I have recently been looking for some new software to manage my finances. Several years ago, I used Quicken. When I had to upgrade or lose my ability to update my accounts automatically, I switched to Mint. When Mint was bought by Intuit, I left and started using Yodlee Moneycenter. When they started forcing me on to their latest redesign, I stopped using them. I have reasons for not liking Intuit and not wanting to give them any business. I won't explain in further detail here, but I don't want to support them in any way.

I've looked around at other sites and even tried going back to Mint. Mint bugged me because they still don't handle my 401k investments very well. Also, they would lose transactions from my credit card. These aren't completely Mint's fault (though Yodlee seems to have done better with the credit card). Both systems and most things I've looked at just don't really do much to help you compensate for what they do not know (i.e. cost basis).

As I see it (after much looking around), there are basically two major types of software out there for personal finance. The first type is aimed at giving you a ledger of cash accounts. These are very simple and (quite honestly) could be done with a spreadsheet. Yes, some of them have automatic updates from the banks. Still, they don't typically handle any sort of investments, which makes it impossible to see an overall financial status (which is really what I want). The other type is for all the people who have no control over their money at all. These are the budget programs. They all focus on helping you make a budget and track your progress against it. Again, they don't handle investments and some don't even handle mortgages.

The rest of the software falls just outside of these categories with features that include investments but not well or features that are just kind of out there. There are very few things that offer the type of overall finanical management that Quicken attempts (and still does not really do well). Why is a bulk of the non-Quicken market dedicated to those who can't balance their checkbook? Why can't I get a complete view of my finances and net worth without an interface that forces me to work for days to get all the backfill information into the system? Is anybody out there writing financial software for people who want to use financial software?