Request for Question Clarification by
aceresearcher-ga
on
28 Oct 2002 10:05 PST
clicker5,
Unfortunately, Quicken is the program about which I had wanted to tell
you. I have been using Quicken (as well as TurboTax) for 5½ years now,
and absolutely love it. I floated the question to some of the other
Researchers, and of all those who spoke up, the general consensus was
that Quicken is the most user-friendly and intuitive program out there
for this purpose.
But don't despair. I suspect you and Quicken got off to a bad start,
and things have just never been right since.
You say that you have a lot of problems with year-end reconciliation.
Do you do the monthly reconciliation as well, every time you get the
monthly statement from your bank? If not, you will want to do so,
because it is so much easier to find problems or mistakes if you are
looking at a small amount of data, rather than a whole year's worth,
at once.
You don't mention what version of Quicken you have. I suspect it is
not the most current. Intuit usually phases out their support of a
Quicken version once it gets 2-3 years old. In addition, the newer
versions have automated some of the manual functions from previous
versions, making them easier. So, if you are able and willing, I would
first recommend upgrading to the newest version of Quicken.
(If you want to upgrade, Quicken 2003 is now available: go to
http://www.shop.intuit.com/store/jhtml/home.jhtml? , click on "Quicken
Line of Products" under "Personal Finance". Ignore the Quicken Premier
options shown on this page (they are for people who want to do the
really involved stuff, like using Quicken to invest online). Go down
and click on the little picture for "Quicken Deluxe for Windows" or
"Quicken Macintosh", depending on which kind of computer you have.
Click on "System Requirements", and make sure you have the right
hardware in your computer to run the program. If you do, then click
"Buy Now" and follow the instructions. Or, you can go to the local
Office Depot, Office Max, Staples, Barnes & Noble, Borders, or any
other local store that carries the Quicken software, and buy it there.
Follow the instructions for installing your new software.)
Either way, what I am going to suggest now might seem hard, but I
think it is probably the best way to go.
If you are like most of us (me included!) you have learned just enough
to do a few main things and not started right from the beginning and
gone through the process step-by-step. So you haven't necessarily
learned the best way to do some things, or learned to do a lot of the
nifty things that will make your life so much easier.
Leave all your old perceptions and frustrations with Quicken outside
the door. Clear some time (a block of **several** hours) on a Saturday
or Sunday, when you can shut off the ringer on the phone, and sit down
together at the computer with cups of coffee. Start up your Quicken
program. Pull down the "Help" menu at the top of the screen. Select
"Content". A box should open, with 3 index-card-like "tabs", labeled
"Content", "Index", and "Search". If "Contents" is not the one already
showing, click on that tab. The first item in the window should be
"Getting Started". Double-click on that, and then double-click on
"Getting Started With Quicken". Some documents should appear under
that. Double-click on the first one. This will start you on the
Quicken tutorial, which will walk you through the process of using the
software step-by-step.
Now, this will involve a fair amount of time and effort up front, and
it may seem like more than it is worth right now. But I GUARANTEE YOU:
if you stick with it, and get through it, you will be really glad you
did, and your life WILL end up being a lot easier.
I wish that I could give you a "quick fix". Unfortunately, there isn't
one. I don't think that if you pitch Quicken out the window, and buy
and install another personal financial program, you will find that it
is any easier, or any less work, than Quicken.
But I can tell you that, when you see people using a software program,
and they seem to be absolute whizzes with it, they started out just
like this.
Everything I know about PCs and PC software, I taught myself over the
last 15 years. There was a lot of trial and error. On occasion, I
permanently lost files containing hours worth of work. There were
times I just couldn't seem to understand what I needed to do to get my
software to work properly, and I banged my head against the keyboard
in frustration.
All I can tell you is to take heart, and stick with it. I think if you
can get through it, you will find that the software will indeed end up
making your life a lot easier.
Good Luck!
