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Looking for finance app

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moerl:
Oh yeah.. one thing that keeps driving me nuts are the columns when looking at reports. There is no way to auto-size them and every time I open a new report I always manually have to resize the columns to make the data look good in the display... it's SO annoying and yet it would be such an easy fix...

skywalka:
I haven't used Quicken so don't know if this will be of any use to you.

The Windows shortcut for autosizing columns is"Ctrl" and the (number pad) "+" key.  It won't work for the main "+" key.

superboyac:
So...is Quicken better than Money?  I'm thinking of switching after using Money for a couple of years.  I have a couple of issues with Money:

--WHen transferring money from one bank account to another, there's no "good" way for Money to detect the transfer.  If I say it's a transfer, it automatically adds an entry to the account I'm transferring to, even though the transaction already appears there because money was added.  It just doesn't know it's a transfer yet.  WHat I'm saying is that it's difficult to synchronize multiple accounts with it.  Does Quicken do it better?

--I find the categories are very restrictive, especially when you're trying to customize them.  How is the custom categorizing in Quicken?

THanks.

momonan:
Okay, I'm glad you asked more about quicken.  I don't own any stock in the company (although I want to), but used it so long (and so much) that I think you could say that we are intimate.

First, let me say that I do much of my banking on line (you know, paying bills, transferring from checking acount to savings account), but I do all transactions manually in Quicken, rather than downloading them (I would do the same thing if I had Money, but we're talking about Quicken here).

One reason is that I have complete control over it and am not subject to the whims of how the bank (or credit card company) thinks I should keep the information or categorize the expenses.

Even more importantly with bank accounts, however, is that the bank has the information on checks I have written ONLY AFTER THEY CLEAR THE ACCOUNT.  It's more important to know how much I have left AS I WRITE THE CHECKS, so I don't bounce any checks.  If I rely on what the bank says has happened, I could have one or more large checks outstanding and think I have plenty left in the account, when much more must be accounted for -- the same as you would do when you keep a handwritten check stub and note how much you have left in the account.  You can see why it would not be a good idea to take your information about a checking account by downloading it from the bank.

momonan:
Let me get to the categories now.  I can only imagine that Money (like other ms software) decides what you must want to do and leaves it at that.  With Quicken, you can have as many categories (and subcategories) as you want.

Let's say, for example, that you have professional expenses.  The category would be "professional."  You can then divide your expenses into sub-categories of "professional," like "membership dues," "books," "education," etc.

Or you have expenses for your home.  The category would be "home."  Sub-categories might be things like "insurance," "heat," "electric," "property taxes," "repairs."  Or your car, with sub-categories for gas, maintenance, insurance, repairs, etc.

Or you want to keep track of your computer expenses with subcategories for hardware, software, service, repair, supplies, etc.

You can split transactions, too.  Let's say you bought several things at a store, such as envelopes, a new thingy to replace the one that is leaking on the toilet, and a printer.  You can split the expenses into your favorite categories, so you can retrieve the information later.

All these go into reports that you might want to generate.  Such as your net worth :huh:, how much you spend on dining out, heating the house, repairing the car, etc.  Also, you can generate an income and expense report which will let you know if you have made more than you spent this month/year, or the reverse.

You can set a savings goal and see how you're doing.

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