[hs748]

Hello,

I am looking for a progrma to keep track of our personal bank accounts and our invesment accounts.

Does any one use the Quiken software? How do you like it?

Is there any free-download of any similar software available?

Thanks,
Jarrett

[MsPCGenius]

I use Quicken to track my checking/debit, Mastercard, savings and other misc. accounts. It has many more bells and whistles that I can't use because my Credit Union does not provide e-info.

I like it just fine for what I use it for.....

[THoey]

I have used it in the past and it worked great. Real time saver. Supposed to be even better now...

[SSG RONFIN]

lol. I was just using it 2 minutes ago. Awsome program. I have Microsoft Money also, and never use it. Quicken is easier and really nice.

[MsPCGenius]

I just purchased Turbo Tax as I will attempt to do my own this year. This application is manufactured by Intuit, the same vendor produces Quicken, so guess what.... if you set up your Quicken appropriately, you can import the pertinent information right into Turbo Tax....

Guess I'll review Quicken more closely so I can take advantage of that feature for next year's taxes!

[Wishing Bubble]

Hi HS748

I am using Quicken 98 on my machine (operating system - Windows XP Pro) and it works just great.

I run all my bank accounts, saving accounts and credit card accounts. It also has a bill reminder that pops up when a bill needs paying so I never forget to pay one. It's a great programme and well worth the money. There's lots of tips that can pop up to offer advice when starting up and these can be switched off when you know what you are doing.

I like it and regularly backup so I have account records going back 4 years now!

Hope that's of some help

[bgs]

A word of warning for users of the upgrade "Quicken 2004 Personal Plus"
Those users that use it for recording investment income need to be careful if that investment income has an Imputation or Franking Credit. The 2004 upgrade posts this Imputation Credit to your asset account thus overstating your Net Worth.
I have written to Quicken but they went into "Ostrich" defence mode.

[SplashChris]

I've used Quicken 2002 for the past two years, and recently started having problems. My data file was getting corrupt and going through the restoration process was painful to say the least. Voice tech support charges $1.95 per minute for what they consider (billable issues). Of course, my problem was a billable issue, and they never even resolved it. Tech support gave me the option of sending them a copy of my data file, and for $199 they would 'attempt' to repair it. Forget it...

I opted to upgrade to Quicken 2004. What a nightmare. The program is so bug inherent, that simply attempting to download routine transactions from your financial institution into Quicken brings the program to its knees. For some reason, Quicken knows that there are new transactions (recently downloaded), yet won't allow you to view them. There's a grey window at the bottom of the screen that should contain all the recently downloaded transactions within an Excel-like spreadsheet grid. Well, the grid is missing along with the data. On a fresh program startup, you get a fraction of a second's glimpse at the transactions, then they're gone.

To remedy the problem, I had to uninstall and reinstall the software. Unfortunately, it only words for the first one or two financial institution downloads, then they're gone again! Tech support tried to charge me another $1.95 per minute to assist and I told them to pound salt. It's obviously a poorly tested release, not to mention the tech support 'canned responses' from our neighbors in India (where Intuit has outsourced their tech support).

I promptly brought the 2004 Quicken version back to the store, and bought MS Money 2004 instead. At Sam's Club, you can pick up MS Money 2004 Deluxe for $24.27, which is half the price of Quicken 2004 - and it actually works! I've been using it for over a week now without a single glitch. It may not be as simplistic an interface, but it has the same functionality (from what I can tell) that Quicken does. I am very happy with it, and would recommend it.

Chris