Regular readers might recall that we recently reviewed Bodega, a virtual storefront for browsing and selecting cool new apps that you might have otherwise missed out on. Well, I was browsing Bodega’s offerings earlier this week, and I got intrigued by one personal finance app they were featuring. It’s called Money Manager EX, and this free bit of software is open-source, cross-platform, and easy to use. Money Manager EX was developed by CodeLathe.

What is it and what does it do

Main Functionality

Concentrating on simplicity and user-friendliness, Money Manager EX helps organize your personal finances. You can use it to track of where, when and how your money gets spent. This cross-platform freebie runs on Windows, Linux and Mac OS X.

We specifically tested the Mac OS X version for this review.

Pros

• Sleek, trimmed-down, bare bones interface with no clutter
• Tracks your net worth, income vs expenses, and more
• Open-source and cross-platform
• Simple to set up and navigate

Cons

• The developers state that “Money Manager EX includes all the basic features that 90% of users would want to see in a personal finance application.” But what about the other 10 %?
• If you like bells and whistles in your personal finance apps, look elsewhere: this app is all about getting the job done right, not getting it done “pretty”

Discussion

The biggest problem with most personal finance apps and software is how difficult it is to get the ball rolling. Most personal finance tools are either hard to navigate, annoying to set up…or both. Surprisingly, Money Manager Ex is really easy to set up and start using right away. It was such as pleasant surprise, compared to some of the more clunky personal finance tools I’ve used in the past.

The most recent version of Money Manager EX has some great updates. Among these are improvements to split categories, allowing you to put deposits and withdrawals in the same transaction. The most recent update also improved the backup feature, an improved cash flow report, and an updated options dialog that makes it way more easy to cancel changes that you have made.

The best update, however, regards the budget section. You can now view the budget by either Calendar year or Financial year, make use of better monthly budgets, and navigate the vastly improved Help menu. Money Manager EX was solid in its prior incarnations, but the latest OS X version is very good. If you need a free financial tool, this is a great tool to check out.

Conclusion and download link

If you want to take better control of your finances in 2013, its not too late to start using Money Manager EX to get your financial life in order. And as much as I hate to admit it, Tax Season is only a few short months away. Money Manager EX can help individuals better budget their money so that when the tax man comes, there is plenty of money saved up.

Price: Free

Version reviewed: 0.9.9.0 (Mac OS X version)

Requires: Mac OS X 10.4-10.6 or later, Windows 95 or later, or Linux

Download size: 5.7 MB (Mac OS X version)

Money Manager EX homepage