So you say you've tried everything--fiddled with countless budgets,
cut out unnecessary expenses--and you're still having problems
reducing your debt? Don't feel bad--Money offers you yet more bang for
your buck by offering the Debt Reduction Planner, which can help you
see your way clear to a debt-free life.
To get started on your way to a debt-free existence, the first step
is to specify the accounts you want to include in the Debt Plan. The
Include Debt Accounts In Your Plan screen lists all of your liability
accounts--credit accounts, loans, etc. To move an account into the
Debt Plan, select the account name and then click the Move Into Plan
button. As you can see, Money moves the account name into the Accounts
In Debt Plan section of the planner. Continue adding the appropriate
account names to the planner. At the bottom right of the Planner
screen, note the Status area, which calculates the Total Debt In Plan
and the Total Debt Not In Plan.
For now, you may want to just enter your credit card debt and leave
out auto and mortgage debt from the Debt Reduction planner. That way,
you can concentrate on getting out of discretionary debt, or the debt
that you really can control right now.
YOU CAN REDUCE YOUR DEBT--PART 2 OF 6
Once you've added your debt accounts to the Debt Reduction Planner
(click Planner in the Navigation bar, click the Debt Reduction Planner
link and follow the instructions in Money), click the Next button
located in the upper-right corner of the screen. The next step is to
define your payment plan; first, indicate whether you want to base
your plan on a specific amount you can pay each month or on a date by
which you want to be out of debt.
Today we'll experiment with different payment amounts that you
could pay toward debt each month--Money will calculate the length of
time it will take to you to get out of debt. Tomorrow's tip will show
you how you can experiment with different dates, letting Money tell
you the amount of the monthly payment you'll need to come up with in
order to meet the deadline you choose.
To experiment with different monthly payments, select the What I
Want To Pay Each Month button at the very top of the Planner window.
Then, indicate the amount of money that you can allocate to your debt
each month. You can enter this amount yourself or use the slider tool.
Once you enter an amount, take a look at the Status section in the
lower-left of the screen as well as the information provided at the
very bottom of the screen. Note that this takes all of your debt
balances into account. It gives you the lowdown on your existing debt
by calculating when you will be debt-free based on the information you
have supplied. It also shows you the total amount of interest you will
have paid out over the course of your debt. Yikes!
YOU CAN REDUCE YOUR DEBT--PART 3 OF 6
Once you've added your debt accounts to the Debt Reduction Planner
(click Planner in the Navigation bar, click the Debt Reduction Planner
link and follow the instructions in Money), you can define your
approach to your payment plan.
In our last tip, we showed you how to define a payment plan based
on a specific monthly amount that you could muster to pay off your
debt. (Select the What I Want To Pay Each Month button at the very top
of the Planner window, then indicate the amount of money that you can
allocate to your debt each month.) In this tip, we'll show you what to
do if you want to be debt-free by a certain date.
To experiment with different dates, select the Date I Want To Be
Out Of Debt button at the very top of the Planner window. Then, enter
the date by which you want to be debt-free. Again, you can set this
date yourself or use the slider tool. Once you enter the date, take a
look at the Status section in the lower-left of the screen and at the
information provided at the very bottom of the screen. Money tells you
the monthly payment you'll need to come up with in order to achieve
your debt-free goal. It also shows you the total amount of interest
you will have paid out over the course of your debt.
YOU CAN REDUCE YOUR DEBT--PART 4 OF 6
One of the cardinal rules of obtaining a debt-free existence is to
send as much money as you possibly can to your credit cards each
month. And remember--if you stick to the minimum payment plan
suggested by your credit card company, you'll end up paying a lot more
in interest that you ever would have for the original purchase.
If you've come up with some additional cash that can be used to pay
down your debt, you can enter this amount in the Onetime, Extra
Payment field of the current Debt Reduction plan to see what effect it
will have on your debt balance. For instance, if you'd like to use
your bonus money to help pay off your debt faster, enter the amount of
the bonus in the Making A One-Time Extra Payment field.
When you enter the one-time amount, Money recalculates your monthly
payment and shows how such a payment will reduce your overall required
monthly payment. In addition, an extra payment will reduce the overall
interest and move up your debt-free date.
YOU CAN REDUCE YOUR DEBT--PART 5 OF 6
After you've experimented with different payment plans in the Debt
Reduction Planner and you've come to a decision about how much you can
afford to spend each month, click the Next button to review your Debt
Plan. This next phase of the Planner orders your debt to get you out
of the red as soon as possible and, more importantly, to minimize the
amount of wasted money--interest payments--that you will pay out over
time. In most cases, it will suggest that you send more money to the
credit card company with the highest interest rate and send the
minimum amount to the others.
The Debt Plan consists of three different views. To switch between
views, click the View button and select from the resulting dropdown
menu. The views include:
- The Payment Schedule Chart, which shows the declining balance of
our debt over time, displayed as a line graph. You can click on any
point in the line to see your balance at that time.
- The Payment Schedule by Month, which shows you your payment schedule
by month. In addition to displaying the amount of the payment you
should send to each credit card debt, this view also breaks down each
payment to show the principal and interest portion of the payment, as
well as the balance.
- The Payment Schedule by Account, which displays your payments by
account. Again, each payment is also broken down to display the
principal and interest amounts as well as the remaining balance.
YOU CAN REDUCE YOUR DEBT--PART 6 OF 6
The final phase of the Debt Reduction Planner is the Take Action
And Reduce Your Debt screen. This final step enables you to schedule
your payments using these suggested monthly payment amounts. To
schedule your payments, simply click each suggested scheduled payment.
When you do, Money adds these payments to the Bills schedule and you
will be reminded each month to pay your bill. That's it! You're on
your way to a debt-free existence!
Now that you've got your credit card debt under control, the next
thing to tackle is that most elusive of beasts--cash. Unlike checks or
even credit card purchases, cash can be next to impossible to track.
For starters, you usually don't have any hard copy proof of the items
you tend to buy--people rarely get receipts for daily cash purchases
such as newspapers, coffee, bus fare, chocolates bars, and the like.
The best way to become aware of your cash purchases is to carry
around a little notebook in which to write down every purchase you
make, no matter how minuscule the amount. Even better, make sure you
hang onto any receipt you do collect during the course of the day. At
the end of each week, you should start to gain a sense of where all
your hard-earned cash ends up. Also a Personal Data Assistant (PDA)
can be very helpful, especially if it can export directly to Money.
We're tracking the wild cash beast. So far, we've made meticulous
notes about the places our cash goes each day and learned how to
record a cash withdrawal in Money. (In your check register, click the
View button located just at the top of the window and select Use Forms
To Enter Transactions. Click the Cash Withdrawal tab. Money enters
Cash as the Payee. Fill in the rest of the pertinent information.)
After you've recorded the initial cash withdrawal in your checking
account, you can then itemize all of your cash purchases in Money. Use
the Split feature to itemize each purchase you made.
To itemize your cash purchases, record the initial cash withdrawal
as you would any transaction and then select Edit, Split. If you've
already recorded the cash withdrawal, simply select the transaction
and select Edit, Split. Next, in the Split Transaction dialog box,
enter the specifics of each item you purchased. In this case, assign
the appropriate category, enter the specific purchase in the
Description field, and enter the amount. Click Done when you have
finished entering your purchases. Press Enter to record the itemized
transaction.
In our last tip we introduced the first step in tracking the wild
cash beast--writing it down. Now that you've recorded exactly where
your cash is going, how do you keep track of all your cash purchases
in Money? It's really pretty easy. You record your cash purchases just
as you would any other transaction. But before you can begin recording
your cash purchases, you must first record the initial cash
withdrawal.
Let's say for instance that you withdrew $50 from your main
checking account through your friendly, local ATM machine. To account
for this transaction in Money, you simply record this transaction as a
Cash Withdrawal in your check register.
To do so, first switch to your checking account by selecting
Accounts from the Navigation bar and then double-click on your
checking account from the list of accounts. Next, click the View
button located just at the top of the check register window and select
Use Forms To Enter Transactions. Click the Cash Withdrawal tab. When
you do, Money enters Cash as the Payee. Fill in the rest of the
pertinent information, such as date, amount, and category. Press Enter
to record the transaction. If you'd rather enter your transactions
directly in the register, simply enter Cash in the Payee field and
input the remaining information.
Now that you've been itemizing your cash transactions, you probably
have a pretty good idea of where your cash is going. But what about
the cash purchases made by your significant other or other family
members? To keep track of all those cash withdrawals and purchases
made by both you and any others who use the account, create a
classification for each of you. Then be sure to assign the
classification to the appropriate cash transactions.
To create the classifications, select Categories from the
Navigation
bar, and then select Classification 1 from the Categories & Payees
list. Next, click the New button, enter your name in the Name field,
and click OK. Repeat this step for each family member whose cash
spending you want to track. When the time comes to record a cash
transaction, enter the transaction as usual, except this time be sure
to assign the appropriate classification. To do so, click the dropdown
arrow in the Classification 1 field and select the appropriate name.
----------------------------------------------
REPORTING CASH SPENDING, PART 1 OF 2
In this past series of tips we've shown you how to keep on top of
your
cash spending. In this tip, we'll tell you how to create a report that
shows exactly where your cash went and how much was spent. To create
the cash report, select Reports from the Navigation Bar and select the
Spending Habits category. Then, from the Report & Chart Gallery,
select the Account Transactions report and click the Customize button
located at the bottom of the screen. Enter a title for the report,
such as Cash Spending, in the Title field of the Customize Report
dialog box. Click the Payee tab and click the Clear All button. Next,
scroll through the Payee list and select the Cash listing. Deselect
the option labeled Include Transactions With No Payee (blank) in
Search. Next, click the Details tab, select Payments in the Type
field, and then click OK. Finally, click the Go To Report/Chart button
to view your customized cash spending report.
----------------------------------------------
REPORTING CASH SPENDING, PART 2 OF 2
When you customize one of Money's predefined reports, as we did in
our
previous tip, it pays to save the report as a Favorite. By doing so,
you can access this custom report at any time without having to
customize the report settings again. To save the cash spending report
settings, select Favorites, Add To Favorites. You can now access this
customized report whenever you need to by selecting Favorites,
Favorite Reports and then selecting your saved report (in this case,
Cash Spending) from the list of reports.
Once you've saved your customized report as a Favorite, you'll need
to
restore the report back to its original settings. To do so, return to
the Reports & Charts Gallery, select the report you just customized,
(in this case it was the Account Transactions report), and click the
Reset button.
----------------------------------------------
CREATING A CASH ACCOUNT, PART 1 OF 3
Here is yet another way to keep on top of your cash spending:
create a
cash account and then record all of your cash purchases in that
account. By doing so, you establish a single location for tracking
cash purchases.
To create the cash account, select Accounts from the Navigation bar
and click the New Account button located at the bottom of the screen.
In the New Account dialog box, select Not Held At Bank, Brokerage Or
Other Financial Institution and click Next. Select Cash from the list
of account types and click Next. Enter a name for the account, such as
Cash Spending, and click Next. If you currently have cash on hand that
you want to track, enter the amount in the Balance field and click
Finish. If you don't, simply leave this field blank and click Finish.
