Alternatives to Microsoft Money/Quicken?

No_6

Pen and paper can work but when you have 20 odd assorted accounts,
plus share accounts ( which now have to be updated manually )
plus options to see the future account levels etc etc
MS money is much easier

diamonds

No_6 wrote: »

Pen and paper can work but when you have 20 odd assorted accounts,
plus share accounts ( which now have to be updated manually )
plus options to see the future account levels etc etc
MS money is much easier

Well do it in multiple sessions over the course of the month before the last day

Even better to keep that dementia protein at bay, multiple and regular sessions, just like a few brisk walks a week, they can give you a wheelchair to move but not a new brain

hairydog

I'm using MS Money 2002 small business edition on Windows 10 with no problems. After Nationwide stopped "supporting" Money, they switched off the server, so Money can't connect, but it CAN import OFX files from Nationwide. However, you may need to edit the .ofx files first: they can contain too many characters in the NAME field, which prevents Money importing it - no helpful error message either. However there is a program that will tell you what the problem is. You can download it for free but I'm not allowed to post a link here. Try googling for "Analyzing OFX files" and looking for the money.mvps.org address

anoncol

hairydog wrote: »

I'm using MS Money 2002 small business edition on Windows 10 with no problems. After Nationwide stopped "supporting" Money, they switched off the server, so Money can't connect, but it CAN import OFX files from Nationwide. However, you may need to edit the .ofx files first: they can contain too many characters in the NAME field, which prevents Money importing it - no helpful error message either. However there is a program that will tell you what the problem is. You can download it for free but I'm not allowed to post a link here. Try googling for "Analyzing OFX files" and looking for the money.mvps.org address

Or just use https://www.moneymanagerex.org which doesn't have such limitations. You can also update your accounts on your mobile and desktop .

Jassy

Finally I had to bite the bullet and move away from Quicken having used it since the 90's. There are so many issues now running it under Windows 10 that I had to give up.

Looking around I wanted a fairly simple piece of software that would handle a few current, savings and ISA accounts. Finally I decided on Jiosoft Money Manager. I first asked if they had a demo version to get a feel for the product, their website is OK but the screen shots are small. The sales said that they could address all the items I put forward that I needed so I bought it.

Exporting the QIF files and importing went a dream. You can not export the scheduled payments list so this had to be entered manually.

There are a few issues with the software that I have reported and to be fair the response from Michael was very quick and he has prmoised to look at them and hopefully address in the next release, what I dont know is when that will be.

When setting up a scheduled payment e.g. Council rates there is no facility to have a different first value to the rest, this is very common practice and should be included already. I also like the facility in Quicken that allows a scheduled payment to hit the register a specified number of days in advance so you can them coming up easily and know what your commitment is so you know just how much you have keft to spend. This is not an option.

When I get my bank statement I reconcile all payments and expect a report to give me a bottom line of what is left in the account not including non reconciled and no scheduled payments that have not been paid yet. The report does not do this calculation and seems to ignore the reconciled flag on the transaction. Right now I have to export all transactions as a CSV file, import in to Excel and add up all the reconciled transactions to see if the account matches the bank statement, very basic stuff that should work and not require all this messing around. I would also have expected a summary option within the reporting option (once it works), I dont want to see all the transactions that create the bottom line, just the bottom line itself.

So experience so far, its an OK product that could easily be improved to replace Quicken for me but right now it is not there.

SevenIron

Just a quick message to all, I am successfully using the legally downloaded and paid for Quicken 2017 its just been released! You have to tell a few fibs about your address but it all works just fine in the UK, I have used the software since 2007 and am so happy that I am still able to use the most recent version of it, its a great package of tools and does what it says on the tin. After the software was discontinued in the UK it took a bit of fiddling around to obtain a copy of the American software from Ebay and to get my UK backed up Quicken files into the American version, after that its plain sailing, all updates work just fine. The Deluxe version is able to display your files as normal in £'s. If I can assist anyone please just shout I will try and help where possible.

Deneb

I bought Q2013 from Amazon.com and converted my 2004XG file through MS Money Sunset Edition. Since upgraded to Q2015 and am very happy with that. I avoided 2016 because of a few stability issues and additional functionality that was of no use to me, but which could not be disabled (Linked Bills for one).

A number of users in the US have been pushing for the Linked Bills feature to be disabled through preferences as well, so its not just me that found it irritating. So far, it hasn't happened though.

2017 is the first version to have been given the new Windows look and feel, i.e. pastel colours, low contrast and no colour in menu icons etc. and the first new release since Quicken split off from Intuit as a separate company. I'd be interested to hear how you get on with it.

It's worth keeping an eye on the user forum and avoiding installing new patch updates for a month or so until other users have uncovered any issues. The main problem is that the program is basically built around the original code, and there have been a number of patch releases in the last couple of years which, whilst fixing the problems they were intended to address, introduced previously unencountered issues in other areas of the program.

A couple were pulled shortly after release, including one that caused unrepairable data corruption in user files. Just something to be aware of. If you avoid doing online updates, and you've no real need to unless you're downloading transactions from American FIs, you won't get patch releases offered automatically.

I always download the latest "Mondo" patch and update manually. The Mondo patch includes all previous updates for the current version, and is the recommended fix for glitches that some users seem to encounter after applying individual release patches.

Don't let that put you off. It's still a great program for what it does and its improved a lot since the last UK version, but just a few things to be aware of that might save you a bit of grief further down the line.

SevenIron

Hi Deneb,

I have been using Quicken 2017 with Win Pro 10 now for a about 2 weeks :j it just works very well with no issues at all but then I am a little bias as I have always rated Quicken. I think its been smartened and modernized. I used your route to upgrade my Data into the new version of Quicken it works a charm. I like the budget feature and predicted future balance tools I think both are new in 2017. I have just found another feature that allows budgets to ignore inter account transfers as this could be seen as income into certain accounts and affect budgets.

I have just had my credit card statement, Quicken 2017 cost me just £36.75 I rate that as a complete bargain given the cost of some software these days :T

I think I read somewhere that Quicken 2017 can convert ALL previous versions of Quicken Data but don't take my word on that.

If there is anything specific you want to know shout and I will do my best to assist.

Regards

Mark

SevenIron

Deneb wrote: »

A number of users in the US have been pushing for the Linked Bills feature to be disabled through preferences as well, so its not just me that found it irritating. So far, it hasn't happened though.

Sorry Deneb I meant to ask you about the Linked Bills issue, I cant say I have noticed this feature on any version of Quicken I have owned, perhaps I have just never noticed it or used it, out of interest what is the feature and what trouble was it giving you.

Regards

Mark

superM

SevenIron, Looking at Quicken website they have 3 versions. Which one did you purchased and where from?