Money Manager Ex

It is possible for software to get too good. Not really too good, but too big, too full of features, too complex, and too difficult to work with. One of the good things about Open Source software is that it’s still a boutique operation. You don’t have hundreds of programmers, testers, focus groups, managers, lawyers, and marketers, each throwing in their two bits worth.

Money Manager Ex is the Baby Bear of financial managers–not too big, not too small; not too hard, not too easy. It is just right. For anyone whose finances are big enough to need frequent attention but not so large as to need a constant accountant, Money Manager Ex tracks money as it comes in and goes out. It’ll let you know how much your investments have earned, when the bills are coming due, and if your cash flow is flowing down the toilet.

While the program can import Excel spreadsheets and produce reports that let you examine your finances from a choice of viewpoints, you cannot pay bills, or make bank deposits or withdrawals, or calculate your taxes. But then, if it could do all that, it would start looking like Papa Bear and you’d wind up hiding from all the work it would try to get you to do.

Note: This download takes you to the developer’s site.

–Ron White