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Show Me The Money - Microsoft Money Vs. Quicken

Posted by simoniker on from the do-not-pass-go dept.

prostoalex writes "The weblog entry 'Show me the money' is an interesting tale of Microsoft Money from a developer who now manages software development in the Tablet PC group at Microsoft. Having worked before with Money, which was assigned a task of beating Quicken, Philip describes the disasters that happen when marketing and advertising people rule the software development: 'Money's success or failure was judged using the same metrics as MSN's websites. Metrics like minutes viewed per month. Like ad revenue. Like click-through. Stickiness. I am not making this up.'"

4 of 222 comments (clear)

  1. GNUcash by neongenesis · · Score: 5, Informative
    I Started using GNUcash on Linux for exactly the reasons that were stated. I wanted basic checkbook balance, a view of how I manage and mismanage my paycheck, and a little projection of how the bills would eat into the bank account by next paycheck so as to budget toys.

    The learning curve was fairly high, not being an accountant and not knowing anything about this Double Entry Bookkeeping thing.

    I had used Quicken before, and found it OK, but I don't normally run windows...

    Once I made it through the Included tutorials and documentation, I have used GNUcash regularly for the last year or so and am a very happy user.

    It is unfortunate that GNUcash is not on enough radar screens to show up in a weblog like this one. A REAL comparison would be nice.

  2. Re:Where's Money's roll today? by JWhitlock · · Score: 4, Informative
    As banks produce better and better online banking systems, is there still a place for Money / Quicken?

    Here's what Microsoft Money tells me:

    What bills are due soon, and how much I will probably owe. It helps remind me about twice-a-year bills (auto insurance) and once-every-few-years bills (magazine subscriptions).

    An estimate of my cash flow as impacted by bills, salary, and other expenses, projected with some accuracy for one month, six months, years, etc.

    Categorization of my expenses. I can calculate my "lazy belly" ratio (money spent on eating out over money spent on groceries), look for trends, and look where I can cut back on expenses

    Set a budget, and track how I'm doing. This makes the cash flow estimates more reliable

    Track my 401K and retirement accounts, my Roth IRAs, and after-tax account. This includes tracking the performance of individual stocks and funds, and calculating personal rates of return. I also get a reminder to deposit money in the Roths every month.

    Quickly determine when I can safely move money from checking to savings, and when I need to move from savings to checking.

    Plan for buying a new car, a new house, or bringing home a baby.

    Plan for retirement, by estimating my long-term needs (college, health costs, desired retirement date), and creating a plan to meet those needs.

    In short, Microsoft Money lets me feel in control of my finances. It has saved me money, in avoiding overdraft charges due to unexpected bills. It has made me money, in being able to keep more in an interest bearing savings account, keeping checking as low as possible. Finally, I am saving more than ever, and I have a retirement plan which I believe will work.

    The fact that you think only 1% need this, then maybe you need to think about your retirement needs, and see if you are keeping a good eye on your cash.

  3. Re:Money vs Quicken by xlogan · · Score: 4, Informative

    Quicken has this feature in the Calendar. It shows a chart at the bottom that will tell you, based on your scheduled bills or payments, how much money you'll have for each day of the month.

  4. Use MONEYDANCE! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    I have been a Quicken user for longer than most people around here have been out of diapers. I started back with Quicken 3.0 for DOS.

    Ever since I discovered Linux, I have wanted a replacement that I could live with. I tried lots of stuff running Quicken with Crossover, GNUCash, etc..

    But Moneydance wins. It looks a little primiative but it really really is nicely done. It runs on any platform Linux, Windows, MacOSX, Solaris, HPUX etc.. It has a great development company. Email them and they will email you back in a day or less with detailed technical information. Try that with Quicken and Microsoft.

    There is also a very active and helpful online community for support.

    It supports most all online banks systems because it totally emulates quicken to the banks. It even has integrated online bill pay that works great with my BancOne account.

    Try it... for $29.99 its one the best peices of software out there. If your not against paying for anything its great.

    There is also a free 30 trial that will import all your data from your old program.

    http://www.moneydance.com