What's the best software to manage your personal budget??

[goodboy]

It's just my wife and I...and I imagine managing a budget for a whole family is much harder. We need something to tell us where our money is going in a visible way, so we can get our spending under control.


thanks.

[goodboy]

1. help??

[speedoo]

2. I like Quicken.

But I'm sure Microsoft Money's very good also.

You will want to be able to download data from your checking and other accounts to your software, so it is important to check with the institutions you deal with to make sure that can be done.

[goodboy]

7. so our checking account is linked to this program in a way?

[speedoo]

13. You download your c/a transactions from your bank.

To your software program on your computer.

Once you get it set up you just download once a month and you have all your c/a transactions in your software data base.

Then you go through the transactions and sort them into your various budget categories. It's probably the most significant advantage of using this kind of software.

[goodboy]

14. sounds like that would really help us...thanks a lot!

[Liberal Gramma]

3. Quicken

I've been using it for 10 years and love it. I have online banking and can pay bills right from my program, my checkbook balances to the penny in a couple of seconds, and I can get reports showing how I'm spending my money, how my expenditures compare to my budget, and much more. I can export data to TurboTax when filing time comes around.

[goodboy]

8. is it easy for a musician who can only count to 4 to use?

[Liberal Gramma]

15. It's very easy to use.

It also includes tutorials so you can learn how to use the features. Among the features I like best is "Savings Goals" which allows me to accrue money monthly for annual/semi-annual expenses, like property taxes. The funds stay in my account, but Quicken "hides" them from me by not including them in my checkbook balance, so I'm not tempted to spend them.

BTW, I thought musicians were supposed to be good at math : )

[classics]

4. ms money

ms money will allow you to catagorize each expense and then show you graphs and such detailing what was spent in each catagory.

it can also to 'what if' projections.

[goodboy]

9. does it help you figure out how to cut back in certain areas, or

give you advice about spending?

[Lars39]

5. Quicken has a reminder calender, too.

Invaluable if you tend to forget when bills are due. Those late fees can pile up. :)

[goodboy]

10. How about a warning about how you're spending...can it give you

an allowance?

[qnr]

6. Kapital

http://www.thekompany.com/products/kapital/

Oh, you meant for Windows... should have stated :) sorry, pet peeve

[goodboy]

11. yeah....XP sorry.

[qnr]

12. s'ok - was only teasing you n/t