Your life`s a mess. You`re disorganized, stressed out, and overworked. There never seems to be enough hours in the day to get done what needs to be done. You can`t even get your checkbook to balance. You think you need to take a vacation, join a commune, or find a good therapist.
Relax. Maybe all you need is just some good software.
There are plenty of new computer programs available to help you simplify your life. From planning your day to figuring your taxes, software can help you deal with headaches small and large.
In the ancient days of computerdom-that is, five or six years ago-just using a program was headache enough for many people. The first generation of microcomputer software had too many user-unfriendly programs that added more to users` frustration levels than to their productivity. But the new generation of software is smartly designed to enhance your efficiency and to help get your life-or at least some important parts of it-in order.
You owe it to yourself to take advantage of what the new software has to offer. If you own a personal computer, you shouldn`t be balancing your checkbook by hand or figuring out your own taxes; unless, of course, you`re a glutton for punishment or enjoy wasting your time. Instead, you should be putting the power of your computer to use so you can spend your time doing something more important, like playing Tetris.
Here, then, is a roundup of software to simplify your life. The prices listed are suggested retail. Expect to pay considerably less at discount houses.
Day planners
Ascend (NewQuest; IBM with Windows; $250) is a powerful personal information management system that uses the techniques of Franklin
International Institute, which is well-known in the business world for its time management seminars.
The program is expensive, but its array of valuable features makes the investment worthwhile. Ascend lets you keep a prioritized daily task list; an appointment schedule; a daily record of events; an address and phone book; a daily journal; a master task list; and much more.
Ascend also comes packaged with a multimedia cornucopia of tools to help you get a grip on things. Included are a videotape that highlights the most important features of the program; audio tapes that contain the entire Franklin Time Management Seminar; a couple of hefty manuals; a storage binder to hold information from past weeks and for future months; and a handsomely bound Franklin Day Planner to carry when you are away from your computer.
And, of course, all of these items are infused with the Franklin philosophy of time management, a common sense approach to getting your life in order that has fanatical adherents throughout the country. Converts to the Franklin method have claimed that it has changed their life. This software program might change yours.
Reminders (POP Computer Products; IBM; $40) is a memory resident program that can pop up your schedule for the day, week or month. It also lets you set alarms to remind you to attend to a particular task.
This program lacks the pizzaz-and much of the features-of Ascend, but it costs significantly less and doesn`t require you to buy into a whole new way of living your life.
Money managers
Quicken (Intuit; most systems; $60) is a comprehensive personal finance package that makes handling complex money matters simple and-Dare we say it?-fun. It provides a wealth of features, including writing checks, making budgets, keeping tax records, managing investments, tracking loans and printing a wide variety of financial reports. If it relates to cash, Quicken has a way to handle it.
The heart of the program is the register. You set up a different register for each of your checking, savings and money market account. As you make a transaction, you record each action in the appropriate register. At first, that recording of data might strike you as too much extra effort. After all, if you`ve already recorded transaction information manually in your checkbook, why bother re-entering the same data in the program?
The answer is that once Quicken has the data, it can do things that would be tedious or impossible for you to do by hand. For example, reconciling a checkbook is at best a time-consuming and at worst an extremely frustrating activity. However, with Quicken, reconciling a checkbook is a snap and should take most users no more than 2 to 3 minutes a month.
Furthermore, Quicken has ways to let you give up altogether entering data manually into a checkbook. Its check-writing feature lets you enter data on a form on the screen that looks just like a check. Then you can print out the check, using forms sold separately by Intuit (currently for about $43 for 250 checks). You can even have Quicken address the envelopes for you; all you have to do is tear off the check, sign it, and put it in the envelope.
WealthBuilder (Reality Technologies; IBM, Macintosh; $169) concentrates more on your future than on your present. After it understands your current financial position, it helps you to establish realistic goals and a plausible investment strategy. It then helps you decide on particular investments by evaluating the risks and returns associated with each.
The program was produced in combination with Money magazine, and thus has that publication`s down-to-earth advice. WealthBuilder certainly won`t help you get rich quick, but if you are looking to establish a more secure financial future slowly but surely, this is a good place to start.
Andrew Tobias` Managing Your Money (Meca; IBM, Macintosh; $199.95) is now in its eighth release, and like fine wine, it just keeps getting better with age. And, like fine wine, it`s an expensive buy. But the money invested in this all-purpose personal finance program is money well-spent, and you might just even recoup your investment in your first year of using it. I`ll drink to that.
Managing Your Money combines some of the best features of Quicken and WealthBuilder. Like Quicken, it allows you to handle your day-to-day finances such as your check register, your stock portfolios and your personal loans. Like WealthBuilder it also allows long-range planning, such as budgeting, estimating your taxes, determining how much life insurance you need and figuring how much you need to save for a comfortable retirement.
Where the program especially shines is in its handling of investments. It provides a simple, straightforward way to handle everything from stocks and bonds to mutual funds and IRAs. If you`ve ever sold stocks, you know what a pain tax time can be if you try to figure your return yourself. But with Managing Your Money you don`t have to be an accountant to properly handle short-term and long-term capital gains.
The documentation is leavened by Tobias` dry wit, and it`s one of the rare computer manuals that is actually fun to read. However, Tobias also tries to let his humor show in the program itself, but the jokes don`t always come off as well. For example, no matter what the program determines your net worth to be, there is a sarcastic rejoinder, such as, ”You have just about enough money to buy everyone in Finland a Tic-Tac.” Ouch.
Tax Cut 1040 (Meca; IBM; $59.95) is a great way of taking the hassles out of tax time. From depreciation allowances to self-employment tax from Schedule A to Form 8829, this program can handle every tax situation you can imagine.
Even when you get stuck, Tax Cut 1040 is there to help you out, with online, context-sensitive help and an ”expert” key that gives you clear, direct advice on a wide-ranging group of topics.
You don`t even need to stop by the post office to pick up tax forms. Instead the program lets you print out any forms you need, and the IRS accepts Tax Cut`s forms. In addition, the program has a built-in auditor feature that scans your return and highlights portions that the IRS might call into question. Furthermore, the program guarantees the accuracy of its
calculations; if it makes a mistake that causes the IRS to penalize you, Meca will pay the penalty.
This program won`t make you look forward to tax time, but it will take some of the dread out of it.
Legal services
Home Lawyer (Meca; IBM; $69.95) is a collection of 16 important documents that users can create without hiring a lawyer. The items include a living will, a last will and testament, a residential lease and a granting of power of attorney. The program was designed by Joel Hyatt of Hyatt Legal Services, and the documents it produces are legally valid throughout the country.
Refreshingly, each of the documents is written in plain English rather than in legalese. The same is true of the thorough and eminently readable manual, which provides interesting insights into everything from small claims court to lemon laws.
Some say that only fools serve as their own lawyers; but this programs shows that sometimes it`s foolish not to be your own lawyer.
Writing tools
The Writer`s Toolkit (System Compatibility Corp.; IBM; $129) is a 5-in-1 program developed by a Chicago-based firm. It integrates the Houghton Mifflin Grammar and Style Checker, the American Heritage Electronic Dictionary, Roget`s II Electronic Thesaurus, Written Word III (a style manual), and the Columbia Dictionary of Quotations).
It`s the perfect program for the harried writer who wants to free up some shelf space.
