Why You Should Invest In Money Management Software

If you don't know where your money is going, its time to invest in a money management software program if you don't already have it on your computer. I've tried both Microsoft Money and Quicken and find both of them to be excellent for managing personal finance and taxes.

After about a month of tracking your finances you will have a rough idea of where you are spending and what areas you can make some budget cuts. However to get a really good assessment you will need about 3 months.

One great feature of money management software is that you get to see the big picture. The software generates reports and graphs that show where your money is going for both the month and the year to date. You can also see how much you spend in each category for these periods.

You can easily import credit card, bank and Sharebuilder statements to the program and manage them from there. The program will even download unbilled transactions.

In addition to being able to categorize your spending and track accounts, you can manage bills and due dates and the program offer due date reminders. Both Quicken and Money allow you to pay your bills online and schedule payments.

If you have investments, both software programs allow you to manage your portfolios. They also retrieve historical, value and fundamental data on your securities. Quicken also allows you to access accounts online and download recent activity at scheduled intervals. This is particularly useful in the Investing Center because it allows you to track your stocks daily performance, in percentages and dollar value gains and losses.

My favorite aspect of these programs are that they generate excellent charts and graphs that allow you to compare your spending, balances and investments both to each other and over time.

Money management software is essential to getting a hold on your finances and keeping track of your financial history.

Yours Truly,
The Finance Girl