----------------------------------------------
CREATING A CASH ACCOUNT, PART 2 OF 3
In our last tip, we showed you how to create a cash account for
tracking all of your cash spending. When you open the cash account
register, you'll notice that the register is a little different from
your checking account register. Specifically, the cash account
contains columns for Spend and Receive--the equivalent of Payment and
Deposit. Each time you make a cash withdrawal from your checking
account or whenever you have cash on hand, enter the amount in the
Receive column. To record a cash purchase, enter the amount of the
purchase in the Spend column. Each cash purchase transaction you
record decreases the amount of the cash balance on hand. As you record
your purchases in your cash account, you'll soon start to notice a
pattern in your cash spending.
----------------------------------------------
CREATING A CASH ACCOUNT, PART 3 OF 3
When you use a cash account to track your spending, you can record
your cash withdrawals directly in the account, as we demonstrated in
our last tip. If you withdrew the cash from your checking account,
however, you'll also want to maintain a record of the cash withdrawal
in your checking account. To do so, you can transfer the cash
withdrawal from your checking account to your cash account.
So, whenever you make a cash withdrawal, either from an ATM machine
or
through an actual bank teller (if they still exist!), enter the
transaction in your checking account as you normally would. Then
transfer the cash withdrawal to your cash account for closer
monitoring. To do so, enter the name of the cash account (in this
case, Cash Spending), in the Category field. When you do, the Category
will appear as Transfer To: Cash Spending. Quicken then transfers the
cash withdrawal to your cash spending account.
----------------------------------------------
MANAGING YOUR CATEGORIES, PART 1 OF 3
Over time, as you work with Money, you'll probably do a lot of
rearranging within the category list. You're likely to create your own
categories, and you'll probably also delete a few categories. After
adding your own personal categories, you'll find that the category
list can get rather unwieldy. Fortunately, you can winnow down the
category list by removing categories that have never been used. To do
so, select Tools, Options, and click the Categories tab. Next, click
the Remove Unused Categories button. Money will then proceed to remove
any categories from the category list that have not been assigned to a
transaction. Click OK in the resulting dialog box and then OK again to
close the Options dialog box.
----------------------------------------------
MANAGING YOUR CATEGORIES, PART 2 OF 3
In our last tip, we showed you how to remove categories that
haven't
been used from the category listing. If you plan on using some of the
categories, but just haven't gotten around to it, you can have Money
prompt you before it deletes a category from the list. That way, you
can choose the specific categories you want to keep and those you wish
to remove. To do so, select Tools, Options, and click the Categories
tab. Make sure the Ask Me Before Removing Each Category option is
selected, and then click the Remove Unused Categories button. For each
unused Category, Money will display a dialog box asking you if you
want to delete that category. Answer accordingly. You can click the
Cancel button at any time to abort the process.
----------------------------------------------
MANAGING YOUR CATEGORIES, PART 3 OF 3
The past two tips have demonstrated how you can manage your
categories
listing by removing categories that have not been used. If you later
wish to restore the category list so that all of the original
categories provided by Money are available to you, select Tools,
Options, and click the Categories tab. Next, click the Restore
Standard Categories button. Money restores the standard categories
list and displays a dialog box relating the fact. Click OK twice. Any
standard categories that had been deleted will be restored to the
list.
----------------------------------------------
RETRACING YOUR STEPS
As you jump around from screen to screen in Money, it's easy to
lose
track of a report you've viewed or an account you've accessed.
Fortunately, Money offers a convenient way to retrace your steps: just
click the Back button, located in the far right of the Navigation bar.
Each time you select Back, Money backtracks to each of the areas you
have accessed in the current session.
----------------------------------------------
JUST THE FACTS
If you need to find out specific details about a particular
account,
you can do so right from the Account Manager--without having to first
access the account. To do this, select Accounts from the Navigation
bar and then click the Account Manager button. Next, simply
right-click the account name and select Go To Details from the
resulting shortcut menu. Money displays the Details screen of the
particular account.
----------------------------------------------
MONITOR ACCOUNT BALANCES
Does your bank start charging fees if your checking or savings
account
balance drops below a minimum amount? Money's Advisor FYI Alerts
feature can let you know when your account balances fall below a
specified amount. To set the minimum balance alert for an account,
select Tools, Customize Advisor FYI, and then click the Account
Balances tab. Select the name of your checking account from the list
of accounts. Next, select the Less Than checkbox, input the minimum
amount allowed, and click OK. Now, if your checking account balance
drops below the minimum amount, you will be alerted of the fact via a
dialog box.
Tip within a Tip: Why not add an extra hundred dollars to the
minimum
amount specified so you can give yourself a little breathing room? For
instance, if your bank starts charging fees when your balance drops
below $500, enter a minimum amount of $600.
----------------------------------------------
KEEPING CREDIT IN CHECK
In our last tip, we showed you how to use the Advisor FYI Alerts to
keep an eye on your account balances. In this tip, we'll show you how
to use the Advisor FYI Alerts to help you keep tabs on your credit.
Specifically, Money can alert you when the amount you owe exceeds a
certain limit. Likewise, if you're being good and paying off your
credit card debt as we dictated last month, you can also be alerted to
the good news--when the amount you owe is less than indicated.
To keep tabs on your credit spending, select Tools, Customize
Advisor
FYI, and click the Account Balances tab. Select the name of the credit
card account you want to monitor from the list of accounts. Next,
select the More Than checkbox and then input the amount the account
should not exceed. Select the Less Than checkbox and enter the
specified amount. Click OK when you have finished. Now, when your
credit card balance goes above or drops below the amounts you've
specified, Money will alert you of the fact via a dialog box.
----------------------------------------------
KEEP TRACK OF SPENDING
You can also use the Advisor FYI Alerts to help curb your spending.
Specifically, you can set up an alert that will keep a watch on
expenses related to a particular category. Say for instance that you
want to limit how much you spend on eating dinner out in a month. You
simply indicate the maximum spending amount allowed for the category.
Then, when that category exceeds a predetermined amount, Money will
alert you to the fact.
To monitor your expenses, select Tools, Customize Advisor FYI, and
then click the Monthly Spending tab. Select the category you want to
track from the list of categories and click the Over checkbox. When
you do, a check mark appears to the left of the category name. Next,
input the appropriate amount and click OK. Now, when your category
spending goes above the specified amount, you will be alerted via a
dialog box.
----------------------------------------------
CHART YOUR SPENDING
In the last tip, we showed you how to keep tabs on your spending by
setting up an Advisor FYI Alert which displays a dialog box reminder
when an expense exceeds a predetermined amount. In this tip, we'll
show you how to set up a more permanent reminder. You can add a chart
to your Money Home Page that will track the progress of your spending
based on the amount you specified. This way, you'll be able to see
where you stand at any moment.
To add the chart to your Money Home Page, select Tools, Customize
Advisor FYI, and then click the Monthly Spending tab. Select the
category you want to track from the list of categories and click the
Over checkbox. When you do, a check mark appears to the left of the
category name. Next, input the appropriate amount in the Over amount
box and then select Show Chart Of My Spending On Money Home. Click OK.
The spending chart appears in the Advisor section on the Money Home
Page. Select Money Home from the Navigation bar to switch to the Money
Home Page. The chart reads almost like a gas gauge--it shows you how
much you have spent on that particular category and how much is
remaining.
----------------------------------------------
KEEP TRACK OF IMPORTANT DATES, PART 1 OF 2
Money's Advisor FYI Alerts can also be used to remind you of
important
financial events, including giving you a heads-up on the tax season,
holidays, and the like. To specify the events you wish to be reminded
of, select Tools, Customize Advisor FYI, and then click the Important
Dates tab. Next, from the list of events, select those you wish to be
reminded of, and then click OK.
Money displays these reminders not as dialog box triggers, as it
does
with Account Balances and Cash Spending alerts, but as listings within
the Advisor FYI section on your Money Home Page. The reminder will
appear in the Advisor on the day on which the event occurs. You'll
want to make a habit of referring to the Advisor section on a daily
basis, so that these reminders don't slip through the cracks.
----------------------------------------------
KEEP TRACK OF IMPORTANT DATES, PART 2 OF 2
With the Advisor FYI Alerts, you can keep track of other important
dates in your life besides those of just a financial nature. For
instance, you can add dates such as your Mom's birthday, your
anniversary, or any other event that occurs on a yearly basis. To add
your own events, select Tools, Customize Advisor FYI, and then click
the Important Dates tab. Next, click the New button and enter the
Event and the Date and click OK. Click OK again in the Advisor FYI
Options dialog box. Money will alert you to the events as they occur,
in the form of reminders in the Advisor section on the Money Home
Page.
----------------------------------------------
SEEK THE ADVISOR
In this past series of tips, we've been discussing Money's Advisor
FYI
Alerts feature, which helps you keep a close eye on your account
balances and reminds you of upcoming events. If you're currently using
Microsoft Money 99 Financial Suite, you'll also want to check out the
Advisor FYI, which appears as a section on the Money Home Page. This
area provides personalized financial guidance based on actions you've
performed. For instance, if you create an account to keep track of
your mortgage, the Advisor FYI will provide information on mortgage
rates and related topics. So take a look at what the Advisor FYI has
to say.
----------------------------------------------
GET SPECIFIC ADVICE
You can get the most out of the Advisor FYI by specifying which
types
of advice you'd like to receive. For instance, you can specify that
you're interested in advice on topics such as mortgage rates and tax
information, but that you aren't interested in investment or budgeting
advice. To customize the Advisor FYI content, select Tools, Customize
Advisor FYI--or click the Customize link in the Advisor FYI section on
the Money Home Page. In the resulting Advisor FYI Options dialog box,
select the Choose Advisor FYI tab. Next, select the topics you wish to
include in the Advisor FYI. Note that selected topics are designated
by a checkmark. To deselect a topic, remove the checkmark by clicking
on it.
----------------------------------------------
NO MORE ADVICE, PLEASE
In our last tip, we showed you how to select the type of advice
you'd
like to receive from the Advisor FYI. If you'd rather not get any
advice at all, you can turn off this display of the Advisor
altogether. (Too bad you can't do this to your mother or other
well-meaning soul!) Note that when you turn off the Advisor FYI,
you'll still receive the triggers generated by the Advisor FYI Alerts,
but you will no longer be reminded of important dates nor receive any
content-specific advice.
To turn off the Advisor, select Tools, Customize Advisor FYI--or
click
the Customize link in the Advisor FYI section on the Money Home Page.
Next, select the Choose Advisor FYI tab and deselect the option
labeled Show Advisor FYI On Money Home. Click OK when you are done.
The Advisor FYI section no longer appears on your Money Home Page.
----------------------------------------------
AN ADVISOR REPORT
The monthly report, which Money generates toward the end of every
month, displays all of the Advisor FYI information that you've
received throughout the month. To display the monthly report, click on
Reports in the Navigation bar and then select Monthly Reports. Next,
select the monthly report you wish to view from the Report & Chart
Gallery. Scroll down through the report until you reach the Advisor
FYI portion of the report, or click Advisor FYI from the left side of
the screen. Here, you'll find all of the Advisor FYI information that
has been generated throughout the month. Note that the report does not
include any Advisor FYI Alerts generated, except for any Important
Dates you've specified.
