My Quicken Free Trial
I’ve been using Budget by Snowmint since last summer, and I like it. It lets me make pretty little envelopes and set my budget ahead of time, yadda yadda.
Every now and then, though, I get a hankering to try something new. Enter: Quicken Online.
Since the end of February, I’ve been experiencing the free trial of Quicken and here’s what I think so far:
PROS:
1. It pulls all my bank account/ING/credit card info into one neat place.
2. I can label categories of spending.
3. It creates sweet pie charts that show what percentage of my money goes where.
CONS:
1. I don’t set my budget ahead of time within the software (I use a separate Excel spreadsheet).
2. It costs $2.99/month, which isn’t much but which could add up over time.
I’m still on the fence. Can anyone talk me out of this by persuading me to a better program? I’m all ears!
Filed under budgeting, financial resources |
7 Responses to “My Quicken Free Trial”
Leave a Reply
I like Quicken online, however I do not like how I can’t track my investments. So I use Moneydance. Right now I’m just using it to track my spending but there is also a feature where you can set up a budget within in.
I always look at Quicken and similar programs like I look through the window at Tiffany’s: so nice, so shiny and beautiful, but at the end of the day, I won’t spend money on it. (Granted, at Tiffany’s, I couldn’t afford to, but still…)
If those are the only three reasons that you like Quicken, I would suggest using Excel or PearBudget (which is really just an Excel template). Other than having to put the $$ amounts in yourself, instead of having them niftily lifted from various online accounts, they can do the same stuff, anyway.
I bought Quicken for my computer, and I love it. Not sure what I would do without it, actually. Before that, I had an Excel spreadsheet, and I’ve tried a bunch of other programs, but Quicken was the most comprehensive. I love how it breaks down my budget into categories, and again into sub-categories. I can make graphs, track my investments, get reminders on upcoming bills, etc. Well worth the money!
Asgreen: I will check out MoneyDance. How much does it cost?
GB: I know. I’ve been of the same opinion, but lately I feel I need my budget to be as, well, easy as humanly possibly. Less time-consuming, mainly.
Krystal: Which Quicken package did you get? I’m sort of leaning that way, since it’s a one-time fee and all.
I’m not sure if my original comment went through, but I suggest Yodlee Moneycenter @ http://moneycenter.yodlee.com. It keeps track of all accounts such as savings, investments, retirement, frequent flier, bills, and email.
For something more simple for just savings accounts and credit cards, try Mint.com
Both are free and online based.
It runs about $30. I also like it because the newest verison works well with mac’s, which is my computer at home. It is also cheaper then quicken, which is a plus.
Wesabe and Mint are both good and free alternatives to Quicken online. i just signed up for wesabe and so far so good.