Please help!
I'd like to use software to help manage my money but don't know which
package is best. I will only be using it for personal finances. Any
advice would be helpful.

In microsoft.public.money, alyson630@hotmail.com wrote:

If you are in the US, read about the Money Deluxe trial.
http://www.microsoft.com/money/freetrial_info.mspx

<alyson630@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1131832781.540333.312990@g43g2000cwa.googlegr oups.com...

"Personal finances" covers a wide latitude of complexity. I've used Money
extensively, including online banking, for around 8 years.

I'm satisfied. Much of your satisfaction will be subjective. The look and
feel of the two programs differ a bit. Some like one more than the other
simply for that reason.

You can download Money and try it for free for 90 days. You can't download
Quicken, I don't think, but Intuit offers some kind of satisfaction
guarantee.

Intuit charges for support phone calls after the initial installation
period; Microsoft doesn't.

If you're hoping to use it for online banking (which I recommend) find out
which programs your bank(s) support directly. That could influence your
choice.

Since you seem able to find newsgroups, try
alt.comp.software.financial.quicken for alternate opinions.

Money and Quicken are both good and basically do the same things. Either
will handle your finances very well. Choosing between them is mostly a
matter of personal preference. I have used both and much prefer Money but
just as many folks prefer Quicken. You can try both and decide for yourself
or even flip a coin because either will work.

A real alternative is Moneydance. Not as complex or mature as Money or
Quicken but many people are very happy with it for basic personal finances.
Moneydance has excellent free support from the developer and a very good
user support group which is available from the main website. MD is a Java
program and it runs on Linux, Macs or Windows if that is of any importance
to you.

Be aware that Money and Quicken both have a time limit for online banking
services that requires you to buy a new upgrade every 2 years if you wish to
continue that service. Moneydance provides free online banking services
with no time limit.


Regards,

Bill Wood
Fountain Hills, AZ

<alyson630@hotmail.com> wrote in message
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