----------------------------------------------
CREATE YOUR OWN VIEW
In the Account Manager, you can select the way you want to view
your
accounts. The Account Balances view, for instance, includes
information such as Name, Type, Account Number, Financial Institution,
and Balance. The problem is, when you switch to the Balances view, you
usually end up having to scroll over to see the contents of the
Balance column--due to the space taken up by the information displayed
in the Account Number and Financial Institution columns. This can be a
real pain, particularly when you're not the least bit interested in
where the account is held--you only want to see its balance. In this
tip we'll show you how to remove the Financial Institution column from
the display so that you can instantly view the contents of the Balance
column. To adjust the width of the column, position the mouse pointer
on the right edge of the column you want to resize, (in this case the
Financial Institution column). When the mouse pointer changes to a
double-headed arrow, click and drag the pointer all the way to the
left. When you release the mouse button, the Financial Institution
column is removed from the view.
----------------------------------------------
RETURN TO AN ORIGINAL VIEW
In our last tip we showed you how to adjust the width of the
columns
in the Account Manager in order to get the view you want. To restore
the width of a column, position the mouse pointer on the right edge of
the column you want to restore. When the mouse pointer changes to a
double-headed arrow, double-click the border. When you do, the column
is restored to its original size.
----------------------------------------------
CREATE YOUR OWN PAYEE
By default, Money automatically stores every Payee you record in a
transaction in the Payee List. The idea is that each time you record a
payment to a payee, you won't have to retype the same payee
information over and over again. But did you know that you can also
create a new payee at any time? That is, without having to necessarily
enter it as a transaction? For instance, you can create a Payee up
front, and when the time comes to record a transaction with that
payee, you can simply pull the name from the Payee list.
To create a new payee, click Categories in the Navigation bar and
then
click Payees to display the current list of Payees. Click the New
button located at the bottom of the Payee List. In the resulting
Create New Payee dialog box, enter the name of the payee and click OK.
The next time you want to add that payee to a transaction in your
register, simply select it from the Payee list.
----------------------------------------------
RENAMING PAYEES
In the last tip, we showed you how to create your own payees. In
this
tip, we'll show you how to rename a payee. Note that when you rename a
payee, Money will also rename existing transactions as well. To rename
a payee, click Categories in the Navigation bar and then click Payees
to display the current list of Payees. Select the payee you want to
rename from the Payee List and click the Rename button located at the
bottom of the screen. In the resulting Rename Payee dialog box, enter
the new name for the payee and click OK to record the changes.
----------------------------------------------
BE THE BOSS OF YOUR PAYEES
In this series of tips, we've shown you how to create a new payee
and
rename existing payees. You can also decide if a payee name that you
record in a transaction should be stored in the Payee list at all.
That way, you can type a payee as usual, but only record those payees
that you know you will use again. For instance, you don't want to
store payee information recorded in transactions you made while on
vacation.
To pick and choose the payees you want to save, select Tools,
Options,
and in the Options dialog box select the Editing tab. Next, in the
Confirmation Options section of the dialog box, select the option
labeled Confirm New Payees and click OK. Now when you type a new payee
in the transaction form and press Enter to record the transaction,
Money will ask if you want to add the payee to your list. Click Yes to
add the payee to the Payee List. Click No to record the payee
information in the current transaction only--and not add it to the
Payee List.
----------------------------------------------
TURNING OFF AUTOCOMPLETE
One of the nicer features of Money is AutoComplete, a tool that
attempts to save you time and keystrokes by anticipating your moves
and automatically supplying information when you begin to type. For
instance, when you type a name in the Pay To line of a transaction,
Money will fill in the appropriate payee name, based on the first few
characters you type. If you'd rather not have Money behave this way,
you can turn off AutoComplete altogether.
To turn off the AutoComplete functionality, select Tools, Options
and
in the Options dialog box, select the Editing tab. Next, deselect the
option labeled Use AutoComplete and click OK. Now when you type data
in the payee or category fields, Money will not attempt to match up
what you are typing with something that is already in the list. You
will either have to type in the entire name yourself or select it from
the dropdown list.
----------------------------------------------
JUMPY CATEGORY LISTS
In a manner similar to AutoComplete, Money also attempts to save
you
time by automatically activating the dropdown list whenever you click
in the Category and Class fields. And like AutoComplete, you can turn
this feature off as well. To do so, select Tools, Options, and in the
Options dialog box, select the Editing tab. Next, deselect the option
labeled Automatically Drop Down Category Lists and click OK. Now when
you click in or move to the category or class fields, Money will not
display the list. You'll have to click on the dropdown arrow yourself
to display the listing.
----------------------------------------------
A SAFER BACKUP
In the past, we've told you how important it is to back up your
files.
To be on the safe side, Money also automatically creates a backup copy
of your files on your hard drive. By default, Money saves the backup
file to the c:\My Documents directory. You can change the location of
the backup to any directory you want.
To change the location of the backup file, select Tools, Options,
and
click the Backup tab. In the Save In box, indicate the path and
directory for saving the backup copy of your Money file. You can also
click the Browse button and point to the directory location as well.
Click OK when you have finished.
----------------------------------------------
BACK UP MY FILE, PLEASE
If you can't remember to back up your Money file on your own, Money
can remind you to do so. By default, Money prompts you to back up your
file every 14 days. If you'd rather back up your file on a more
frequent basis, say once a week, you can change it accordingly. To
change the frequency of your backup, select Edit, Options, and click
the Backup tab. Make sure that the Automatically Back Up To Floppy
option is selected (a checkmark appears to the left of it), and then
enter the appropriate number; for instance, enter 7 to back up your
file every seven days. Click OK when you have finished.
----------------------------------------------
BACK UP MY FILE ONLY WHEN I SAY
If you'd rather not receive reminder messages from Money telling
you
to back up your files, you can turn off the Backup reminder dialog box
altogether. But when you do, you're really on your own. So make sure
you back up your file often. To turn off the backup reminder, select
Edit, Options, and click the Backup tab. Deselect the option labeled
Automatically Back Up To Floppy (the checkmark should no longer appear
to the left of it). Click OK when you have finished.
----------------------------------------------
CLEAR A SPLIT TRANSACTION
When you reuse a Payee that has previously stored information, such
as
a split, it automatically appears in the new transaction as well. To
clear a split from a transaction and assign a different category,
simply select the new category from the list. When you do, Money
displays a dialog box that alerts you that the information stored in
the split will be removed. Click OK to remove the split information
and assign the new category.
----------------------------------------------
EDIT A SPLIT TRANSACTION
When you want to edit the specifics of a split transaction, select
the
transaction you want to edit and then select Edit, Split. You can also
right-click and select Edit, Split from the resulting shortcut menu.
In the resulting Split Transaction dialog box, make any changes to the
information that are necessary and click Done. Press the Enter key to
save the transaction with the new information.
----------------------------------------------
. MULTIPLE MONEY ACCOUNTS, PART 1 OF 2
Does your household maintain separate files? Say, one for you and
another for your roommate, significant other, or even child? If so,
you can continue to go about your business as usual. Then, when the
time comes for generating comparison reports or creating a single
location for household transactions, you can import the data from one
file into another.
The first thing to do is to export the account data from the first
Money file onto either a floppy disk or the local hard disk. If
necessary, insert a blank, formatted floppy disk into your PC. Then,
select File, Export, select Loose QIF in the Export dialog box, and
click OK. Next, enter a name for the export file. Be sure to indicate
in the file name the location of the file. By default, Money exports
files to the hard drive (C:\) of the current PC. For instance, if you
want to export the file to a floppy disk you would type a:\billdata.
Click OK when you have entered the file name.
The next step is to indicate the type of account you want to
export.
Your choices are either Regular or Investment. In this case, select
Regular and click OK. Next, select the account whose data you want to
export. For instance, select Checking to export transactions from your
check register. Click Continue to export the data. Finally, click OK
when the export has been completed.
Money exports the transactions from the selected account to a
floppy
disk and saves the information in the file name you indicated with a
QIF extension. Stay tuned. In the next tip we'll show you how to
import the data back into a Money file.
----------------------------------------------
MULTIPLE MONEY ACCOUNTS, PART 2 OF 2
In our last tip we introduced the concept of multiple Money
accounts,
that is, accounts for different people located in multiple files. In
this tip we'll show you how to import the data from one account into
another Money account file. Remember that you'll need to first export
the data. To do so, select File, Export and then specify the account
data you want to export.
Now you're ready to import the data. First, activate the file in
which
you wish to import the data. If necessary, use the File, Open command
to open the correct file. Next, make sure the floppy disk containing
the export file is in the floppy disk drive (if you saved it to a
floppy disk that is). Then, select File, Import, and indicate the name
of the export file, including the drive letter. Click Import. At this
point, Money wants to create a backup copy of the current file. Answer
accordingly. Next, select the account in which you wish to import the
data and click OK. If the export file contains a reference to an
account that doesn't exist, Money will prompt you to either create the
account or assign the account name to an existing account. Respond
accordingly and click OK.
----------------------------------------------
ANALYZE YOUR FINANCES IN EXCEL, PART 1 OF 3
Although Money's many reports and financial tools enable you to get
a
good grasp of your finances, sometimes you need to turn to a more
powerful tool, such as a spreadsheet program, for closer scrutiny. If
you have Excel, you're in luck. You can import data from your Money
accounts into an Excel spreadsheet and perform more intense
calculations using the Money Link add-in.
Before you can begin importing your Money data, you need to first
install the Money Link add-in. To do so, switch to or start the Excel
program. Then, select Tools, Add-In from the Excel main menu and click
the Browse button. Locate the folder in which you have installed
Money. This is usually c:\program files\Microsoft Money\MoneyLink.
Locate the file named Money Link99, select it, and then click OK.
Excel then installs the add-in. Notice the addition of the Money Link
toolbar in your Excel worksheet and toolbar area.
----------------------------------------------
ANALYZE YOUR FINANCES IN EXCEL, PART 2 OF 3
Once you have installed the Money Link add-in, you can begin to
import
your data from Money accounts. To specify the information you want to
import, select Data, Get Money Data. In the resulting dialog box,
indicate the name of your Money file. This file is usually called
c:\My Documents\filename.mny, where filename is the name of your Money
file. Click the Next button to continue. From the resulting list of
options, select the data you wish to import. For instance, select
Account Transactions For A Specific Account to import all transactions
from a particular account. In the Date Range section of the dialog
box, indicate the date range for the transactions you want to import.
Click Next to continue. If prompted, select the Account Name from
which to import the data and click Next. Indicate where you would like
to insert the data, either in the Current Worksheet or a New
Worksheet. Finally, click Import Data to import the data into the
Excel worksheet.
