Oh yes, my New Year resolution is to become independently wealthy. I thought I would take this year to straighten out my finances to make sure I have enough money to pay the taxes on my big lottery win whenever that may be.

Making the Choice
Making the choice on what money management package to use really isn't very difficult since there are only a couple good ones. I had used Quicken a few years ago and did not like it at all so I thought I'd try the Microsoft product. Although I was dragging my feet and clinching my teeth, now that I have it I'm really glad I chose it.

Since the year is about to roll over, I was planning on setting up my budget and calendar for the next year. All of my transactions are done online through online banking and bill paying service. I developed my own little budget and tracking ordeal and it was time to update all the dates for 2002. We thought this would be a good time to try a software money management package again and hopefully find some of that money that's going down the tubes. Money 2002 had been recommended to us by a few people we knew. For the price, it was worth the try.

We picked up the basic Microsoft Money 2002 software at Target for $30. There are several different Microsoft Money 2002 packages which increase in price for added features. Next year I may get a different version but this is fine for now.

Note
My review is based off of my experience using this software on Windows XP with a fresh install (no imports from previous versions) using a 386K cable modem.

~ I've heard that it was very difficult (but possible) for Quicken users to transfer their information to Money 2002 so you may want to do more research if you're considering that.~

System Requirements
This is not so surprisingly Not Compatible with Mac or Linux operating systems.

Pentium 166 or higher processor required running Microsoft Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows ME, Windows XP, or Windows NT 4.0 operating system or later running service pack 5. (Will not run on earlier versions of Windows)

Must have Internet Explorer 5.5 to access some features (28.8kb minimum internet access)

- 32 MB of RAM required, 64 MB recommended

- 85-165 MB of available hard disk space (165 MB required if Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.5 or later is not already installed), Internet Explorer 5.5 is required and included on the CD. An additional 125 MB of hard disk space is required to run instructional videos and Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.5 (included) or later.

- 2X CD-ROM drive

- SVGA graphics card or compatible video graphics adapter

- SVGA Color Monitor with minimum 256 colors, capable of displaying 800 x 600 resolution, 16-bit color recommended

- Microsoft Mouse or compatible pointing device
28.8 or higher-baud modem required for Internet connectivity and online banking.

- Audio Board with headphones or speakers required for audio.

Installing the Software
Installation of the software is very easy and quick. Simply put the CD in the drive and click OK. Once it is finished, you will find the icon on the start bar.

Setting Up
Inputing all of your information is a long and tedious process. Allot yourself a long period of quiet time to input your information and figure the software out. If you have the CD in the drive and your sound turned on, you will hear a voice walk you through the process. The "Setup Assistant" will ask you to fill in the basic information such as credit card name, balance, and financial institution. Once you've completed entering your credit card names and basic living expenses. You will then need to go back and add your interest rate and due dates, etc. The most frustrating part for me is that it won't let you skip things and requires you to put something in. It is best to have all of your information gathered before you start because if it recognizes that it is the wrong answer, it won't let you input it or skip it.

Learning to Use
I recommend going straight to the "Help" drop down on the tool bar and take the tours. You might as well let them tell you how to use it so you can maximize the potential. I'm not much of an instruction reader, but this program is not one that you're going to easily open and know how to use all of the bells and whistles right away. In fact, if you're not importing another program, you may need to work on it awhile before rolling out your new budget. If the CD is inserted and you have speakers, you can have the tutorial talk you through the steps which saves you a little time. There's a searchable help which you can always search for more information on a topic. Within the help box there is sometimes a choice for an explanatory video. This software does not come with a manual or instruction booklet. Everything that you need to know is in the help section.

Looks
The main screen that Money 2002 opens to is very busy and overwhelming for my tastes. Luckily it can be modified to meet your needs. There are 9 styles of home pages, or your can create your own. The appearance looks a lot like an internet website. There's a drop down tool bar at the top, icons to perform functions or to go to a topic. Although I don't have a problem seeing, I find the font very small. I put in all of my due dates as 1/01 instead of 1/02 so everything showed up as overdue. The overdue and some balances are in the color red, so if you're color blind you won't know you're overdue. If you are familiar with Microsoft products, this will most likely be easy for you to use. This product reminds me of Internet Explorer, Word, and Access all wrapped up on one. It is very quick and smooth.

Features
Manage your bills, income, and spending
If you're shooting for a goal such as a house or car, you can set priorities and monitor it.

Printing Checks you can buy printable checks and print checks from the program. I have online banking so I have never tried this feature or read anything about it.

Manage your cash flow
There are about 900 financial institutions that Microsoft uses that you can download your information from. This information is also downloaded even when you're not signed on. If you prefer not to make double entries, this will be a nice feature for you.

Taxes Money 2002 can track your tax-related finances. It has some tax tools such as deduction finder and tax withholding estimator. It will also guide you through reconcile your tax related information and then you can print out or upload (although I have heard it wasn't compatible with Turbotax which happens to be what I use. (Quicken is compatible) Since I bought this in December, I don't have any information to compile with the program so I won't be able to use this feature until next year. Money 2002 is compatible with Kiplinger's.

