I'm sorry I didn't get to this in time to help the originator of this thread
.. but maybe in time to head others away from MS Money, which suffers from the ailments of all microsoft products in that it decides what you (the ignorant user) must want, rather than allowing you to mold it to your shape.
Quicken will make you rich (I promise), and I can guarantee that it is more user friendly and infinitely more configurable than MSMoney. From the beginning (when it cost $11 in the face of over $100 for competing products), Quicken has been a great value (right now it is priced at $49.95, which may be too much for some, but a bargain for peace of mind). I not only track EVERYTHING, but can tell at a glance how much I paid for oil last year, how much I spend on frivolous items (alas), how much a particular project cost me, whether or not I already contributed to Nature Conservancy this year, projection into the future to see if I'll ever have enough to retire, and, of course, it helps with income tax preparation.
It took a little doing, but I see that Quicken also allows what Shangnyun wanted: ability to add (or change) categories for multiple items. For you users, here's how:
Open a account where you have the transactions you want to change. At the top of the page, click "find." This allows you to search by such things as payee, amount, date, check number, category. Unfortunately, it won't let you search for a blank field.
It won't let you search for a blank field. If you already have categories entered that you want to change, click on category and enter the name. If you haven't entered any categories yet, there are several ways to trick it. If everything was entered in 2005, for example, just click on date, enter the number 5, and it will look up every date with a 5 in it. Or, if you have issued checks that all start with a 1, click on check number and enter the number 1. You see where I'm going.
Then ask it to "find all" and you will see them all listed, with the "category" row either blank or containing the category you entered.
At the bottom click on "edit transaction"
Chose "category" to edit.
Just put in the category you want for all the listed transactions. It will let you change to an existing category or create one on the spot. Voila, you have your desired category (or changed category, or any other wholesale changes you want to make) in all the transactions.
This is just one of the many examples I could mention. Having kneaded this product for many years, I would be happy to answer any other questions about using it. quicken.com also has a user forum, of course.
