This post is a part of the Moneydance on the Road blog series.  Check out the first post here.

I appreciate tools which I can tweak to my specifications, so Moneydance is a great program for me.  I’ve been using Moneydance to track my finances for over a year, but I knew a trip with this many currencies and locations meant I needed to step up my game.

My goal was to have all of the accounts, graphs, reports, currency information, and budgeting tools I use regularly visible on the screen of my net-book without needing to use the scroll bar.  I also wanted the interface to be attractive but not too bright to minimize eye fatigue and provide a soothing experience.

First, I took advantage of the homepage customization features to create a snapshot of the most important information to me- which was my account balances, my reminders, current exchange rates, and the expenses graph.

Next, I turned on the VAT/GST option, case-sensitive auto-completion, and the auto-insert decimal places option.  This simplifies my data entry process, and will permit me to track my VAT spending for possible reimbursement when I depart these countries.  I’ve decided not to change the date format in my Moneydance file yet, so I think it would be more confusing than helpful during my adjustment to European date formats, but I may change this in a few months.

Finally, I mercilessly deleted most of the reports and graphs in the side bar, along with the accounts which I don’t use on a daily basis (such as my emergency fund and investment accounts).  What is left behind are the bank and asset accounts which I use everyday, the reports and graphs which help me to track my budget, and links to the homepage and reminder interface.

Now I have everything I use regularly easily accessible in an uncluttered, attractive format.  In my next post I’ll describe setting up a budget for this complex trip.

The information in this blog posts is only meant to detail my experience and should not be considered financial advice.

Welcome to our new blog series, “Moneydance in Action.”  I’m Angie, one of the Moneydance support staff.  One of my favorite things about working for Moneydance is that my job is largely location independent, which allows me a lot of flexibility in work and life.  In 8 days I’ll be leaving for a 6 month trip across Europe, and I’ll be using Moneydance to keep my finances in order and blogging about my experiences twice weekly.

I’m visiting at least 12 countries and will be using a minimum of 10 currencies, so we’ll all be getting a crash course in mega multi-currency use.  I’ll be using a zero sum budgeting for the pieces of my trip when I’m moving about frequently, and experimenting with envelope budgeting for the months I’m settled down in one place.  I’ll be detailing how I set up and track my budget, working with multi-currency cash accounts, using the iPhone app in foreign currencies, creating and tracking savings goals, and of course the odd little hacks and tweaks I use to get the program to conform to my (admittedly unusual) life!

In the next few posts I’ll still be in the U.S, and I’ll be detailing how I set up my data file and budget for a trip of this magnitude.  On September 30 I arrive in Iceland, October 7 in England, October 26 in the Netherlands, October 29 in Brussels, and October 31 in Paris.  October’s posts will be devoted to using the iPhone app abroad, using multiple currencies, and a few other surprise topics.

I hope you’ll join me as I take Moneydance on this spectacular test-drive!  Next post I’ll be detailing how I customized Moneydance to better meet my needs.

The information in this blog post is only meant to detail my experience and should not be considered financial advice.