Personal Finance Software Reviews

IGG Software announced an “11-11-11″ plan in which iBank 4 will be on sale for $11 off for the last 11 days of 2011. That makes the popular Mac personal finance software only $48.99. IGG software doesn’t offer discounts too often, but they seem to be in the holiday spirit so if you’ve been on the teter-totter about whether or not to buy iBank 4, now’s you’re chance to grab it a discount.

$11 Off of iBank 4 – Click here to Buy iBank for only $48.99!

iBank 4 is only sale through the end of 2011. They do offer a 30 day free trial of the software, so if you hurry, you still have time to try it out before you decide if you want to flip the bill for it. And for those of you who don’t have time to run it through its paces before December 31st, they have a 90 day guarantee, so if you buy it and decide you don’t like, you can always get your money back after trying it out for 3 months.

If you’ve been holding off getting on top of your finances and budget because money is a little tight, today’s the day that you’ve been waiting for! For “Cyber Monday,” YNAB is having a deal for today only: 35% off of YNAB. That makes it only $39 as opposed to $60.

*Update: Obviously it’s not Cyber Monday anymore (November 28th, 2011), so this deal is no longer available. Hopefully you were able to snag it while it was because YNAB doesn’t offer discounts very often. If I do see another in the future, however, I’ll be sure to post about it here.

35% Off YNAB – Click here to Buy YNAB for only $39!

YNAB doesn’t give discounts very often anymore, so here’s your chance to snag one of the best budgeting programs on the market (and my personal favorite) at a sweet discount.

For those new to YNAB (You Need a Budget), it’s one of the best budgeting softare programs that I’ve come accross. It uses the tried and true “envelope” budgeting methodology, only all your “envelopes” are digital categories in the software. It encourages you to “live a month ahead,” and helps you to plan for every dollar before you spend a dime. Having used it now for a couple of years, I can vouch for the fantastic budgeting methodology that it uses and can honestly say that YNAB is the primary reason that I have any positive balance in my bank accounts. If interested, you can read my full review of YNAB. If you don’t like it, they have a 30-day unconditional money back guarantee.

Asking for financial advice (and especially investing advice) is like asking for recommendations on a local restaurant. If you ask 10 different friends, you’ll likely get 10 different answers. Many of which, by the way, will be conflicting: “Whatever you do, don’t eat at Ernesto’s Pizzeria” “What?! I love Ernesto’s!” Or one we’ve probably all heard: “Just don’t buy individual stocks.” “What?! I love stock trading!”

The simple fact is that we all have our different tastes, or rather, we are all in different financial situations and so we’re all a little unique in what options are “best” for each of us. Maybe even more important: We all have different levels of understanding of the various investing options. While at the gym this morning I heard Suze Orman on the TV remind everyone of the advice that we’ve probably all heard time and time again: Don’t invest in anything that you don’t understand. This is one of the reasons why simple index and mutual funds are good fits for many people: they are easier to understand than others. This is also why bonds and day trading aren’t right everyone.

Understand It, Then Invest

Those that know that I run a finance software review website, sometimes come asking me for advice on their investments. It’s not uncommon for these questions to arise, usually because of something they’ve heard on the radio or TV. “Should I start looking into investment properties?” “Should I just put everything in a savings account?” Or my personal favorite, “I got a hot tip on a new penny stock, should I buy?”

My answer always starts and ends the same way. First, I tell them I’m certainly not the one they should be asking for investment advice (but I can sure point them in the right direction for their budgeting needs)! Second, I ask them how much they know and understand the details of that specific investment vehicle. Most of the time, they don’t know squat — which is why they are asking me, who doesn’t know much more than they do!

So as Suze Orman did this morning, I remind them, as well as you, that you should never invest your hard earned money into something that you don’t completely understand. That’s how money is lost, either through dumb investment decisions, and even scams. Start simple (and maybe even end simple — there’s nothing wrong with that). And if you so desire, you can venture out into other, more volatile, waters as your understanding increases. But just remember, whatever you do, don’t eat at Ernesto’s!