotten why most of the transactions took place.
I have no interest in having investment accounts in account aggregators as checking these once a month is frequent enough (some would argue too frequent).
Absolutely. I have spreadsheets for a few things that I’m keeping an eye on, and sometimes just listing upcoming expenses that I need to deal with. But as a previous poster mentioned, I use YNAB along side and it’s a game changer. But everyone’s needs are different
I was using a spreadsheet but keeping track across multiple accounts seemed like too much effort with how the data was presented in my accounts, these transaction aggregators remove that hassle
Would apps like Emma, Yolt etc be useful if you only have the one bank account (Monzo)? I’m interested in them more for the budgeting features than the account aggregating side of things really.
Some of the account aggregators have features you might be interested in even if you aren’t doing any aggregation. For example, MoneyHub and Money Dashboard have many more categories for spending tracking than Monzo.
Dedicated budgeting apps (e.g. YNAB) have more detailed budgeting
Personally, I wouldn’t use an account aggregator if Monzo was my only account and I don’t need more in-depth budgeting than is provided by Monzo, so don’t bother with YNAB.
But the only way to tell if they’re useful to you is to try them.
I’ve transitioned from YNAB to MoneyWiz. MoneyWiz is a different world of budgeting but took me a few days to get used to it (and I’m tech savvy). I prefer a desktop application to web-based applications and YNAB have effectively discontinued all support for their desktop application, as Apple moves away from measly 32bit apps.
Moneywiz isn’t as comprehensive as YNAB, but it’s reasonably priced and does the job for me.
Does it support direct import?
I export transactions in QIF format and import to MoneyWiz. Pretty effective but MoneyWiz has no way of linking with Monzo directly because Monzo doesn’t have the traditional web based login.
There is a fairly simple tool called “Fintech to YNAB” that’ll allow you to sync your Monzo transactions to the new YNAB in real time.
Far easier to set up than the version that YNAB have posted on IFTTT - and everything syncs instantly.
It doesn’t solve the subscription issue (but if you’ve ever trialled the new version in the last year or two you probably get a discounted rate) - but using this I’ve found it far far better than manual.
So after all the positive chat about YNAB, I downloaded it last night.
Am I missing something here? There don’t seem to be any integrations with UK financial institutions - are you all entering your transactions manually?
That’s what YNAB is. MoneyWiz will integrate with UK banks and credit cards, except Monzo of course and I’m happy entering manually for Monzo.
Hi Morty.
This is the ONE major issue I have with YNAB. I still use it and have managed to get it so my Monzo transactions move over automatically (some people have created apps to allow this). There is a thread on the YNAB support forum where we are venting about the fact that the US users pay the same as UK (and others) yet have superior functionality in terms of the bank integration. I am still angry they don’t seem to be developing this as I LOVE YNAB but have really had to put a lot of extra work in with the manual entering of transactions.
They are going to have to resolve this fast or they will start to haemorrhage non-US users as more alternatives that sync with UK banks become available.
I haven’t used it - mainly because they charge - but https://syncforynab.com/ has been developed to allow for bank syncing for UK users. There are more discussions about that here:
Automatically import transactions to YNAB - #24 by timeconsumer
I haven’t put as much effort into YNAB as I’d like to, primarily due to the lack of UK banks integration.
I’d like to get rid of my fairly basic Google Sheets budgets, so I think I’ll put more time into YNAB and see how the Monzo integration apps work.
Thanks for the reply Matt, I’ll try uploading some files into it and see how I get on, although I can see that I’m going to have to get used to accounting processes.
FWIW, I also downloaded Emma at the same time to compare the two apps and have been chatting to their support team about various features.
The next app update (due out in ‘the first few weeks of December’) will include:
- Custom Categories
- Manual Accounts
- Data Exports
- Renaming of Transactions
Has anyone used an account aggregator which groups accounts by bank in the accounts section of the app?
Emma, Yolt, MoneyHub and Money Dashboard all group accounts by type of account (i.e. all current accounts grouped together, all savings accounts grouped together, etc) leading to mixing of accounts from different banks in the accounts lists.
I’m starting to feel this isn’t what I want. When I want to review my accounts I’m actually finding it easier to launch the apps of my individual banks than to use the accounts section of the above-mentioned account aggregators. I think this is because of the way the accounts are grouped/listed.
Hi everyone
I read through this whole thread yesterday and it was so helpful, thank you so much.
I’ve made the decision (after the overwhelming support for Emma) to download that one last night. I really like the design, and it’s so easy to use.
Just a couple of questions on it: what are the clear benefits of the reports on it Vs the actual Monzo reports themselves? I can see a lot of similarities.
I am trying to get better at managing my finances, I was notoriously bad at this as a teenager and in my 20’s, so I’m working v hard to become debt free and have an at-a-glance understanding of my finances. However, I also don’t want to make it more difficult or overwhelming for me, so I REALLY don’t want to double up on apps etc.
Hence I want to know, am I basically able to do this via Monzo itself, or is Emma definitely better designed to help me attack this.
Also, is Emma Pro worth it?
Thanks
It’s a question only you can answer.
Will custom categories, splitting transactions help you save more than it costs? You mentioned getting out of debt as a goal. Will spending money on Emma help?