We can thank our good fortune that our daughter, Veronica, when she was a senior in high school, got a summer job at a maternity shop.
Right next to the store was a computer store where, eight years ago, Georgina bought a 286 IBM compatible computer she still uses for most of her work. We were about to leave when Veronica ran in and said merchants at the shopping center always helped one another out, so could they do something for us, being that she worked next door?
They did, throwing in a free Quicken personal finance program disk.
Since then, my day hasn’t been complete until I’ve entered all of our financial transactions in Quicken–anything and everything from a paycheck to a credit card payment to a 25-cent Dolphin Expressway toll.
The knowledge we have gained from this exercise–having a firm grasp on how much we make and how much we spend, and for what–has been a key reason for our financial success.
You, of course, don’t need a computer to keep track of income and expenses– pencil, paper and discipline is enough. But a computer program will save you a lot of time–even a glorified electronic checkbook and expense tracker such as the Quicken we got eight years ago.
Today, after buying the latest Pentium computer and trying out the new CD-ROM versions of Quicken Deluxe 98 and its competitor, Microsoft Money 98 Financial Suite, all I can say is . . . wow!
These programs do far more than tell you where your money goes. They live up to the marketing claims that they help you to save, reduce debt and manage your money better.
They can alert you if you’re busting your budget or spending too much in one area. They can help you set financial goals, such as saving for college or retirement, or reducing or getting rid of debt. They can let you see in a flash– actually, a click–how well or poorly your investments are doing, and how close or far you are from meeting your goals.
And, if you connect to the Internet, they let you access a wealth–sometimes it seems like an avalanche–of financial information, including what Microsoft Money describes as “expert financial consensus” matched to your goals.
Which program is better is likely a matter of personal choice. And as competition heats up, the consumer is the ultimate winner.
Quicken is the best-selling personal finance software program and Microsoft is the first to recognize that. One of the main pitches for Money Financial Suite is that it can read any information you’ve entered using Quicken for Windows 4.0, 5.0 or 6.0. And just about everything is done as in Quicken, so you don’t have to learn any new habits.
I find Money’s instructions–the 64-page booklet “Strategies for Success” and on-line help–a tad easier to follow than Quicken’s 88-page “Getting More for Your Money,” though both guides are very clearly written. And both, simply as stand-alone books, give you much more practical financial advice than the dozens of financial books crowding bookstore shelves these days.
With Money Financial Suite you also get an automatic report every month with a snapshot of your finances, including how much you spent compared to the previous month. And, unlike Quicken, when you set up a budget you must follow the dictum of paying yourself first, because the first two categories you see after “income” are “debt payments” and “savings contributions.”
With Money, though, you can have only one budget. With Quicken you can set up several, such as one for each member of the family. And Money doesn’t let you identify expenses beyond two category levels.
Both Quicken and Money allow, and heavily promote, on-line bill paying and the downloading of financial information from banks and brokerage houses. You also can update the value of your portfolio by downloading stock quotes, and you can research stocks and mutual funds and receive news items on topics that interest you, or stocks that you own or are tracking.
To go on-line you need Internet access. Money Financial Suite places a shortcut on the desktop to its own Microsoft Network when you install the program.
But if you read the instruction booklet, you’ll learn that you can use any Internet service provider.
To sum up, these programs have something for everyone, from beginner to sophisticated investor, but learning everything they can do will take you days, if not weeks. And you absolutely have to enter the information on your income, expenses and investments for the program to do its thing.
Bottom line? Quicken users need not rush to switch to Money Financial Suite but will not suffer if they do. New users can go either way, based on the deal they can get. Suggested price for Quicken Deluxe 98 is $59.95, with a $20 rebate for upgrades. For Money 98 Financial Suite it is $54.95, with a $15 rebate for users of any personal finance software, including Quicken.
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Humberto Cruz welcomes questions and comments from readers. Although he cannot respond individually, he will answer questions of general interest in his column. Send e-mail messages to: HCruz5040@aol.com. Write to him c/o Tribune Media Services, 435 N. Michigan Ave., Suite 1400, Chicago, Ill. 60611.
