Quicken = free?

[eirual]

I've been feeling ready to get into budgetting software, so started looking at Quicken since I've heard a lot about here.

Was I wrong in thinking it was free? Everything I find says it's between a $44-$50 program.

Is budgetting software worth it? I've been using pens and paper and managing okay for the most part (not every cent gets tracked). What are the big pros of using software?

May try out mint, but I'm not a huge fan of throwing all that info out to a 3rd party.

[MyTwoAs]

Quicken now owns Mint if that makes you feel better about the information to a 3rd party. If you purchase the actual Quicken software you're doing the same thing - sending it out through Quicken's servers, etc. I use Mint but more to just get a quick snapshot and I much prefer the Quicken software program. For me it is absolutely worth the expense but I've used it for years and I use it to manage my business. One thing I don't like is their Mac OS version is horrible - limited features, etc. So if you're thinking of getting the Mac OS version, save your money.

[velochic]

Originally Posted by MyTwoAs

Quicken now owns Mint if that makes you feel better about the information to a 3rd party. If you purchase the actual Quicken software you're doing the same thing - sending it out through Quicken's servers, etc.

Sorry... not true. Quicken is a desktop application. There are tools within Quicken that access online information, but they are not required to use the tool completely offline.

[treegardner]

We've been using Budget software from Snowmint (I'm on my phone so I can't easily put a link up for you). It's based off the envelope method of budgeting, which I highly reccommend.

[sunnysandiegan]

We have been using Quicken for Macs for eons. We find it completely worthwhile. Keeping track is so much easier and faster than paper and pencil. Producing reports is a snap. Downloading from as many financial institutions as you want is easy. You can keep info from years back without any clutter. Two people working on the family finances is simple.

Quicken for Macs is getting (or recently got) an update. We have been using the 2003 edition since it came out and had a much older one before that. They work perfectly well. Two software purchases in 12-13 years is minor (to me).

It is not the same as mint.com with regards to how the information is stored and shared.

[MyTwoAs]

Originally Posted by sunnysandiegan

We have been using Quicken for Macs for eons. We find it completely worthwhile. Keeping track is so much easier and faster than paper and pencil. Producing reports is a snap. Downloading from as many financial institutions as you want is easy. You can keep info from years back without any clutter. Two people working on the family finances is simple.

Quicken for Macs is getting (or recently got) an update. We have been using the 2003 edition since it came out and had a much older one before that. They work perfectly well. Two software purchases in 12-13 years is minor (to me).

It is not the same as mint.com with regards to how the information is stored and shared.

Hmm so perhaps I just haven't figured out how to do what I did in Quicken for Windows in the Mac version. Perhaps I need to spend more time figuring out the reporting and the like to see if I can get it to better meet my needs. Thanks for sharing your experience!

[eirual]

So what exactly are the benefits of using software?

People have mentioned creating reports (what kind of reports?) and being able to track accts from multiple institutions. What else am I missing? ...or maybe I just need to try and see. This would be solely for personal finances, no business transactions.

[MrsTittlemouse]

I think quicken is one of those softwares that has rebates and discounts at big box stores like staples, best buy, office max (does that one still exist?). Whenever I am shopping for software, my 1st stop is to call my dad, who will scour the sale circulars for me. So, I would buy a sunday paper tomorrow and see what you might find.

I have had quicken come pre installed on a computers before, so that might be why people say that they got it for free.

[broodymama]

I've used Quicken (the Mac version) for years and it wasn't free, but I definitely got my money's worth out of it. Just recently, though, we switched to You Need a Budget. I'm so glad we did, it's really helping us get our finances under control! I don't know why it's working so much better for us, I think it's because it's so easy to get a snapshot of where we currently are with our budget. I was perfectly content with Quicken (I thought) for several years.

[sunnysandiegan]

Originally Posted by MyTwoAs

Hmm so perhaps I just haven't figured out how to do what I did in Quicken for Windows in the Mac version. Perhaps I need to spend more time figuring out the reporting and the like to see if I can get it to better meet my needs. Thanks for sharing your experience!

