MS Money vs Quicken ?

Eric_L · 08-02-2005, 08:57 PM

I bought MS Money a few weeks ago. So far it is not very useful. I've found it to be unflexible, unintuitive and cumbersome.

In fairness - most new software is like this when I first start - so I've been trudging though it waiting for the moment of 'enlightenment'. Because of my occupation I will admit I expected it to come much sooner than later.

I find the software is really quirky, particularly around moving cash from accounts/revolving debts. The help file is not very much help. I'm nearing the frustration point and almost ready to take it back.

My sister - who is an even bigger money and computer geek than I, uses Quicken. She says she's happy with it - but has never used MS Money so really can't comment on a comparison.

So, for those of you with experience with each - did I make a bad purchase decision or am I just not demonstrating enough tenacity?

Jeff Peake · 08-02-2005, 09:20 PM

I havent used Quicken, and only have last years version of MS Money (and a few previous versions).

From what I have read, the latest version of Money is in many ways inferior to older versions of Money. They removed features, and made the program pretty worthless. Again, I havent used it, this is based on reviews I read.

Given that I use my old version of money fairly infrequently, I decided not to upgrade.

Jeff

Mike Voigt · 08-02-2005, 09:24 PM

I use Quicken - and while setup is somewhat involved, once that is done, I find it very simple to use.

Never used Money, though, so can't compare.

David Williams · 08-03-2005, 01:54 AM

I own a Mac, so I've used Quicken exclusively. However, when my parents bought a new Dell, I helped them set up their bank accounts on the computer. It came with both Quicken and MS Money installed. I tried both programs and I found Quicken to be both easier to use and more intuitive on the PC platform.

Mike's right about the setup being a teeny bit involved, but once you get the accounts set up, I've found Quicken to be incredibly easy to use.

Michael Caicedo · 08-03-2005, 10:47 AM

I bought Money a couple of months ago. While some of the criticisms are valid, I stuck with it a little longer and now have learned to work with it. I downloaded the trial version which gave me a chance to at least try it before I bought it. When I went to Quicken's website - no such trial version exists so, if it is superior to Money, I couldn't tell. They lost a potential sale.

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Nathan*W · 08-03-2005, 11:07 AM

Another vote for Quicken. Very easy to use and is quite intuitive.

Jon_Gregory · 08-03-2005, 12:30 PM

I haved used my MS Money 2003 since it was new. I don't think I will upgrade any time soon either. I have learned to use it and have always liked it. I really don't use it to it's capabilities though. I mainly use it to just keep track of daily transactions and will run the occasional report. I don't have that much to keep track of yet.

Eric_L · 08-03-2005, 05:04 PM

well, today I got Quicken. The biggest trouble I had w MS Money was that it does not have a function for cash transfers. If I move cash from checking to savings it shows the withdrawl as an expense, and the deposit as income!! -Makes for some pretty funky charts.

The first thing I checked w Quicken is that it does indeed have a transfer function. This is important to me for many reasons - including the fact that I have a fairly flexible income - some months I move a large amount to savings, others I live a bit on savings. Hard to track that when MS forces me into showing the transfers as expenses/income. Also I have some insurance money whih I've been using for hurricane repairs. I'm hopeful that quicken will allow me to exclude those transactions completely...

I'll be playing with it more over the next few days...

Scott Merryfield · 08-03-2005, 08:56 PM

Quote:

Also I have some insurance money whih I've been using for hurricane repairs. I'm hopeful that quicken will allow me to exclude those transactions completely...

You can create your own categories within Quicken to classify/label transactions for later reporting. For example, I have created an expense category called Rental Property with numerous subcategories to track expenses for our rental property. I also have another income category called Rental Income (which should be self-explanatory). I then created a customized report to print out and summarize all transactions for these items at tax time.

Those categories are available across all accounts you setup within Quicken. The program is a very powerful tool for tracking expenses and income, electronic banking/bill payments, and tracking investments.

Jon_Gregory · 08-04-2005, 08:14 AM

They must have changed quite a bit from MS Money 2003 to the newer versions. I can transfer cash between accounts no problem without it including it as income etc... with Money 2003. I can also create all the categories I want. I guess I won't be upgrading. And if I do I will get Quicken instead.