Please Recommend a Good Home Budget Software

[Albromor]

What home budget software can my fellow IW's recommend? I am looking for something that will keep track of not only expenditures but where I can catagorize them into appropriate categories. Also want to keep track of checking and savings. Thanks in advance.

[harleyquinn]

I've been using Quicken for 2 years now. It's easy to learn and works really well. You can use existing categories or create your own for expenses and income and keep track of all kinds of accounts as well as set up a budget, track your expenses, etc.

[Bungleau]

I've used Quicken for years. I used to use MoneyCounts before Quicken, but it's dead. MS Money is your other real alternative.

I suggest you avoid those personal finance packages on the discount bins (MyCheckbook, Simply Checking, and similar names). I found out the hard way that you get what you pay for, and I'd stick with Quicken or Money. It's cheaper, really.

[Albromor]

Thanks for the quick (no pun intended) replies. I have looked at Quicken. Perhaps I'll pick up a copy today. I have another question. Can I start plugging information from September or do I need to go back to January 1st of this year to do it right? Thanks again.

[harleyquinn]

You can start it from whenever you want

[RoSs_bg2_rox]

I can vouch for Money. Works well, no problems here. Never tried quicken.

[Bungleau]

I firmly believe that whichever you try first, you'll stick with long-term. You'll get to know it, and everything else will be more difficult.

One of the reasons I use Quicken is because Intuit also makes TurboTax. The link from TT to Quicken is better than that of other tax packages from my experience; the year I switched, I had to raise several support issues for simple and stupid stuff.

I don't know if that affects you or not, Ross; I don't know if TT has a Scottish edition [img]tongue.gif[/img] But for Albromor, that might be a consideration.

Note that TT probably works just fine with Money, too... but it will be most tightly integrated into their own product, not someone else's.

Use one or the other, and you will most likely be happy. Hardest part about getting started is deciding what your opening balances are... just consider that you'll have to adjust them about a month later, when you get all your bank statements.

In a final note of true-to-life stories, when I first used MoneyCounts, it paid for itself within two month by finding a deposit that the bank had missed. It wasn't a lot of money, but it was enough that I could have bounced a few checks from it. And since using Quicken, I haven't written in a check register for over ten years. I do it all on-line.