I used the Quicken for PCs version for work a few years back. I also used QuickBooks on a PC for work at that same time. It was culture shock each time I went back and forth between the three programs (our Mac version+the two above)! I could do pretty much the same things with each, but in different ways. It isn't straightforward on HOW to get what you want, so just start clicking on each menu bar item and check out each menu item one by one. You may be surprised at how much you can achieve. Oftentimes, the terms are a bit different and/or buried a bit further. Spend some time playing.

I will say I don't print the reports in Quicken. That is my only "issue" with Quicken. The reports are paper wasters, in my opinion, with no way to change the margins and/or tighten up the info to print on only one page. Drives me bonkers. I rarely print out of Quicken (only when in a super duper hurry for something very random). Instead, I export to Excel and clean up the Quicken fluff, as I call it. OR I run the report in Quicken and enter the new numbers into an existing Excel file I've already prepared. Depends on which way is fastest for that particular report. I don't print that many reports, but it is easier to archive certain info for sharing from a well-organized Excel spreadsheet. For quick answers, I love Quicken reports, though.

[sunnysandiegan]

Originally Posted by eirual

So what exactly are the benefits of using software?

People have mentioned creating reports (what kind of reports?) and being able to track accts from multiple institutions. What else am I missing? ...or maybe I just need to try and see. This would be solely for personal finances, no business transactions.

I think the question is why do you think you are ready for software?

The benefits will be somewhat unique to each family. For us, it is simply faster than by hand. I spend 15-60 minutes per week and I am a finance geek who used to have a career in banking and securities. I run our family finances like a business in many ways. (I prepared many financial reports for Boards of Directors back in the day and I prepare some of the same ones for our family and I budget down to less than one dollar. And more....)

Analyzing and retrieving data is possibly the most useful benefit of Quicken. If I want to know how much I paid for something back in 2007 or last month or any other time, I can find it in seconds and I don't need to know much in advance. Figuring out a budget (or spending plan, as I call it) for 2011 will be a snap for us. I will run a report in Quicken to show our actual expenses in 2010 by category and then I will pop the data into Excel (print it or have us both sit at that computer - desktop with huge monitor) and DH & I will discuss our goals for 2011. We'll adjust the numbers a bit and then I set up the 2011 budget numbers.

Quicken will keep track for us each month and I can set it up to notify us when we are close to budget amount (it color-codes the categories in a small window...green, yellow, or red). We generally only have a couple categories we need to watch, so it is quite helpful. If you need to watch every single category, it may be more of a pain to set it up to watch them like that. You can just run a comparison report any time you want. It is a pretty flexible program (as long as you aren't printing...my only issue with Quicken...see above response... )

When you first start using Quicken, it will feel like it is MORE work than pencil and paper. The set-up work is soooo worth it!!! Once you set up your categories and your account information and assign the categories to every transaction, Quicken learns this and will start doing it for you automatically. THAT is when the time savings comes and it just keeps doing it over and over and over. You can easily make changes, as needed, but it is so much faster after you do it once. The learning curve isn't that steep and definitely worth the time.

[JudiAU]

Correct. Quicken is a software program. You pay a license fee to use it. It is not free. Lot's of people steal software, of course, and then it is "free" to the user but not to the community. Unless you are a power user, running a business of something, you would have minimal need to upgrade it.

Once you set it up it runs itself. In the short time it takes more time, in the long run it takes less time.

[yitlan]

I'm a ten year Quicken user considering making the jump to mint. But I'm nervous about creating the reports I need for tax time and I do frequently call up "how much have I paid to" or spent on. Things like childcare, medical expenses, etc. Will this be easy to do in mint? I'm basically wanting something a little more automated to make my life a little easier. Can I somehow get these reports at tax time with minto?

[JElaineB]

I have been using Quicken for years, mostly the Basic verison of the program (free after rebate when I bought Turbo Tax) but this year I upgraded to Deluxe. To be honest I have never really figured out the budgeting portion of the program. I have a budget in there, can access it if I want and occassionally get messages about it but I never refer to it to be honest. I just haven't invested any time in figuring it out. What I do use it for is to keep track of income and spending, of all types. It is great to remind me when bills are due.