----------------------------------------------
ANALYZE YOUR FINANCES IN EXCEL, PART 3 OF 3
After you use Money Link to import data into your Excel worksheet,
you
are free to manipulate the data in any way you wish. You can update
the Money data in your worksheet so that you have the latest
information from your Money file. To do so, select Data, Refresh Money
Data to update the current selection of data, or select Data, Refresh
All Money Data to update all of the data in the worksheet. Note that
when you refresh your worksheet, your existing Money data will be
overwritten by this latest information.
----------------------------------------------
THE SHOPPER'S LITTLE HELPER--PART 1 OF 4
With the holiday season entering full swing, you'll be happy to
hear
that Microsoft Money can help you keep a hold on your wallet during
this hectic period. In the next series of tips, we'll show you how to
use Money to organize and monitor your holiday spending.
First, create a category named Holiday that you can assign to each
of
your...that's right: holiday purchases. Select Categories from the
Navigation bar, and click on Categories. Click the New button located
at the bottom of the Category List window. Select Create A New
Category and click Next. Enter Holiday in the Name field, select
Expense as the Category type, and click Next. Select Other Expense as
the Category Group and click Finish.
Now, whenever you purchase a gift, enter the transaction as you
normally would in your check register. In the Category field, select
Holiday.
----------------------------------------------
THE SHOPPER'S LITTLE HELPER--PART 2 OF 4
In our last tip, we showed you how to create a category named
Holiday
that you can use to track your holiday spending. To keep even better
holiday records, take advantage of the Memo field to record specific
information, such as a description of the gift or the name of the
intended recipient. By doing so, you can easily determine for whom you
have purchased a gift and who still needs one; you can also check back
later to see if that weed-eater you got from your uncle cost as much
as the Rolling Stones box set you got for him.
----------------------------------------------
THE SHOPPER'S LITTLE HELPER--PART 3 OF 4
In our last two tips we've shown you how to use Money's Category
and
Memo fields to keep better track your holiday purchases. In this tip,
we'll show you how to produce a quick checklist of all the holiday
items you have purchased to date.
To run a quick status report on your purchases, select Reports from
the Navigation bar and select Spending Habits. From the Report & Chart
Gallery, select Category Spending, then select Holiday from the
Categories list box and double-click on it to generate your report (or
you can click on Go To Report/Chart at the bottom of the window). To
include the information you've recorded in the Memo field--which would
not be included in this report by default--click the Customize button
at the bottom of the Reports window and select Memo in the Include
Fields section of the Customize Report dialog box. Click OK.
Money generates a list of all of the transactions currently
assigned
to the Holiday category. Armed with this list, you can see who you've
purchased gifts for and get a running balance of the overall amount of
money you've spent to date.
----------------------------------------------
THE SHOPPER'S LITTLE HELPER--PART 4 OF 4
Another way to produce a quick Holiday Spending Report is to use
the
Edit Go To Category command. When you select this command, Money
produces a page that is simply chock-full of information. This
information includes specific category Details, a bar chart that
portrays the last few months of category spending, as well as a full
listing of all of the transactions currently assigned to the Holiday
category. It really is a one-stop shop to review all holiday-related
transactions. To produce this page, select any transaction in your
check register currently assigned to the Holiday category, and then
select Edit, Go To Category: Holiday.
----------------------------------------------
DON'T OVERSPEND THIS HOLIDAY SEASON--PART 1 OF 2
In our last series of tips, we showed you how to use Money's
category
feature to help you keep track of your gift spending during the
holiday season. Now let's say that you've allocated a certain amount
of money to spend on the holidays this year and you want to make sure
you stick to your budget. In this tip we'll show you how to set up a
Holiday account where you budget in the money you've allocated to
spend. Then, as you make purchases, you will enter them as withdrawals
in the account. To accomplish this, we'll be using the Credit Card
account type, since you are, in effect, "loaning" yourself the cash to
make your holiday purchases.
To create a Holiday spending account, select Accounts from the
Navigation bar and click the Account Manager button. Then, click the
New Account button located at the bottom of the Account Manager
window. Select Not Held At Bank, Brokerage, Or Other Financial
Institution and click Next. Select Credit Card as the Account Type and
click Next. Enter a name for the account, such as Holidays 99, and
click Next. Enter the amount of cash you have allocated to yourself in
the How Much Do You Owe On This Credit Card field and click Next.
Select Charge Card as the account type and click Next three times. In
the New Account/Add To Bill Calendar window, deselect the option
labeled Yes, Remind Me When The Bill Is Due and click Finish to create
the account.
In our next tip we'll show you how to record your purchases in your
Holiday Credit Account.
----------------------------------------------
DON'T OVERSPEND THIS HOLIDAY SEASON--PART 2 OF 2
In our last tip, we showed you how to create a holiday "budget"
account to set an overall limit for your holiday spending. When you're
ready to record a gift purchase in your holiday credit account, enter
the transaction in your check register as you normally would. Then,
when you get to the Category field, select the name of your holiday
credit card account to transfer the payment to that account. The
amount you spent is recorded as a payment in your check register and
is also recorded as a payment in your holiday credit account. This, in
effect, lowers your Holiday credit card account balance by the amount
of the purchase. When the account balance reaches zero, it means that
you're out of money to spend on gifts.
Please note that since we are using a credit card account in this
scenario, any reports you generate will include this balance as a
liability. At the end of the holiday season, make sure you close out
the account, or reduce the debt to zero so that Money no longer holds
you accountable for the debt.
----------------------------------------------
START A HOLIDAY SAVINGS CLUB
Are you flabbergasted at how much you've spent on Pokemon, Star
Wars
toys, and Chia Pets this holiday season? Plan for next year by
starting a Holiday Savings Club now. Then, throughout the course of
the upcoming year, each time you have a little extra cash, transfer
the surplus to your Holiday Savings Club; by next season you'll be
sure to have plenty of money to buy enough of The New Millennium's
Next Big Thing to go around.
To create a Holiday Savings Account, select Accounts from the
Navigation bar and click the Account Manager button. Then, click the
New Account button located at the bottom of the Account Manager
window. Select Not Held At Bank, Brokerage, Or Other Financial
Institution and click Next. Select Savings from the list of account
types and click Next. Enter a name for the account, such as Holidays
2000, and click Next. Click Finish to complete the account setup.
Throughout the year, as you glean a little extra cash from your
budget, transfer it to your Holiday savings account. To do so, start
in your check register. Create a new transaction for the cash surplus
and enter Holiday Savings Club (or something similar) in the payee
field. Enter the amount to transfer in the payment field and then
enter the name of the holiday savings account in the Category field to
transfer the cash. Keep in mind that we are merely funneling available
cash from one account to another, you'll have to make sure you
actually have the cash on hand when the next holiday season rolls
around.
----------------------------------------------
MICROSOFT MONEY AND Y2K
The countdown is on--only 22 days till Y2K. Are you ready? From the
perspective of Microsoft Money, you can rest assured that your data
will be intact when the big rollover occurs, at least according to
Microsoft. You can check out what Microsoft has to say about its
Y2K-readiness and other issues by logging on to its official Year 2000
Web site. Point your browser to:
http://computingcentral.msn.com/guide/year2000
----------------------------------------------
THE OFFICIAL WORD ON Y2K
In addition to Microsoft's own Y2K Web site, there are a number of
sites devoted to software issues for the new millennium. Here are a
just a few of the hundreds of Web sites available:
*http://www.y2kbase.com--Provides Y2K compliance information for
consumers on a large range of industries and products.
*http://www.consumer.gov/y2k--Offers a wealth of information on Y2K
from government and non-government sources.
*http://www.y2k.gov--The President's Council on Year 2000 Conversion.
*http://www.y2k.com--Fairly thorough guide from CNet. Contains links
to other Y2K Web sites, Y2K software downloads, plus a host of other
links.
----------------------------------------------
GETTING READY FOR Y2K--PART 1 OF 2
For the most part, the official take on potential problems
associated
with Y2K is that you should prepare for it as you would a long holiday
weekend or powerful storm. That is, make sure you have the necessities
to get you through a couple of days, just in case there are some foul
ups caused by computer-related glitches. For instance, you'll want to
make sure you have cash on hand, that your car is gassed up, and that
you have enough water and foodstuffs to last a few days. You might
also want to stockpile firewood or other heating and cooking fuel, and
make sure your flashlights are in good working order and that you have
extra batteries and candles as backup.
As far as your finances go, you should make copies of your bank and
financial statements, extra copies of bills, and records of your
investment accounts, and the like. You'll also want to keep copies of
medical records or prescriptions, just to be safe.
----------------------------------------------
GETTING READY FOR Y2K--PART 2 OF 2
In Microsoft Money, there are a few reports you should print so
that
you have hard copy proof of your financial records as a safety
measure, in case Y2K really does spell trouble. The first such report
contains all of the details of an account, including the balance,
account number, and financial institution. The second report lists all
of the transactions you have recorded in all of your accounts.
To print the Account Details report, select Reports from the
Navigation bar and click on What I Have. Next, select Account Details
from the Report & Chart Gallery and click the Go To Report/Chart
button at the bottom of the screen. The resulting report lists all of
the account details. Unfortunately, it does not include contact
information, so you may want to jot this down on the report yourself.
To print a listing of all of the transactions you have recorded to
date, select Reports from the Navigation bar and click on Spending
Habits. Next, select Account Transactions from the Report & Chart
Gallery, select All Accounts in the Accounts field, and All To Date in
the Date Range field. Finally, click the Go To Report/Chart button at
the bottom of the screen.
----------------------------------------------
BACK UP YOUR MONEY FILE
As another safeguard against potential Y2K mishaps, back up your
Money
file. Of course, you should be doing this at the end of every month
and every year, regardless of the new millennium/Y2K thing.
To make a backup copy of your Money file, first place a blank,
formatted floppy disk in your floppy drive. Next, select File, Back Up
to start the backup procedure. Indicate where you will be storing the
backup file, either to a floppy disk or your hard disk, and click OK.
Then click the Back Up Now button to start the procedure. Be sure to
keep your backup disk in a safe location.
----------------------------------------------
AUTOMATIC TRANSFERS--PART 1 OF 2
Money's Bills & Deposits feature is a real time saver when it comes
to
automating bill payments. You simply set up the specifics of the bill
payment once and then record the payment in your check register each
time the bill is due. But did you know that you can also automate
account transfers? For instance, you can automate a monthly transfer
of $100 from your checking account to your savings account.
To do so, select Bills from the Navigation bar and then click Set
Up
Bills & Deposits. Click the New button at the bottom of the window. In
the resulting dialog box, select Transfer and click Next. Select More
Than Once, At Regular Intervals, indicate the frequency, and click
Next. Select Other as the Payment Method and click Next. In the
resulting screen, indicate whether the transfer amount will vary each
time. If it does, enter the estimated amount. Click Next. Enter the
details of the transfer. In this case, enter the account from which
the transfer originates, enter the account in which the transfer
should be deposited, enter the date on which the first transfer will
occur, enter the amount of the transfer, and click Finish.
----------------------------------------------
AUTOMATIC TRANSFERS--PART 2 OF 2
In our last tip, we showed you how to schedule a transfer between
two
accounts, say between your checking and savings accounts. To transfer
the scheduled amount, select Bills from the Navigation bar and then
click on Pay Bills. Next, locate the next scheduled transfer in the
Upcoming Bills & Deposits list and click the Record Transfer button.
