Budgeting Software

I had a request to talk about budgeting software, what's good and what's not so good.  As far as I'm concerned, any software like Microsoft Money or Quicken, do the job just fine.  I personally use Money but that's just because I have for several years.  I did try Quicken once and it seemed a lot more confusing, but maybe that's just me.  But according to Google it's the #1 budgeting software.  So I guess it's just a matter of preference.  I like Money because the budget is really easy to set up and track expenditures by whatever categories you choose, but Quicken has the same features and it's mac compatible for you mac lovers out there.  They are both reasonably priced and worth the small investment if you don't have anything.


If you are old school and choose not to use software, that's just fine.  I use an Excel spreadsheet as well.  It's a good basic way to keep track of things.  Now for you real old schoolers, a plain legal pad or memo pad work great for cash flow forecasting.  Did I really just admit how much of a geek I really am because I use all three? Hey, don't laugh too hard...I already know I'm a geek.


As far as software that you should definitely steer clear of.  Anything that costs an exorbitant amount of money, like $3000.  Yes they are out there.  I'm not sure how many of you have heard of money merge accounts or mortgage accelerators.  They work like this-  You pay the company that's "selling" you the software to set a HELOC (home equity line of credit) on your house and you basically use that account like a checking account. Money in money out and the extra every month pays down your mortgage faster.  Now in theory this might sound like it's the best thing in the world but I have never heard ANYONE (well except for the companies that sell them) in the financial world speak positively about these things, and I follow a lot of different financial gurus.  Anything that says you can get out of debt and become wealthy without adjusting your lifestyle is about as bad as those diet pill gimmicks that say "eat anything you want and still lose weight".  I mean come on people don't kid yourselves.  Anyone that has a sixth grade math level could do what this software does. It tells you how much you can pay toward your mortgage every month.  Talk about a rip!