I really love the "savings goal" feature in the Quicken Deluxe version. I have a high interest checking account so using savings goals I am able to "hide" money in my checking and not see it unless I want to - so my checking account acts like a savings account (my real savings account has a terrible interest rate and it isn't any better than sticking money under the mattress). I have been able to save quite a bit of money over the past few months using this feature, so it was definitely worth it to me. Right now I have 3 savings goals - emergency fund, general savings fund and computer fund (DH wants to buy iMac). I can put money in and take it out virtually any time - but it is really all right there in my checking account.

[littleplum]

I use Quicken Premier. It's about $60, but well worth it. I can run reports to track our spending, calculate our net worth, and it automatically imports data to Turbo Tax. It makes reconciling our check book a 5 minute breeze, instead of an hour long (or longer) ordeal.

I switched to Quicken from Money this year. Before this year, I had used Microsoft Money for more than 10 years. It makes filing our taxes so much easier.

[SophieAnn]

We got a copy of the Quicken Software for free with our purchase of QuickTax 2009. We buy QuickTax every year, so it was a nice bonus.

[littleplum]

Originally Posted by sunnysandiegan

I will say I don't print the reports in Quicken. That is my only "issue" with Quicken. The reports are paper wasters, in my opinion, with no way to change the margins and/or tighten up the info to print on only one page. Drives me bonkers. I rarely print out of Quicken (only when in a super duper hurry for something very random). Instead, I export to Excel and clean up the Quicken fluff, as I call it. OR I run the report in Quicken and enter the new numbers into an existing Excel file I've already prepared. Depends on which way is fastest for that particular report. I don't print that many reports, but it is easier to archive certain info for sharing from a well-organized Excel spreadsheet. For quick answers, I love Quicken reports, though.

Most of the time I don't need to print the reports. But you absolutely can print on both sides.

Click Print
Click on Properties
Select "Automatically" from the drop down list "Print on both sides to save paper"

You can also print two pages per sheet to get 4 pages on one piece of paper:
Select "Automatically" to print on both sides and "2 pages per sheet".

[sunnysandiegan]

Originally Posted by littleplum

Most of the time I don't need to print the reports. But you absolutely can print on both sides.

Click Print
Click on Properties
Select "Automatically" from the drop down list "Print on both sides to save paper"

You can also print two pages per sheet to get 4 pages on one piece of paper:
Select "Automatically" to print on both sides and "2 pages per sheet".

We're probably talking about different things here. I don't want one report taking up space on the front AND back of a sheet of paper. When I print from Excel, I print one report on one side and a completely different report on the other side. AND, I need to be able to see all the details without a magnifying glass. I do those tasks you refer to often with other printing needs. We don't print THAT often anyway...one package of paper has lasted us 3+ years (250 sheets? or is it 500 sheets?).

Quicken for Macs, specifically, (I don't know about the PC versions anymore) wastes a ton of space within each report for dashed lines and the name of a category with all the subcategories underneath it with the details and a subtotal for each category within a single report (with tons of subcategory subtotals, etc). Not to mention having no choice about the super wide margins. White space is way overrated when it comes to non-marketing information.

Excel produces a much cleaner report AND I can print without fussing with font sizes and so forth. I set my margins to 0.5", add a header and footer, and click the box for "fit to 1 page tall by 1 page wide". Viola! I just update the data monthly or quarterly and never have to mess with the print set-up again. If I exported to Excel, I do take the time to remove all the fluff from Quicken (dashes, category subtotals, etc) when I want to print. If I don't want to print, then I leave it alone and usually just add other worksheets to that file to keep like info together and use the original data from Quicken to populate the other worksheets. I have above-average experience with Excel, so I know what it can do and what it does better than Quicken (and vice versa). Quicken is awesome for many things that Excel is too labor-intensive for....they work well together, IMO.

[littleplum]

Weird. Quicken 2010 Premier defaults to .5" margins. And on reports like "Spending by Category" I can collapse all the subcatergories.

What particular reports are you running that come out multipage? I can't imagine that any four page report is going to be readable if forced to print on one page. Printing 2 up on front and back is going to make it much more readable.


I do use Excel heavily, too. I use it to create our monthly budgets and to track our paychecks and keep a running estimate of our federal income tax.