Budget/personal finance programs?

[suesam]

Anyone use a personal finance or budgeting computer program they really like and would recommend? After 20 years of no budgeting my eldest is going to college and I am feeling the need to have more control over our finances. I need to have money left over for my vacations! It needs to be very user friendly.
Any suggestions?

Sue

 

[cindi]

I have been using Quicken for years and really like it.

 

[Kal]

I did a side-by-side comparison of three different programs to determine which one was best for me. For 30 days I entered every bit of data into each program and used all the tools and reports available for each program. The programs were Quicken, Microsoft Money and another one. Quicken was a real pain as it had little or no flexibility. Money was by far the favorite as it allowed lots of flexibility, but more importantly the report generation and charts and graphs were exactly what I wanted.

 

[LUVourMarriotts]

We also use Microsoft Money. It is extremely easy to setup. My wife enjoys setting monthly limits and then showing me a report of how I went over the limit.

 

[summervaca]

Isn't that why we wives do everything?

 

[summervaca]

Isn't that why we wives do everything?

 

[Icarus]

I use quicken. I've always used quicken. Quicken integration with Turbotax works very well.

I think I tried MS Money when it was in it's infancy and you could get it for free and didn't like it. I'm sure it's gotten better since then. Either one will work.

The thing to keep in mind with Quicken is that it's not necessary to upgrade to the latest version every year. I upgrade about every 3rd year.

-David

 

[Rose Pink]

I've been using Quicken for years and years. I don't use all the fancy functions but I do enter every cent I spend. It's a ritual for me. I like being able to set up categories and subcategories for anything I want to track. It can be quite eye-opening to see how much I've spent dining out or on junk food. Of course, no program is going to keep you from spending too much. It just gives you hard numbers to make you feel guilty. :rofl:

 

[lprstn]

I second that. I just use MS Excel, don't do charts just put it all on the form. I do use macros to do the math, but it is a bit daunting to see how much I spend on eating out (which is my largest expense) besides traveling .

Heck after keeping my budget, me and DH always joke that we have to discipline ourselves better and not travel to much...but then we justify the importance of it..and just get a p/t job to pay for the travel cause it aint no way we are giving that up unless we physically can't go anywhere I shudder to think...

 

[suesam]

Thank you all for your input! I went to WalMart and Staples yesterday and they only had Quicken, so that is what I bought. I am excited to get started on this project. Frankly a major motivator for me is that I want to make sure I have enough money for my vacations. I will have kids in college for the next 7 years, at least, so the money needs to really stretch!! There is not a chance I am giving up my vacations! I would much rather give up food, dining out, etc. etc.

Sue

 

[Brett]

I've been using Quicken for years and years. I don't use all the fancy functions but I do enter every cent I spend. It's a ritual for me. I like being able to set up categories and subcategories for anything I want to track. It can be quite eye-opening to see how much I've spent dining out or on junk food. Of course, no program is going to keep you from spending too much. It just gives you hard numbers to make you feel guilty. :rofl:

seems like a lot of work but I suppose if you can import credit card expenses and electronic bills paid into the program that would save time.
You would definitely get a real sense (cents?) of where the money is going

 

[riverdees05]

Home Budget

Might check out

http://softperfection.com/hb

HOME BUDGET

Where other finance/budgeting systems are clumsy or too complex to use, Home Budget is designed to be simple, yet has all the features you need.