In the resulting Record Transfer dialog box, review the details of the
transfer and then click Record Transfer to transfer the funds.
If you prefer, you can set up the account transfer so that it
happens
automatically. That is, on a specified date, Money will go ahead and
subtract the funds from the originating account and enter it directly
into the record of the source account. If necessary, select Bills from
the Navigation bar and then click on Set Up Bills & Deposits. Next,
select the Transfer you just created from the Scheduled Transfers
portion of the list. Click the Edit Details button and then click the
Scheduling Options button. Select Enter This Into My Account
Automatically and click OK. Now, Money will automatically transfer a
record of the funds on the specified date.
----------------------------------------------
WHAT'S YOUR NET WORTH? PART 1 OF 2
As 1999 draws to a close, it's time to start planning for the new
year--and the new millennium. Maybe 2000 will be the year you buy that
new house, or you finally quit your job and strike out on your own.
Before you make any life decisions though, the first thing you need to
do is to figure out how much you're worth--better known as your "Net
Worth."
To calculate your net worth, you must determine how much cash you
have
on hand or available to you (known as your assets) and then compare it
with any outstanding debt (known as liabilities). The difference
between these two amounts represents your net worth. Money's Net Worth
report produces just that--a report that compares your assets to your
liabilities.
To calculate your net worth, select Reports from the Navigation
bar,
and select What I Have. Next, select Net Worth from the Report & Chart
Gallery. Click the Go To Report/Chart button located at the bottom of
the screen to generate the report.
The resulting Net Worth report consists of two parts. The Assets
portion contains the balances of all of your bank accounts, other
assets, and investment accounts. The Liabilities section contains the
balances of your credit or charge card accounts as well as any loans
you may already have. The Net Worth calculated at the bottom of the
report then shows you the difference between your assets and your
liabilities. It is this figure, among others, that a bank or lending
institution looks at to determine your viability as a loan candidate.
----------------------------------------------
WHAT'S YOUR NET WORTH? PART 2 OF 2
In our last tip, we introduced Money's Net Worth reporting tool,
which
helps you determine how much you are worth. By default, Money
condenses all of your account information into a single balance. For
instance, all of your bank accounts are summarized and totaled as the
single line item, Bank And Cash Accounts. If you prefer, you can
include the name and balance of each of your individual accounts.
To recalculate your net worth report, select Reports from the
Navigation bar, and select What I Have. Next, select Account Balances
from the Report & Chart Gallery and click the Go To Report/Chart
button to generate the report.
----------------------------------------------
BOOST YOUR NET WORTH
Before you become too discouraged with a low net worth, how about
taking a closer look at your possessions to determine if you can
assume them as assets. For instance, even if you currently have a car
loan, you can add the present value of your car (minus the loan
balance of course) to your net worth report as an asset. To obtain the
car's current worth, either get the blue book value from your insurer
or simply enter what you think the car is reasonably worth. You can
also create asset accounts for any land you may own, or any jewels you
may have. Basically, you want to be sure to include in your report any
items that could potentially lead to additional cash.
To add your car (or other item) as an asset, select Accounts from
the
Navigation bar, click the Account Manager button, and then click the
New Account button located at the bottom of the Account Manager
screen. Select Not Held At Bank, Brokerage, Or Other Financial
Institution and click Next. Select Asset from the list of account
types and click Next. Enter a name for the account, such as My Car,
enter the date that you acquired the asset, and click Next. Enter the
asset's current value and click Next. Select No and then click Finish
to complete the account setup.
To recalculate your net worth, select Reports from the Navigation
bar,
and select What I Have. Next, select Net Worth from the Report & Chart
Gallery. Finally, click the Go To Report/Chart button located at the
bottom of the screen to generate the report.
----------------------------------------------
UPDATE THE VALUE OF AN ASSET
In our last tip, we showed you how to create an asset account for a
possession. In this tip we'll show you how to update the value of an
asset. For instance, let's say you had your Grandmother's brooch
reappraised and it is now worth a lot more than you initially
recorded. Or maybe you were in a car accident and you now need to
decrease the value of your car.
To update the value of an asset, select Accounts from the
Navigation
bar, click the Accounts button, and then select the name of the asset
account. Next, enter the adjusted amount in the appropriate column.
For instance, if you are entering a decrease in value, enter the
amount of the decrease in the Decrease column. You'll also be required
to supply a category for the value adjustment. Note that the current
value balance at the bottom of the register window is recalculated
accordingly.
----------------------------------------------
YOUR NAME IN LIGHTS
Remember when you first started using Money and you were required
to
supply personal information, including your name? Well if you'd rather
not have your name displayed at the top of the Financial Home Page for
all of the world to see, you'll be happy to know that you can simply
remove it. To do so, select Tools, Options, and click the Money Home
tab. Then select the option labeled Don't Show My Name On Money Home.
Click OK when you have finished.
----------------------------------------------
CLEANING HOUSE--PART 1 OF 2
As 1999 draws to a close, it's time to start preparing for the New
Year. Just as you rid your home of unwanted objects so that you can
store up new things gathered during the year ahead, it makes sense to
clean house with Money as well. So, before we begin a new year with
Money, take the time now to remove any items that you no longer need,
such as bills or deposits that that may be associated with the current
year only, or payees that you no longer plan on using.
To remove a scheduled bill or deposit, select Bills from the
Navigation bar and then select Set Up Bills And Deposits. From the
Recurring Bills And Deposits list, select the item to delete, and then
click the Delete button. In the resulting dialog box, click Yes to
confirm the deletion of all remaining unrecorded transactions.
To delete a payee, select Categories from the Navigation bar, and
then
click on Payees. From the Lists window, select the payee you no longer
need and click the Delete button. In the resulting dialog box, click
Yes to confirm the deletion.
Note that deleting these items has no effect on any existing
transactions.
----------------------------------------------
CLEANING HOUSE--PART 2 OF 2
Another housekeeping task you may want to perform to prepare your
Money file for the new year is that of removing accounts that you no
longer use. For instance, if you paid off a car loan this year, you'll
want to close out the account associated with that loan. Likewise, if
you cleaned out an existing savings account, you should also close the
record of this account as well, so that Money does not refer to the
account any further. For the most part, you should only CLOSE, but
never DELETE an account outright. The reason is that when you delete,
Money removes all references to that account, including existing
transactions. This is definitely something that you don't want to do.
To close an account, select Accounts from the Navigation bar and
then
click the Account Manager button. Select the name of the account you
want to close from the Account Manager. Then select Edit, Account Is
Closed. Money places a small red x across the account name to indicate
that the account is closed.
----------------------------------------------
END OF THE YEAR REPORT
In this series of tips, we've been sharing a few housekeeping
secrets
in an effort to help you prepare your finances for the new year. In
this tip, we'll show you how to modify one of Money's existing
reports, the Monthly Cash Flow report--so that you can determine how
you might modify your spending habits for the brand new year ahead. In
our version, you can view all of your income and expense transactions
for the previous 12 months in a very simple columnar format. The
report should give you a good sense of exactly where your money comes
from and where it ends up on a monthly basis. You can use the results
of this report to help you plan your savings strategy for next year.
To create the modified monthly cash flow report, select Reports
from
the Navigation bar, and then select Spending Habits. From the Report &
Chart Gallery select Monthly Cash Flow and then click the Customize
button. First, make sure the Rows & Columns tab is selected and then
choose Categories from the Rows field. Select Don't Include Transfers
in the Transfers section and then click the Date tab. Select Last 12
Months in the Range field and click OK. Finally, click the Go To
Report/Chart button at the bottom of the Report & Chart Gallery to
generate the report.
----------------------------------------------
REMOVING EXCESS BAGGAGE, PART 1 OF 2
Have you found that your Money file has just gotten too big to
handle
and that you'd rather not have to scroll through check payments
recorded since 1996 in your check register? Why not relegate past
years' data to a separate file? By doing so, you create a safe archive
for your old data and you can be confident that your current file
won't get too large as you begin entering data for the new year.
A large file could cause some problems down the road, particularly
when you use the Backup command to back up your data. Large files can
also affect the performance of your Money session when you create
reports or use the Find command to locate transactions. Keep in mind,
however, that once you archive old data, you won't be able to refer to
it since it will no longer exist in the current file!
Before we show you how to archive your file, we need to explain a
few
things. First, when you archive a file, Money creates a new copy of
the file, leaving your current file intact for the time being. The
newly copied file is then stored on your disk as the archived file.
Now, when you archive, Money will be removing old transactions from
your CURRENT working file.
We know, it gets a little confusing. To be on the safe side, use
the
File, Backup command to create a fresh backup copy of your current
file before you go ahead and archive your data.
In tomorrow's tip, we'll show you how to archive that data.
----------------------------------------------
REMOVING EXCESS BAGGAGE, PART 2 OF 2
In our last tip, we talked about how Money's archive feature can
help
trim down a bloated file. In this tip, we'll show you how to do it. To
create the archive file, select File, Archive. In the resulting dialog
box, enter the date from which you wish to remove transactions in the
Remove Transactions From The Current File That Are Dated Before field.
For instance, to remove all transactions prior to 1999, enter 1/1/99.
If you want to start with a clean slate altogether, leave the date set
to 1/1/2000. Click OK. (Note that Money automatically enters the first
day of the current year for you. ) Enter a name for the archive file,
for instance, 1999data, and click OK to generate the archive file.
At this point, Money displays the first in a series of dialog boxes
that allow you to specify the types of transactions that you want to
remove from each of your accounts. For instance, you can elect to
remove all transactions from a cash account, but only transactions
that have cleared from a checking account. For the most part, Money
pre-selects the most appropriate choice for each account. Select the
option and click OK for each of your accounts.
When it has finished removing the data, Money returns you to your
current working file,. You will find that it no longer contains any
transactions as you specified. Now, to complete the backup, copy the
archived file from your hard drive onto a floppy and put it in a
secure place.
----------------------------------------------
MONITOR THE VALUE OF YOUR HOME, PART 1 OF 2
As the real estate market continues to thrive, now may be a good
time
to track the value of your home, whether it's your primary residence
or a rental property. You can do this in Money by creating an asset
account and then updating the value on a frequent basis.
To track the value of your home, select Accounts from the
Navigation
bar, click the Account Manager button, and then click the New Account
button located at the bottom of the Account Manager screen. Select Not
Held At Bank, Brokerage, Or Other Financial Institution and click
Next. Select Asset from the list of account types and click Next.
Enter a name for the account, such as My House or 1122 Main Street,
enter the date you purchased your home, and then click Next. Enter
your home's current value, or the amount you paid for your home, and
click Next. Select No and then click Finish to complete the account
setup.
----------------------------------------------
MONITOR THE VALUE OF YOUR HOME, PART 2 OF 2
In the last tip, we showed you how to create an asset account to
track
the value of your biggest asset: your home. (Select Account, Account
Manager, and New Account; then select "Not Held At
Brokerage...Institution" and click Next, Asset, and Next. Follow along
to name the account and plug in the pertinent data regarding the
purchase of your home.) In this tip, we'll show you how to update the
value of your asset account. Say for instance, you recently had your
home appraised.
