Anyone know how Quicken works?

[motocrossmom]

I am trying to get a budget started, since I now have a job paying 1/2 of what I used to make I need to get a handle on our spending. Someone here mentioned using Quicken... I would like to know how it works

Thanks

 

[janette]

It is a financial management tool, you put in all your accounts and you can do many functions like track accounts, budget etc.

I've used it for years, all the accounts I use I can download transactions and know where they are daily. It does help with tracking, I've been able to use it to deduct sales tax since I enter each transaction with sales tax split. Sometimes it might be best to not know how much we spend.

There are many tools but I don't use them often, I do use reporting etc when I do taxes.

 

[shortbun]

I'm right there with ya, OP. I have a brand new box of quicken sitting on my lap top area right now and I'm trying to get the courage to open it and load it. I'm software challenged so I haven't even removed the plastic, lol! My husband keeps putting it on top of the laptop at night so it will be there in the morning. Subtle. Maybe Sunday morning when the house is quiet. I really want to use it for bill paying and keeping track of stock funds and household expenses. My husband has some software in his Palm that he can download to his quicken software that keeps track of all his business money. It's great!

 

[d96j97]

I love Quicken!!! I've used it since 1997 and couldn't live without it. It is such a great way to keep all of your finances organized. I use it for everything we have...checking, savings, credit cards, 401Kplans, etc.

When it comes to reconsiling a statement...it's a breeze. You just need to keep up with all of your entries. It can quickly print reports for all of your spending. You will be shocked over time how much you spend on certain things.

You can also download all of your information to quicken online so you don't loose your information, but I don't use that feature, I simply do a back-up to a CD. The program will also allow you to print checks but I don't use that either. Like another poster stated....there are so many features available, but I don't use them all.

You mentioned a budget....there are various ways to not only create a budget, but keep track of one on quicken. It is NOT difficult at all to use.