Personal Finance/Budgeting Software Questions

[Lisa0825]

I am considering buying a personal finance software program such has Quicken. I read that MS Money's new version is better than Quicken, but I'd rather not pay money to Microsoft. Does anyone have any recommendations on this kind of software? The only investments I have are through my employer's retirement plan, so I don't have anything complicated. I have the standard checking and savings accts. I really just want to do better at budgeting and saving, starting with tracking where my spending is occurring, and doing it on my own as been a real pain so I thought software might help.

On a related note, I see Quicken has a free trial of their online version, but the thought of an online program connecting to my actual bank account scares the CRAP out of me, and I didn't see any FAQ to read to address those concerns. Any input on this?

Thanks! :)

[A HERETIC I AM]

1. You may find most of what you are looking for is already on your computer

If you have Windows XP, you already have "Microsoft Works" and you should be able to do most of what you asked about without having to pay for upgrades or a new software suite.


"Click Start
then Programs
then Microsoft Works.
Click "Programs" at the top.
When that page opens you should see several templates one of which is "Financial Worksheets"
Also try clicking "Templates" at the top.

There may be one of the many templates available that you can modify for your purposes or, if you have the patience, you can construct your own using that program."

A similar question was asked several months ago so I cut and pasted the above portions in quotes from this thread

Perhaps someone with experience with Quicken may offer a better perspective. I don't use the program myself.

Hope that helps

[Lisa0825]

2. I don't have Works

It's a hand-me-down computer, and the previous owner installed Office and deleted Works Does Office have finanical components in it?

Edited to add: I was also assuming that anything included in a basic software set like that would not have much to offer. I saw some examples of what a friend did with Quicken years ago, and it looked pretty impressive, even giving her pie-charts of where she spent her money and offering tips for where to save.

[A HERETIC I AM]

3. Apparently not. It has Excel, which can do spreadsheets for you...

but if you don't have works, then what I suggested above unfortunately won't help you.

Another suggestion is to Google "financial freeware" and see if perhaps there is a program out there you can download for free that will serve your purposes.

http://freewarehome.com/index.html?http%3A//freewarehome.com/Home_and_Hobby/Personal_Finance_t.html

[Lisa0825]

4. Thanks for the link!

I may try one of those :)

[KSinTX]

5. Since you have Office, I'm presuming you also have Excel

Scroll through these and see if one fits your needs
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/templates/CT101172321033.aspx

I used to use Quicken (in the early days, OK it was on a floppy ferchrissakes) and I really liked it. Then it was bought out by whoever owns it now and I slowly grew disillusioned. Now I just have online banking and it is really the ticket for me. But for budgeting templates, I'd check out the link above. I created my own in Excel but heck, why reinvent the wheel, right?

[Lisa0825]

6. Cool, thanks! :-)

:bounce:

[KSinTX]

7. No problem

I like using what I already have rather than introducing yet another bloated program to my machine. Hope you find one you like. Cheers!
:toast:

[Hokie]

8. I am a Quicken user

I have been using financial software since the DOS days. I started tracking investments using a clone of Lotus 1-2-3 on spreadsheets on an IBM PC clone. I migrated to Managing Your Money and then to Quicken. Quicken is a great program. I connect to several accounts and download transactions. It really depends on what you want to do, how complex are your finances, and how much time you are willing to spend. My one gripe with Quicken is how Intuit forces you to buy upgrades by dropping support of the older download formats every 3 or 4 years. I only buy about every third year and manage to stay current enough. I tried Microsoft Money when I got a free copy with a new computer. It was probably OK but I preferred Quicken at the time and decided not to switch. Not all banks and financial institutions support Quicken connections so you might want to check out yours first. Most do, however.