To update the asset account to reflect your home's current value,
select Accounts from the Navigation bar, click the Accounts button,
and then select the name of the asset account. Next, enter the
adjusted amount in the appropriate column. For instance, if you are
recording a decrease in your home's value, enter the amount in the
Decrease column. The new updated balance appears in the Balance column
and the Current Value amount at the bottom of the register window is
recalculated accordingly.
----------------------------------------------
TRACK YOUR HOME MORTGAGE
In addition to tracking the value of your home with an asset
account,
you'll also want to use Money to set up an account for keeping track
of your mortgage payments. By creating a mortgage account, you can
record the payments you've made and see how much interest you've paid
out. Before you begin, make sure you have either your original loan
documents handy or a recent copy of your mortgage statement.
To create a mortgage account, select Accounts from the Navigation
bar,
click the Account Manager button, and then click the New Account
button located at the bottom of the Account Manager screen. Select Not
Held At Bank, Brokerage, Or Other Financial Institution and click
Next. Select Mortgage from the list of account types and click Next.
Follow along with the on-screen prompts to provide the necessary loan
information. For instance, you'll be prompted to enter a name for the
account, such as My House or 1122 Main Street, the date you purchased
your home, and the amount you paid for your home.
Note that when you create the mortgage account, the amount of your
mortgage payment is automatically recorded as a recurring payment in
the Bills & Deposits area.
----------------------------------------------
ASSOCIATING YOUR HOME WITH A MORTGAGE
Once you've set up an asset account for your home and a mortgage
account, you can do things like calculate the amount of equity you own
in your home. The equity is basically the current market value of the
property less the amount you still owe on your mortgage. Money can
automatically calculate your home's equity on a monthly basis for you.
But first you need to associate your mortgage account with the asset
account.
To associate a loan with an asset (in this case, your mortgage with
your home), select Accounts from the Navigation bar and then click the
Account Manager button. Next, double-click the asset account created
for your home and then select Details. Click the Add Association
button, select your mortgage account from the drop-down list, and then
click OK. Next, select Register to switch back to the asset account
register. If necessary, click the View button and select Enter
Transactions Directly Into Register. When you do, the Total Equity
figure is displayed in the bottom left corner of the asset account
register.
----------------------------------------------
MAKING A MORTGAGE PAYMENT
Now that you've created an account to keep track of your mortgage
payments, you have a couple of options for recording your payments.
You can either record the mortgage payment directly in your check
register or do it from the Bills & Deposits area. Either way, Money
records the payment in both the check register and the Bills &
Deposits area as well as in the mortgage account register.
To record a mortgage payment directly in the check register, enter
the
transaction as you normally would. But, in the Category field, scroll
down to the bottom of the list and select Loan Payment: Account Name,
where account name is the name of your mortgage account. Press Enter
to record the transaction. When you do, Money displays a prompt asking
you if you want to mark it as paid in the Bills Calendar. Click Yes to
do so.
To record a mortgage payment from the Bills & Deposits area, select
Bills from the Navigation bar and click Pay Bills. Select the next
instance of your mortgage payment from the Upcoming Bills & Deposits
list and click Record Payment. In the Record Payment dialog box, enter
the check number and click Record Payment.
----------------------------------------------
CREATE A LOAN AMORTIZATION TABLE, PART 1 OF 2
In this series of tips, we've shown you how to create a loan
account
to keep track of your mortgage. One of the more useful loan-related
features in Money is that you can also generate an amortization table.
An amortization table is basically a payment schedule that lists all
of your payments for the full term of the loan. The table splits up
each payment to show how much is paid toward interest and how much
pays down the principal balance. The amortization schedule is a handy
tool to have if you are ever curious about any of the payments or
balance information relayed to you by your mortgage provider.
To generate the amortization schedule, select Reports from the
Navigation bar, select What I Owe, and then select Loan Amortization.
In the Accounts field at the bottom of the screen, select the name of
your mortgage account, and then click the Go To Report/Chart button.
As you can see, Money generates a listing which shows all of your
payments, right up to the final payment due.
----------------------------------------------
CREATE A LOAN AMORTIZATION TABLE, PART 2 OF 2
In the last tip, we showed you how to generate a loan amortization
schedule. By default, Money only includes outstanding payments in the
amortization schedule. That is, it does not include payments that have
already made. If you prefer, you can include all payments in the
schedule so that you can view your entire schedule from the very first
payment. To do so, select Reports from the Navigation bar, select What
I Owe, and then select Loan Amortization. In the Accounts field at the
bottom of the screen, select the name of your mortgage account, and
then click the Customize button. Select Account Register from the
Include Transactions From section on the Rows & Columns tab and click
OK.
----------------------------------------------
PRINT THE LOAN AMORTIZATION SCHEDULE
In our last two tips we showed you how to generate a loan
amortization
schedule. Here, we'll show you how to print out the amortization
schedule so that you always have a hard copy handy. To print a loan
amortization schedule, select Reports from the Navigation bar, select
What I Owe, and then select Loan Amortization. In the Accounts field
at the bottom of the screen, select the name of the mortgage account,
and then click the Go To Report/Chart button. Finally, select File,
Print and then click OK.
----------------------------------------------
PAYING A BILL AHEAD OF SCHEDULE
It happens right? You've come into a small monetary windfall and
you
want to pay a bill ahead of schedule. Or maybe you're heading off for
a month-long vacation and you want to pay your bills before you go.
Whatever the reason, you can easily prepay a scheduled bill, and
record it as such in Money without affecting future payments.
To record prepayment of a scheduled bill, select Bills from the
Navigation bar and then select Pay Bills. From the Upcoming Bills And
Payments list, select the bill you want to prepay and click the Record
Payment button. In the resulting Record Payment dialog box, change the
Date field to reflect the current date and then click Record Payment.
The transaction is recorded in your register as usual. Note that the
transaction's next payment date stays fixed at the originally
established scheduled date.
----------------------------------------------
GET YOUR BILLS IN ORDER WITH THE BILL CALENDAR
If you're the visual type, Money's Bill Calendar can be a real
time-saver when it comes to managing your finances. With the Bill
Calendar, you can instantly view pending bills and deposits as well as
those transactions that have already been recorded in your accounts.
If you prefer, you can even use the Bill Calendar to record each of
your bill and deposit transactions, so you won't have to fumble around
in all of your different account registers.
To use the Bill Calendar, select Bills from the Navigation bar and
then click Bill Calendar. Double-click the date in question, and then
select the bill you wish to pay or the deposit you want to record.
Then click Record Payment or Record Deposit as necessary. Click Close
when you are finished. Money records the transactions in the
appropriate account registers
----------------------------------------------
A QUICK LIST OF UPCOMING BILLS
One of the useful features in the Bills & Deposits area is the
Recently Paid Bills option, which shows you all of the bills you have
paid in the past month or so. You can also generate a report of all
upcoming bills which will tell you at a glance what bills are due.
To create the Upcoming Bills report, select Reports from the
Navigation bar and then click What I Owe. Select Upcoming Bills for a
listing of all of the bills that are due. You can customize it so that
it only shows bills that are due for the current month. To do so,
click the Customize button, select the Date tab, and then select
Current Month in the Range field. Click OK when you are done.
----------------------------------------------
DON'T FORGET THOSE INFREQUENT BILLS
For most of us, bills that occur regularly are fairly easy to
anticipate, and therefore, easy to remember. It's those other bills
that only come due a few times a year, such as real estate taxes, that
can easily slip through the cracks. Fortunately, Money's Bills &
Deposits area can help you keep track of these infrequent bills as
well.
Here's what you do: select Bills from the Navigation bar and click
Set
Up Bills & Deposits. Click the New button located at the bottom of the
Recurring Bills & Deposits screen. In the Create New Scheduled
Transaction dialog box, select Bill and click Next. Select More Than
Once, At Regular Intervals and then select Every Three Months in the
Frequency field and click Next. Select Write Check as the payment
method and click Next. If the payment amount is the same each time
around, select Yes, it's typically the same amount. Otherwise, select
No, the amount usually varies, and then enter the figure in the
estimated amount field. Click Next. If you want to record a payment,
answer accordingly and then click Finish to complete the new scheduled
payment setup.
----------------------------------------------
THE ACCOUNT BALANCES BUTTON
As you peruse the transactions in the Upcoming Bills & Deposits
list
you may be wondering if you have enough funds to cover a payment, or
maybe you'd just like to see how much cash you have on hand in a
specific account. The Account Balances button located in the bottom
left corner of the Upcoming Bills & Deposits screen quickly lets you
know how much you have in all of your accounts. Simply click the
Account Balances button to display the Current Account Balances dialog
box. Here you'll find a listing of all of your current accounts and
their balances. Click Close when you have finished.
----------------------------------------------
WHAT'S WITH THE TILDE ANYWAY?
While we're on the subject of the Bills & Deposits area, you have
probably noticed that little curvy line, known as the tilde, that
appears in the amount column. If you have, it means that the amount
specified for the current transaction is an estimate only. It's just a
friendly reminder that these amounts are not set in stone and that
your account balance may vary.
----------------------------------------------
A PAYEE INFORMATION LIST
In the past, we've told you how Money automatically records the
specifics of a transaction, such as the Pay To information, for future
use. We've also suggested that you record as much information as you
can for each specific Payee, such as account number and a contact
phone number, so you don't have to fish around for it when you need to
make a call or write a check. In this tip, we'll show you how you can
quickly refer to this contact information.
To see the current list of memorized payees, select Categories from
the Navigation bar and then select Payees. The resulting list displays
all of your memorized payees. You can switch this view so that you can
see additional information, such as the phone numbers or account
numbers, as well. To do so, click the View button located just above
the list and then select the appropriate options, such as Payees,
Phone Numbers, and Account Numbers.
If you like, you can print a copy of this list so that you have a
hard
copy to refer to. That way, you won't have to load up Money just to
locate this information. To print the Payee list, just select File,
Print, and then click OK.
----------------------------------------------
TRACKING A CAR LOAN
Just as you can use Money to help keep your home mortgage payments
in
order, you can also create an account to keep track of your car loan
and your car payments. Before you begin, make sure you have the proper
loan documents handy so that you can refer to the required
information.
To create a car loan account, select Accounts from the Navigation
bar,
click the Account Manager button, and then click the New Account
button located at the bottom of the Account Manager screen. Select Not
Held At Bank, Brokerage, Or Other Financial Institution and click
Next. Select Loan from the list of account types and click Next.
Follow along with the on-screen prompts to provide the necessary loan
information. For instance, you'll be prompted to enter, among other
things, a name for the account, the payee to whom you will be making
the payments, the due date of the first payment, and the amount you
paid for your car plus the finance rate. When you have supplied all of
the appropriate information click Finish to complete the account
setup.
----------------------------------------------
MAKING A CAR PAYMENT
In our last tip, we showed you how to create a loan account to help
you keep track of your car loan. In this tip, we'll show you how to
record your car payments. You can record the car payment directly in
your check register or record the payment from the Bills & Deposits
area.
