@scy I am planning to selfhost actual budget as soon as my ynab subscription ends.

https://actualbudget.org

@scy as some other commenters pointed out: take a look at actual budget. It's still in development. Can be self hosted and you can even import YNAB budgets.

I'm still waiting for some features before I will migrate over. I'm still using YNAB4 locally on my PC.

@scy my personal accounting toolchain contains of
➝ Visual Studio Code for previewing CSV files and editing ledger files
➝ fossil for version management on a local server
➝ hledger for calculation and reporting

#PlainTextAccounting

@scy

"why?" Mostly inertia…I started with ledger and used some features that weren't terribly portable. hledger has grown most of those features (most notably had initial issues with import-scoping and automated transactions), so with a bit of care and organization, I can use my data in both. Beancount was sufficiently different that I can't use it with my data, but I like some of what it offers, especially with Fava in the mix.

I never found a useful workflow for importing electronic statements from various financial institutions (at least a workflow that worked for me), so I just hand-enter and hand-clear all my transactions. A few shell-functions make it pretty easy, letting me do things like

$ pay kroger 31.41

and have it look up the most recent "kroger" related (using `xact` under the hood), set the current date, mark it as un-cleared, and set the amount. I also have some shell-functions that manage the timekeeping functionality of ledger.

@scy I use Beancount because it’s easy to script in Python and the Fava web frontend is really nice. Documentation is a mixed bag, especially regarding breaking changes in Beancount 3.

Like you, I used to use YNAB until they became SaaS. I think there are ways to model envelope budgeting in Beancount, but I can’t comment on how well they work as I’ve not found it to be worth the effort for me.

@scy For me, personally, I use Beancount because it's easy (for some values of "easy") to extend in Python. I have a number of custom programs that ingest my Beancount ledger and then do things with it, from automating data input to generating useful reports and visualizations.

I haven't done envelope budgeting. I have multiple multipurpose bank accounts, so the usual envelope strategies (e.g. virtual sub-accounts, dedicated real accounts) don't apply well.

@scy i was using hledger for a long time (3+ years)

but a few month ago i have switched to ledger, bacause of more flexible auto posting rules

i wanted to automatically split my credit card expenses into shared liabilities by simply tagging transactions, which is not possible now in hledger

@scy I started with hledger and loved it, though often found it challenging. (Had to start from scratch learning what the command line even was.)

Moved to Beancount for two reasons: the way it handles certain investments, and its built in ability to right-align dollar amounts. That last one made a big difference to my unique brain, I can tell you!