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It's time to say goodbye to Microsoft Money
No, that headline doesn't mean that Microsoft isn't making money as in cash profits anymore. But Microsoft has decided to discontinue Microsoft Money, its personal finance application. Microsoft will stop selling the application in June, although it will still be supported for another 18 months or so. After that point, you'll still be able to use the software to manage your finances, but it won't be able to get automated feeds from banks, credit cards, and other financial institutions. You'll have to download or enter that information manually.
Normally, users get 2 years of service, but if you purchase Microsoft Money this month, the product will still only be supported until January, 2011. It might be time to look at Quicken or another personal finance package. What do you use to manage your finances? Pen and paper? Mint? Let us know in the comments.
[via CNET]
Comments
29
Subscribe to commentsDrew GreenJun 11th 2009 9:06AM
Quicken Online (free) is fairly basic but has just what I need.
Shep EddyJun 11th 2009 10:15AM
I own the most current edition of Money and I use it to manage our family's finances (3 credit cards, 2 banks, 9 bank accounts, brokerage accounts, bills, etc.) I've been using Money for about 10 years. I've got a page-long list of complaints with Money but I'm reluctant to switch to Quicken (or another product) because of my personal investment in Money. Money is bloated, poorly organized, and doesn't give me the information I need in a manner that I want it. It can't produce a simple budget. Reconciling credit card statements is a nightmare. It's clear that Microsoft gave up on Money years ago. The switch to another system will be painful but I'm glad that Microsoft is forcing me to do so. Does anyone have a suggestion on what I should switch to? Thanks.
shaunisadirtyJun 11th 2009 9:17AM
Pen and paper is fairly inexpensive...
shaunisadirtyJun 11th 2009 9:17AM
Pen and paper is fairly inexpensive...
SchwinnJun 11th 2009 10:02AM
I've had very good experiences with Quicken. I was using 2006 until a few months ago, when I had to upgrade to 2009 in order to retain download-capability. I don't agree with this policy to disable downloading even if it CAN work... but that's what it is. Quicken does this every 3 years, so be prepared for that... but otherwise it works very well for me. I preferred it over Money years ago, and haven't had a reason to go to MSMoney ever again.
ArgentJun 11th 2009 11:44AM
don't underestimate how useful a excel/googledocs/whatever spreadsheet could be in a situation such as yours. multiple accounts kinda favor such a setup, imo.
JBJun 12th 2009 5:47PM
Mint.com is VERY well organized and shows you what you need to know, but it terms of migrating, you'll have to basically start from scratch.
Gilbert PalauJun 11th 2009 9:30AM
Shep;
At my house we have been using the new quicken for osx and a small app called chaching (is for mac), for budgeting.
If you are on windows, quicken is not that bad imho. i have a friend that uses quickbooks pro to do his expenses because he feels its more complete.
ChrisJun 11th 2009 9:37AM
I have an account on Mint but, for me, it seems very confusing. Now just checking my history and pending transactions on the TD bank online site.
motoxoJun 11th 2009 9:48AM
one program: moneydance. check it out. it works on all platforms (windows, os x, and linux) and uses the same open data set so spreadsheet programs can open it in a pinch.
i moved to moneydance the day ms money crapped out and i lost over 20 years of financial data that i had religiously backed up and documented. [i'm STILL recovering from it!] i'm glad microsoft have stopped development on this unsecure software program.
moneydance is the way finance software should have been written. ... let me know how all that advertising hits you when you're on quicken online. :)
... saying that ... i also use mint. (love the service! and the graphics and blog are great.)
motoxoJun 11th 2009 9:54AM
crap ... i didn't know i had two accounts ... seems like i repeat myself like an old dude now.
i'd delete this comment ... if i could only figure out how.
motoxoJun 11th 2009 9:48AM
one program: moneydance. check it out. it works on all platforms (windows, os x, and linux) and uses the same open data set so spreadsheet programs can open it in a pinch.
i moved to moneydance the day ms money crapped out and i lost over 20 years of financial data that i had religiously backed up and documented. [i'm STILL recovering from it!] i'm glad microsoft have stopped development on this unsecure software program.
moneydance is the way finance software should have been written. ... let me know how all that advertising hits you when you're on quicken online. :)
... saying that ... i also use mint. (love the service! and the graphics and blog are great.)
smokingplatypusJun 11th 2009 10:32AM
gnucash, simple basic gets the job done.
MrKniceGuyJun 11th 2009 1:28PM
ditto!
blascrwJun 11th 2009 10:25AM
Take a look at yodlee...I like it. Mint uses yodlee as it's backend I believe.
MaverickJun 11th 2009 10:36AM
@motoxo
MaverickJun 11th 2009 10:35AM
@motoxo -- absolutely agree on Moneydance. I wanted to move from Quicken 2007 on Windows to the Mac, but Intuit does not make a Mac version that will import QFW data. Moneydance did just that, and seamlessly.
I downloaded the free, 100 manual transaction trial of Moneydance and ran QFW and MD in parallel for a month, just to make sure MD would work with my banks and didn't have any inherent flaws that would make me stick to Quicken. Even though I have been using one version of Quicken or another for 10 years, and am extremely comfortable with it, I was able to confidently make the move and not look back.
Did I mention that MoneyDance is cross platform Mac/Windows/Linux? And that I am NOT an agent of the company? :-)
tjdouglasJun 11th 2009 10:55AM
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/accountingexpress/FX101729681033.aspx
master811Jun 11th 2009 10:42PM
That is for small businesses and not really designed for personal use.
I hate that money has stopped primarily as it was the only one which had a UK specific version that working with UK banks. It made it very easy to get statements.
Gardiner WestboundJun 11th 2009 11:35AM
I have close to 20-years of data on MS Money. I have tried a couple of alternate personal finance applications, but the MS Money file export function scrambles the information.
Among the alternates I like freeware Money Manager EX, AceMoney and Moneydance The latter two are shareware.