To record a car payment directly in the check register, enter the
transaction as you normally would. But, in the Category field, scroll
down to the bottom of the list and select Loan Payment: Account Name,
where account name is the name of your car loan. Press Enter to record
the transaction. When you do, Money displays a dialog box asking you
if you want to mark it as paid in the Bills Calendar. Click Yes to do
so. To record an auto loan payment from the Bills & Deposits area,
select Bills from the Navigation bar and click Pay Bills. Select the
next instance of your car payment from the Upcoming Bills & Deposits
list and click Record Payment. In the Record Payment dialog box, enter
the check number and click Record Payment.
----------------------------------------------
ORGANIZE IMPORTANT DOCUMENTS, PART 1 OF 2
Did you know that in addition to helping you organize your
expenses,
Money can also help you keep track of all of your important documents?
You know those papers you currently have stuffed into the shoebox
under your bed? The Important Records Organizer provides a single
place in which to keep an accurate description of--and location
information for--all of your important documents, such as wills,
insurance premiums, and loan information.
To use the Important Records Organizer, select Tools, Important
Records Organizer. To begin recording information, select the
appropriate category from the listing displayed along the left side of
the screen--Emergency Records, for instance--and then fill in the
requested information. Use the Previous and Next buttons to move
between each section, or you can simply click on a category name.
Continue with these steps to enter all of the information you'd like
to record.
----------------------------------------------
ORGANIZE IMPORTANT DOCUMENTS, PART 2 OF 2
In our last tip, we introduced the Important Records Organizer; it
is
an area in Money that helps you keep track of information about your
important documents. Once you have entered all of the appropriate data
into the Organizer, you can print out a hard copy for safe keeping.
Don't rely solely on your PC to store this information.
The Summary screen is the last section of the Important Records
Organizer and displays just that, a summary of all of the information
you've just entered. You can print out a copy of the Summary screen,
but it's a bit tricky. But that's what we're here for, right? To print
the Summary, select File, Print and select As Laid Out On Screen in
the Print Frames section of the Print dialog box. Finally, click OK to
print.
----------------------------------------------
GRAPH YOUR MONTHLY EXPENSES, PART 1 OF 2
Are you curious about how much you spend on items such as groceries
and dry cleaning throughout the year? If so, here's a quick way to see
how these expenses stack up on a monthly basis. First, select any
transaction in your check register that contains the category or payee
you want to track and click the right mouse button. From the resulting
shortcut menu, select Go To Payee: Payee Name or Go To Categories:
Category Name. In the resulting screen, you'll find a bar graph in the
upper right corner that shows you how much you've spent on that
category or payee for the past few months.
----------------------------------------------
GRAPH YOUR MONTHLY EXPENSES, PART 2 OF 2
In our last tip, we showed you how to quickly determine how the
amount
you spend on a given expense varies from month to month. In this tip,
we'll show you how to get a closer look at your monthly expenses.
To recap, in your check register, select a transaction that
contains
the category or payee you want to track, and then right-click on it.
>From the resulting shortcut menu, select Go To Categories: Category
Name or Go To Payee: Payee Name. In the resulting screen, a bar graph
displayed in the upper right corner shows you how much you've spent on
that category or payee. To view data for additional months,
right-click the bar graph and select Zoom from the resulting shortcut
menu. This action brings you to the Reports & Charts gallery, which
allows you to view and customize the expense graph. Click the
Customize button at the bottom of the screen and then select the Date
tab. In the Date Range field, select the appropriate range, such as
Last 12 Months, and click OK. The report is then redrawn to include
the information you specified.
----------------------------------------------
SPRUCE UP YOUR REPORTS, PART 1 OF 2
Money typically generates standard-looking reports. That is, Money
uses a very basic font typeface and size for the text. If you want to
spruce up your reports a bit--like maybe change the font to a more
interesting choice--you can.
To change the font on a new report, select Reports from the
Navigation
bar and then select the appropriate report from the Reports & Charts
gallery. If you want to change an existing report, select Favorites,
Favorite Reports, and then the report name from the resulting menu.
Next, click the Customize button at the bottom of the Report window
and select the Fonts tab from the resulting Customize Reports dialog
box. Select the Font typeface you want to use and then select the font
size as necessary. Click OK when you are done.
Caution: Choosing an extremely fancy font or altering the font size
too much could make the data difficult to read.
----------------------------------------------
SPRUCE UP YOUR REPORTS, PART 2 OF 2
Just as you can change the font settings used in your Money
reports,
you can also adjust column widths as necessary. By default, the column
widths in the reports you create will automatically adjust to fit the
data that is contained within them. You can also change the width of
these columns manually, which can be useful if, for example, you are
trying to print a report that is too wide for a single page.
To change the column widths, select Reports from the Navigation bar
and then select the appropriate report from the Reports & Charts
gallery. Next, click the Customize button at the bottom of the Report
window and select the Fonts tab from the resulting Customize Reports
dialog box. In the Report Column Widths field, select the appropriate
column width setting. You may want to experiment a bit with the
different choices to see which works best with your data. Click OK
when you are done.
----------------------------------------------
THE TAXMAN COMETH
Well folks, like it or not, tax season is now under way. With just
over two months to go, it's time to start preparing your financial
statements (and gathering receipts) to send off to your accountant.
Fortunately, Money can be a big help in the tax department. While you
were recording transactions during the year, Money was busy flagging
items as tax-related based on the categories you assigned to those
transactions. When you want it, Money can quickly pull together all
the tax-related information you need.
The first thing to do to get ready for doing your taxes is to
generate
a report that includes all of the tax-related items in your registers.
Select Reports from the Navigation bar and then select Taxes from the
Reports & Charts list. Next, select Tax-Related Transactions from the
Reports & Chart gallery. In the Date Range field at the bottom of the
screen, select Previous Year, and then click Go To Report/Chart to
generate the report.
The resulting report displays a listing of all tax-related
transactions found in your Money accounts. Take a close look at this
report to make sure it includes all of the appropriate taxable
transactions.
----------------------------------------------
ADJUSTING THE TAX REPORT'S DATA
In our last tip, we showed you how to create a report of all
tax-related transactions in your registers. In this tax-related
transactions report, Money lists every last transaction it finds and
displays each one by category and by subcategory, if necessary. If you
like, you can choose to display just the summary data in your report,
so that you needn't be bogged down by all the transactions.
To display only summary information, select Reports from the
Navigation bar and then select Taxes from the Reports & Charts list.
Select Tax-Related Transactions from the Reports & Chart gallery,
select Previous Year in the Date Range field, and then click Go To
Report/Chart. Next, click the Customize button, and select the Rows &
Columns tab if necessary. Select Subcategories in the Rows field,
Total Only in the Columns field, and then select Tax Summary in the
Report Type section. Click OK. Now the report simply lists subtotals
by category and then displays the grand total. Much more civilized,
wouldn't you say?
----------------------------------------------
ADDING CATEGORIES TO TAX REPORTS, PART 1 OF 2
In the last few tips, we've talked about ways that Money's Category
feature comes to the rescue at tax time. As you know, categories are a
crucial element in preparing for tax season. Money keeps track of
taxable items by assigning many of its categories to a particular tax
schedule. Then, when the time comes to generate reports, Money uses
those taxable categories to mark an item as tax-related and then pulls
together the information it needs. In this tip, we'll show you how to
mark a category as tax-related. You may need to do this to a category
you've created or to any existing categories you've modified.
To mark a category as tax-related, select Categories from the
Navigation bar and then select Set Up Tax Categories (or select Tools,
Set Up Tax Categories). In the displayed Category list, all items that
are currently assigned a tax designation contain an x in the Tax
column. From the displayed Category list, select the category you wish
to mark as taxable and select the Include On Tax Reports option
located in the lower portion of the screen.
----------------------------------------------
ADDING CATEGORIES TO TAX REPORTS, PART 2 OF 2
In our last tip, we showed you how to add a tax designation to
categories. If you know which form a transaction will apply to, and
which line on the tax form the taxable item should appear on, Money
allows you to make those designations as well. From the displayed
Category list, select the category and select Include On Tax Reports
if necessary. Then, in the Tax Form field, select the tax form that
should be assigned to the category. In the Form Line field, select the
Form line on which the information should appear.
----------------------------------------------
REMOVE CATEGORIES FROM TAX REPORTS
If you need to remove a tax-related designation from a category,
you
can do that. For instance, if you pay your child-care provider under
the table, (which we are not advocating you do--remember what happened
to Clinton's first several cabinet and judgeship appointees), then
you'll want to exclude the Child Care category from taxation.
To exclude categories from tax reports, select Categories from the
Navigation bar and then select Set Up Tax Categories. From the
displayed Category list, select the category that should not appear on
your reports and deselect the option labeled Include On Tax Reports.
----------------------------------------------
A BIGGER PIECE OF THE PIE
When you want to see where all of your hard-earned cash winds up at
the end of the month, use Money's Where The Money Goes report to find
out. This predefined report displays your expenses in pie chart form.
That is, it shows each expense category as a separate piece of pie,
the size of which is in direct relation to the total of your expenses.
One problem, however, is that you can get some pretty small pieces
of
pie, because Money includes every last category in the chart. To get a
better sense of where your monthly expenses occur, you can combine
some of the smaller pieces of pie into a larger chunk.
To do so, select Reports from the Navigation bar, select Where The
Money Goes from the Report & Chart Gallery, and click Go To
Chart/Report. Next, click the Customize button located at the bottom
of the chart window and click the Rows & Columns tab in the Customize
Report dialog box. In the Combine All Values Under field, enter the
appropriate percentage point you want to use as a cut-off point. For
instance, enter 5 to combine all values that are less than 5 % of the
total into a single piece. Click OK. Money then combines all
appropriate categories into a pie piece labeled All Others.
----------------------------------------------
A FILL-IN-THE-BLANK TAX REPORT
One of the reasons that you assign specific tax forms and form
lines
to your categories is so that Money can prepare your financial data
and export it to a tax preparation software program, such as TurboTax
and TaxCut. But even if you don't plan on exporting your data to such
a report, you'll want to generate the tax software report anyway. This
report can show you which forms and schedules you may need for the
upcoming tax season. And if you are filling out the forms yourself,
you'll appreciate the fact that the report also designates the lines
on the form as well.
To generate the tax software report, select Reports from the
Navigation bar and then select Taxes from the Reports & Charts list.
Next, select Tax Software report from the Reports & Charts gallery. In
the Date Range field at the bottom of the screen, select Previous Year
and then click Go To Report/Chart to generate the report.
----------------------------------------------
ACCOUNT FOR YOUR REPORTS
In our last few tips, we showed you how to use an asset account in
an
unconventional way, namely to keep track of vacation time. Remember,
whenever you use asset accounts, (or any accounts, for that matter),
to keep track of data that is not necessarily financial in nature,
that you'll have to exclude these types of accounts from any monetary
reports you generate, such as a Net Worth.
To remove your non-financial account data from your reports, first
create the report you have in mind, and then click the Customize
button. Select the Accounts tab and then deselect all of the asset
accounts you've used for other purposes.
