Results tagged “Quicken” from Missing Manuals Blog

I don't believe in New Year's resolutions. Any day of the year is a great day to resolve to do something better than before. But January is a great time to review how last year's income and spending compared to last year's budget. If you haven't defined a budget, the beginning of a new year is a great time to use last year's numbers as a starting point for this year's budget.

If you hate extortion-level late fees and interest on credit card balances the way I do, you probably pay off your balance each month. Occasionally, an overly exuberant schedule or a senior moment can lead to a late credit card payment. Then, you might get a phone call from your credit card company or simply receive the next month's statement with ridiculously high penalties. If you usually do a good job of managing your credit cards, there's an excellent chance you won't have to pay those fees--even if you run a balance.

Why does finance turn normal human beings into boring, complexity-obsessed fiends? Used to be, you had a job and a pension -- you worked, you retired, and your company took care of your benefits. You cashed your pension check and wore fluorescent golf clothes. These days, you have to choose from three bazillion types of tax-advantaged retirement accounts, contribute your own money, and pick the investments.

Flex spending accounts, health insurance applications, tax returns--you can spend a lifetime trying to decide whether they save you money or deciphering their instruction booklets, which are written in your native language, but are totally incomprehensible. No need. They probably don't answer your questions anyway. The Medicare prescription plan is my favorite: more complicated than the space shuttle and designed for older folks (I'm getting hair-grayingly close) who have trouble remembering why they walked into a room.

Quicken can help you manage your finances, but  it's more of a trusty sidekick than advisor. You have to know what you want to do with your finances first. And then, how to record those transactions in the program.

In future posts, I'll explain how to manage your money wisely and how to wrangle Quicken into helping you do just that. And I'll do my best to help you have fun in the process.