Comments on: Why You Need a Personal Finance Software Program

By: Cory

Cory — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 04:32:59 +0000

I want to recommend Quicken, it is ideal for tracking account balances and spending categories.

By: MillionaireArtist

MillionaireArtist — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 23:34:26 +0000

I’ve known Chicken Little! A great reminder to stay on top of the transactions and reconcile… I’ve been a bit lazy recently and when I figured this month’s tally there were a few items I’d “forgotten”…!

By: mapgirl

mapgirl — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 18:02:46 +0000

Amber,

I looked at Budget, however, it still fails. From what I can see in their tour/tutorials, it still does not reconcile between accounts and that is precisely the thing I am pointing out is a problem with lots of different personal finance software programs.

You can’t simply say X in, Y out and balance matches the statement for the account.

You really need to be able to say I moved X from This account in That account and X needs to match on **both** account statements.

I’m not advocating one program or the other, just that it has this particular feature. I use Quicken because I’ve always used it. No other preference for it other than that. I think I got my first copy in 1996 and have used it on and off since then. (There were times when I had no computer at home.)

By: j2r

j2r — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 16:56:42 +0000

I’m a MS Money guy myself. Been using it for a couple of years now.

By: Madame X

Madame X — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 15:53:54 +0000

Hear, hear. I totally agree.

By: Amber Yount

Amber Yount — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 20:58:14 +0000

The BEST money program I have ever used (I even like it better than dave ramsey’s software) is a program simply called BUDGET at http://www.snowmintcs.com/ They make it for both mac and windows (i sue the mac version) Its basically an electronic envelope system. You can show multiple accounts and investments. If i wasn’t ashamed of my moneies I’d post a screen shot

By: Flexo

Flexo — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 20:35:03 +0000

Great post on the importance of reconciliation …. not just checking your balances online. Thanks.

By: Mike

Mike — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 18:02:53 +0000

I’ve tried both Money and Quicken and honestly couldn’t get comfortable w/either one. I just prefer to have everything on my excel spreadsheet. Am I weird? I’m an accountant, but I’m not old school (I’m only 25).

By: D

Thu, 28 Jun 2007 17:00:06 +0000

I agree 100% without a financial software you are only guessing where you are.

Of course, I did not realize how much I was truly guessing until I became addicted to Quicken. I’m there every day - downloading stock quotes, checking balances and recording transactions.