We are currently using Quicken 2004 and have not felt the need to upgrade.  That changed yesterday when we received a letter from Quicken which informed us that:

As of April 30, 2007, Online Services and live technical support for Quicken 2004 will no longer be available.  These services include:

-Downloading financial data from your bank, credit union, credit card, brokerage, 401(k) or mutual fund accounts.

-Online bill pay.

-Downloading stock quotes, news headlines and other financial information into Quicken.

-Uploading portfolio information from Quicken to Quicken.com

-Access to the investing features on Quicken.com including portfolio tracking, any Watch lists you have created, One-Click Scorecard, Stock Evaluator, and Mutual Fund Evaluator.

This will become effective on April 30, 2007.  Quicken wants to “help us through this transition” by offering a discount on Quicken Deluxe 2007 and are offering a price of $39.99.  Looks like we’ll be shopping around for Quicken 2007.  I am hoping to find one of the deals where if you purchase Turbo Tax then you get Quicken 2007 at a discount (or even free). 

 

Not all spending plans or budgets are created equal.  The idea is to find the one that is right for you.  The important thing is that you keep track of all your expenses because then you can begin to change your spending patterns.  A spending plan or budget calculator can help you put together a budget.  Here are some spending plan and budget calculators that we’ve found:

Spending Plan Online Calculator at Crown Financial Ministries.  With this calculator you enter your gross income, tithe, and tax, and a sample budget is generated for you.  This is the best calculator to use if you have never done a budget before and have no idea of your current expenses by category.  This calculator provides you with some recommendations by expense category and can be a good baseline to forming your budget.  The Crown Financial Ministries site is also full of good, solid, money management advice. 
 
Budget Calculator at Consumer Credit Counseling.   Income from each spouse as well as all expenses by category are entered into this budget calculator.  You can only use this one if you already have been tracking your expenses and know what they are by category (how much you spend on rent/mortage, food, auto, insurance, etc.)  A budget is generated which shows your actual spending versus the recommended budgeted amounts and shows the difference between the two.

Budget Calculator at CNN.com - Requires you to enter your income information and expenses by category.  Provides subtotals as well as recommendations for budgeted amounts.  

One important element in regard to your budget is to track all your spending.  We use Quicken software but there are many other ways to do this as well.  You can even just use a notebook or make a spreadsheet.  The important point is that you monitor your spending by category so you will know how much money you have spent in different areas.  How much do you spend on rent/mortgage, your food costs both in groceries and in dining out, insurance, etc.  Making your budget is just part of what you’ll need to do to manage your money; tracking your expenses is crucial to see where you can save more and spend less.   

Technorati Tags: money, budget 

I get weekly emails from Top Secret Recipes.  Each week they feature a top secret recipe that is a clone of one from the popular restaurants.  The recipe is only available for a week but you can print it out and save it for later use.  I have quite a collection from this site and they are good too.  The weekly email I get is free.  It’s a nice way to expand your recipe collection. 

Technorati Tags: food , money