Since I started tutoring and will finally have a small handle on my finances, don't think this is a permanent thing - it's totally temporary, I've been thinking about those small purchases that I've been wanting to make for a while.
Did I tell you I lost my check register? I never put account numbers on that thing, but there are actual balances on it. I'm disappointed I lost it, but it reminded me that I wanted to purchase Microsoft Money(tm).
I guess what I didn't know, until I just looked it up right now, is that there is a Standard version and a Deluxe version (if you have either of these, please comment about their effectiveness).
I'm into math and the sad thing is, I'm obsessed with Taxes. Yes, obsessed. I like to do people's taxes. I do my own taxes and advise probably 3 or so other people on their own taxes. I do my fiance's taxes and a few of my friends. We have the VITA program on campus during tax season, otherwise I'd probably do more people's taxes.
I've read almost all of Publication 17, which is the Individual taxpayers manual for how to fill out the 1040, 1040A, etc., and what the rules are, etc. If you do your own taxes, you really should read this. Even if you don't do your own taxes, I would recommend reading this, mostly because you learn so much more about what kind of tax breaks you may be eligible for and what you can do to set yourself up for specific tax breaks in the future.
I'm not saying spend every day as if it's almost April 15th, but when you are making life-changing financial decisions, especially those which college students like myself make every day, then you should think about it more seriously. I've seen a bunch of people buy a car or get a loan instead of putting that money somewhere else, somewhere way more useful.
This rant somehow brings me to my purchase, instead of putting all the information in a small book that I can easily lose, I want to buy software to keep track of it, and no I won't set up an Excel file for it because that's a pain in the a** (I've done it before).
So, I'm looking around for Microsoft Money, in stores and on the internet, but can't find comparisons between Money '04, '05 and '06, although the Microsoft website has all their '06 stuff up and does tell you what's the "difference" between '05 and '06.
WalMart sells '05 Standard and Deluxe for very reasonable prices.
Thoughts?
- V.
3 comments:
I currently use Quicken and it does the job for me. You may find this page helpful.
The sad thing is, the most attractice part of the software is the price ticket.
I'm a college student, and a very poor one at that, so it's hard for me to muster cash and I'm tired of paying bills late. That and my approaching wedding date to my good credit fiance make me want to take control of my finances.
What is it you like about Quicken? His mom uses Quicken and it works for them, but I haven't asked her about it.
I like it because it's fairly simple to download my checking account info into quicken and then reconcile my account. Though quicken doesn't allow downloading from some banks (see here for more info).
This post suggests that Yodlee is a free alternative to quicken or money - may be worth checking out.
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