Microsoft Money 99 - No Checkbook Registers Anymore!
Written: Mar 12 '01 (Updated Mar 12 '01)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Easy to use, a lot of tools for different tasks, nice design
Cons: Somewhat slow
The Bottom Line: I would recommend MS Money 99 (or better yet, 2001) to anyone.
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| dkozin's Full Review: Microsoft Money '99 |
I got Microsoft Money 99 free from my bank in 1999 as an incentive to try their electronic services (electronic bill payment). I had doubts about using it; it seemed dangerous to have all your financial data in electronic form only, and also I thought that it might be inconvenient.
Fortunately I made a move and installed Money 99 and have no regrets whatsoever! The electronic bill payment was very easy with MS Money – unlike using the bank’s web site for this purpose, where you have to enter passwords, navigate to the page needed, enter the amount, etc.
If you can use electronic bill payment directly from MS Money, it is as easy as selecting “electronic pay” instead of the check number when entering a payment. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work with all financial institutions.
The Money 99 is significantly better than balancing your checkbooks on paper and having a notepad or something similar to keep track of your finances. The program is easy to use and features web-based interface (in fact it uses IE and DHTML to provide Graphic User Interface behind the scenes) with hyperlinks, “Forward”, “Back” and “Home” buttons.
You have an option to back up your data to a floppy disk (or two if you have a lot of data for several years) so you can recover it in case of hardware failure or if something else happens to your computer.
Advantages:
1. MS Money 99 allows you to calculate your remaining balances automatically for all your accounts after you enter the transaction or download it using Internet.
2. It is easy to find a transaction by a keyword, or by payee/payer name, or category.
3. MS Money allows you schedule your bills (utility bills, other payments, your salary, etc.) so you will have reminders. You can also project your budget.
3. Reporting capabilities are great. They allow you see where your money go, what is your "Net Worth" at any given moment, your spending patterns, etc.
4. MS Money allows you download your activities from financial institutions (example: if you use E-Trade or MSDW and you bought or sold stock, it will be reflected in your account in MS Money next time you update internet information).
5. Currently, American Express, NetBank, Morgan Stanley Dean Witter Online, E-Trade, Ameritrade, Union Bank of California and many more support automatic information download. After you use your American Express credit card in the grocery store, you can download statements from AmEx and the transaction will be entered in the MS Money’s “electronic register” automatically, so you don’t have to enter it manually.
I liked MS Money and used it on a daily basis to keep track of my finances. However I upgraded to Money 2000 and recently to Money 2001 and saw some improvements (you can see it from my review of Money 2001). I would recommend MS Money 99 (or better yet, 2001) to anyone, especially if this anyone has a lot of accounts with banks, credit cards, etc.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
dkozin
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 in Electronics |
 - Top 10 |
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Location: California
Reviews written: 817
Trusted by: 514 members
About Me:
I love to push buttons on electronic (audio and video) equipment. It makes me happy.
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