Track your investments
There are features for tracking your portfolio, and some basic investment information but if you're heavy into investing you may be disappointed with this feature and may prefer Deluxe or maybe Quicken. Here is a link to compare what extras the Deluxe version gives you. http://www.microsoft.com/money/productinfo/compare.htm

Inventory
There is a section that you can create a list of what you own which would be great for determining assets, values, insurance purposes, and more. This allows you to put information such as where you bought it, how much it was, manufacturers website, serial number, and even upload a picture of the item.

Online newsletters
They call it MoneyWise, but I'd categorize it as an online newsletter. It is updated each month and it gives you tips, and other marketing issues.

Browser
It has its own built in browser that was designed to get money related topics, but you can go anywhere from it. It is very similar to the Internet Explorer browser. What I hate is every time I go to one of my sights or a Microsoft affiliated site the Money portion pops up on the left of the screen. It's suppose to be helpful, but I'm annoyed by it.

Calendar
You can view your upcoming bills in a calendar format which I particularly like however if you plan on paying everything on the 15th, it runs off because it's in block format (just like a hanging calendar).

Reports
You can generate reports instantly and change to different views such report view, graph, or chart.

I love how you can sort things however you want to see them. By account number, due date, payment date, payment amount, etc. Most reports are fixed, but this is very flexible and useful.

Create a budget
If you ever ask yourself, "Where does the money go?" and don't have an answer, you're going to find out very quickly because this breaks it down very specifically. It will also allow you to decide ahead of time if you're going to spend, save, or both with any extra money.

Debt-free
You can try different scenarios in the program to determine the quickest way of paying your bills off.

Access anywhere
If you do a lot of traveling, this would be ideal. Once it's loaded to MSN Money, you can have full access no matter where you are or what computer you're using as long as you have web access.

Backup
You can upload all of your information to MSN Money so your information will be safe in the event you have a crash, theft, or fire. you can also back up information on a floppy.

More
+ more like paying bills online, downloading financial statements, etc.

Passport / .net

What is .NET passport?
This is the platform Microsoft delivers centralized web services. It will ensure the email address is registered with .NET and the password matches. You are able to decide which sites you want to share this information with as you visit them.

When installing the software it asks you to set up a passport / .net passport account and really doesn't like to take "No" for an answer.

For more detailed information on .net passport
Microsoft .Net Passport
www.passport.com

Should you Upgrade from Money 2001?
The new features happen to be the ones that I'm most excited with:

- Easy online setup with online services manager
- Improved budget planner
- Money side
- Bill set-up manager in one place
- 50 improvements to reports and charts
- Home page customization
- Undo/delete transactions
- Register reconciliation
- Send reports via e-mail
- Flag transactions for follow-up
- High-low-close investment chart
- more...

Why change from Quicken?
The only thing that stands out is the banking download. It's a pretty big time saving feature though!

Any Drawbacks?
- This takes a lot of room on the hard drive

- There is somewhat of a learning curve

- Not compatible with all Tax software but at least you'll be able to print it out

- You'll need to buy deluxe or better for lifelong or longterm planning

- It's like a bad weed, everytime you click an internet site, or open a program, or log on to your computer it pops up and takes up a lot of memory. (feature can be turned off)

- If you bank or anyone you owe money to is not on the Microsoft list, then you can't do the automatic upload/download for that payee and will have to enter it manually.

$10 Rebate
We picked up a copy of Money 2002 at Target for $30. It has a $10 rebate card inside so if I'm lucky, I'll remember to mail that!

- Rebate Check to fill out with your mailing address

- Enclose proof of purchase (box top with product name and bar code to identify

- Copy of sales receipt

- You must mail the rebate (postmarked) within 30 days from the purchase date on the sales receipt!

Small Print for Rebate
Offer expires August 15, 2002

Allow 6-8 weeks for delivery

Valid in 50 states, D.C., and all military bases containing valid APO/FPO addresses.

No PO Boxes

Similar Software
Microsoft offers several versions that may meet your needs better:

Microsoft Money 2002(reviewed here)

Microsoft Money 2002 Deluxe (analyze portfolio, lifetime planner (retirement, house)....,

Microsoft Money 2002 Deluxe and Business manage both personal and business in one place (includes tracking customers and vendors, tracking inventory, categorizes taxes).

Microsoft Money 2002 Suite includes Tax Cut Deluxe with Kiplinger's Home and Business Attorney.

Here is a 60 day trial for Deluxe. This is the same as Money 2002 with some additions in the investing area.

http://www.microsoft.com/money/productinfo/trialnew.asp

* Once you have Standard and decide you want or need Deluxe, there's a link to Microsoft's website that you can upgrade from Standard to Deluxe for $20.


For $20, I can't complain at all. This saves me a lot of time and gives me tools to do some analyzing that I've been meaning to do. The software is easy to use and navigate in. The ability to download your checking information into your budget keeps records up to date without as much effort.













Recommended: Yes