Remember that you'll have to do this for every report you create.
Or,
you can create a brand new Money file to keep track of only your
non-financial information, (vacation days, sick days, or any other
account that doesn't have any monetary value); that way, you won't
have to worry about it affecting your actual bottom line.
----------------------------------------------
BALANCE YOUR CHECKBOOK, PART 1 OF 4
Once you receive your monthly bank statement, you can begin to
reconcile your Money checking account with your bank statement. To get
started, switch to your checkbook register and click the Balance This
Account link located in the lower left of the register window. When
you do, the Balance Checking dialog box appears. Enter the statement
date, and then enter the starting and ending balances. If necessary,
enter service charge or interest earned amounts, being sure also to
assign the appropriate category. When you are done, click Next.
At this point, the Balance Account screen appears. Along the left
of
this screen you'll find some basic statement information. First, Money
displays the number and amounts of all deposits and payments that have
cleared to date. Below that, Money will calculate the Cleared Balance
and Statement Balance. The Difference balance is the most important
figure, as it shows you whether your electronic account balances with
your bank account. Not to put too fine a point on it, but you'll want
this balance to be as close to zero as possible.
Keep in mind that if you don't stay on top of this reconciliation
process, you'll often find that these amounts don't add up. Don't
worry too much about it, though. As long as the items in your check
register match up with items on your monthly bank statement (and vice
versa), then you can be pretty confident that everything is okay.
----------------------------------------------
BALANCE YOUR CHECKBOOK, PART 2 OF 4
In this series of tips, we're showing you how to reconcile your
Money
check register with your bank statements. Once you start the
reconciliation process by selecting the Balance This Account link in
the lower left of your check register window, you then simply go
through your printed bank statement and locate the corresponding
transactions in your Money register. When you find a matching
transaction, you mark it as cleared. To do this, select the
transaction and then click once in the column labeled C. Continue
doing this until you have cleared all of the appropriate transactions.
----------------------------------------------
BALANCE YOUR CHECKBOOK, PART 3 OF 4
One of the advantages of working in the Balance Account screen is
that
you can view the transactions as they would appear on your bank
statement--that is, by transaction type. For example, you can switch
to a view that groups all deposits together, then all checks, followed
by all withdrawals. Or, if you prefer, you can choose to view your
transactions in the order in which they were entered or by date or
check number; you decide.
To switch views, click the View button and then select the view
that
suits you best. For instance, select Group Deposits, Then Checks, then
Other Withdrawals.
----------------------------------------------
BALANCE YOUR CHECKBOOK, PART 4 OF 4
It's bound to happen: a transaction appears on your bank statement
that you failed to enter in your check register. Or maybe the
transaction is there, but you entered the wrong amount or payee
information. Well that's what Money's clever reconciliation feature is
for: to help you make sure that all is well with your check register.
If you need to add a transaction to your check register while you
are
reconciling the account, go to the Balance Account screen and click
the area labeled Click Here To Add Or Edit Transactions. Then, simply
enter the specifics of the transaction as you normally would. When you
are finished, click the area labeled Click Here To Add Or Edit
Transactions again, to switch back to the Balance Account
reconciliation screen.
----------------------------------------------
BEWARE THE BOUNCING CHECK
When you're reconciling your Money check register with your monthly
bank statements, you'll want to make sure that your
transactions--especially checks you've written or deposited--have
cleared the bank in a timely way. Otherwise, you run the risk of
sending out rubber checks. For instance, say that big check you wrote
to your sister for her birthday two months ago still has not been
cashed; that means that you can't rely on your current bank
statement's ending balance, because that check could be cashed at any
time.
The Pending Transactions section of the Monthly Report shows you if
there are any outstanding transactions that have not yet cleared the
bank. To view this data, click on Reports in the Navigation bar and
then select Monthly Reports. Next, select last month's report. Click
on Potential Problems to skip to the section labeled Potential
Problems With Your Account. The Pending Transactions area shows you
any transactions that have not cleared the bank in over 60 days. You
can click on the link to go to that transaction in the check register
if you need more information.
----------------------------------------------
CALCULATE A LOAN INTEREST REPORT
If you're a homeowner, you'll also want to generate the Loan
Interest
report that shows the total interest you've paid on a specific loan
for a given period of time. To do so, select Reports from the
Navigation bar and then select Taxes from the Reports & Charts list.
Next, select Loan Interest from the Reports & Chart gallery. In the
Accounts field at the bottom of the screen, select the specific loan
account, then in the Date Range field select Previous Year (or
whatever time period you wish). Finally, click Go To Report/Chart to
generate the report.
----------------------------------------------
CALCULATE YOUR LIFE EXPECTANCY
Money's Decision Center has a whole slew of calculators that can
help
you determine whether you should buy or rent, how much you need to
save for your child's college education, and whether you should think
about refinancing your home mortgage. But did you know that it also
has a calculator that can help you determine how long you may live?
To see how long you'll be of this earth, according to Money's best
guess anyway, select Decisions from the Navigation bar and then select
Tools. From the Calculators section, select Life Expectancy
Calculator. Enter the appropriate information as requested. Click the
Next and Previous buttons to move between the sections. In the Results
screen, you'll find the magic number. In addition, the calculator will
determine your ideal weight and the three biggest positive factors for
sustaining your life. It also includes the negative factors that will
affect your longevity. This calculator can help you get some control
of your personal life as well as your financial one!
----------------------------------------------
CALCULATE YOUR TAX BITE
So you've identified all your tax-related transactions and figured
out
if you qualify for any tax deductions. The time has come to see just
how much you'll be sending to Uncle Sam this year, or--cross your
fingers--how much of a refund you can expect. Money's Tax Worksheet
will help you determine whether or not April is the cruelest month.
Remember though, it pays to double-check all of the information
provided by the Tax Worksheet with your accountant or tax advisor.
To determine what your tax implication will be this year, select
Decisions from the Navigation bar and select Tools. In the Worksheets
section of the screen, select Tax Worksheet. Select your Filing
Status, enter the number of dependents, any other deductions for you
and your spouse, and select the year for which you are estimating
taxes. Money plugs all of the related figures from your registers into
the appropriate sections of the worksheet and then calculates the
estimated taxes withheld.
To change an entry, simply type in the value you want to use. You
can
always change your mind and select Use Money's Default to instruct
Money to pull the figure from your existing transactions. At the
bottom of the Tax Estimator screen, Money calculates a number of
values; based on that information, you'll see the specific amount of
any refund you'll get or additional taxes you'll be paying. To view
more details, click the appropriate tab at the top of the estimator
worksheet.
----------------------------------------------
CAVEAT IMPORT: LET THE IMPORTER BEWARE
In our last tip, we showed you how to use Money's File, Import
command
to import data back into your Money accounts from an archive file.
It's fairly easy to do: select File, Import, specify the name of the
archive file, and then click the Import button. But there are a few
things we thought you should know to have a successful import.
*First, you must import the data back into a named account, which
means that you may have to recreate accounts that you no longer
use--and the downside is that a number of outdated or rarely used
accounts may soon clog up your Account Manager.
*Most important is the fact that Money imports ALL of the
transactions
from your archive file back into the current file, regardless of
whether they exist in the current file or not. The downside of this is
that you may end up with duplicate entries in your accounts. So before
you import data from your archive file, ask yourself if it's worth the
hassle.
----------------------------------------------
CHANGE YOUR ACCOUNT MANAGER VIEW
Did you know that you can change the sort order of the Account
Manager, lickety-split? To do so, simply double-click the column
heading of the column you want to sort by. For instance, to view
accounts by their balance, click the Balance column heading. This
displays accounts by the account balance in ascending order. Click it
again to display them in descending order.
----------------------------------------------
EXPORT TAX DATA
Once you've generated a tax software report (select Reports and
then
select Taxes from the Reports & Charts list. Select Tax Software
report from the Reports & Charts gallery. In the Date Range field at
the bottom of the screen, select Previous and check it for accuracy),
then you are ready to export it to your tax software program, such as
TurboTax or TaxCut. After you've created the Tax Software export file,
you switch to your tax preparation program and import the file.
To create the tax export file, select File, Export To Tax Software.
In
the resulting Export Tax dialog box, enter a name for the tax export
file in the File Name field and click OK. Money then generates the
export file.
----------------------------------------------
FIND MISSING CHECKS
Recently a reader asked us if it was possible to track down missing
checks in the check register. You know how your monthly bank statement
usually indicates when there is a gap in your check sequence?
Fortunately, Money's Monthly report keeps track of this information
for you too, and flags any discrepancies.
To see if there are any missing checks for the current month, click
on
Reports in the Navigation bar and then select Monthly Reports. Next,
select the appropriate month's report. Click on Potential Problems to
skip to the report section labeled Potential Problems With Your
Account. The Gap In Check Sequence area will indicate if there are any
missing checks in the current month.
----------------------------------------------
FINE TUNE YOUR REPORTS
In our last tip, and in the past, we've shown you how to customize
many of Money's reports to suit your needs. In this tip we want to
show you a little trick that can make it easier to customize reports
just the way you like them.
When you click the Customize button to display the Customize Report
dialog box, you may have noticed the button labeled Apply at the
bottom of the dialog box. When you click the Apply button, you can see
how any changes you've made to the report settings will affect the
current report, before you close the dialog box.
For instance, you can preview how a new font typeface will look in
a
report by clicking the Apply button. Then, if necessary, you can move
the Customize Report dialog box out of the way (by clicking and
dragging its title bar) so that you can see how the report text looks
with the new typeface. If you like the way it looks, click OK to
accept the font change and close the dialog box. If you don't like it,
select another typeface or select the original report typeface.
Remember, though, that once you click the Apply button those changes
are in effect for the current report.
The Reset button returns the report settings to the program
defaults
and does not simply undo the last change you made. Don't click the
Reset button unless you want to return *all* report settings to the
program defaults.
----------------------------------------------
GENERATE A CAPITAL GAINS REPORT
If you have earned cash through the sale of an investment during
the
past year, then you'll want to generate the Capital Gains report.
Select Reports from the Navigation bar and then select Taxes from the
Reports & Charts list. Next, select Capital Gains from the Reports &
Chart gallery. In the Date Range field at the bottom of the screen,
select Previous Year and then click Go To Report/Chart to generate the
report.
----------------------------------------------
GET MY DATA BACK, PLEASE
In last month's tips we told you how to remove old data from your
Money files and store it in an archive file for safe keeping. A
TipWorld reader asked if it was possible to import that data back into
a Money file at a later date. You may want to import the data back in
if you want to generate time-sensitive reports, for example. Luckily,
Money does allow you to import that data back into any file you
choose.
To import data, select File, Import, and specify the name of the
import file in the File Name dialog box. Click the Import button.
Next, indicate if you want to create a backup file before you import
the data. We recommend that you do, just to be on the safe side. In
the resulting Select Import Account dialog box, select the account in
which the data should be imported. Click OK to import the data.
----------------------------------------------
HOW MUCH PIE IS THAT?
While we're on the subject of pie charts, are you curious to see
just
how much a piece of pie is worth? You can add pie labels to your chart
that show the amount of each piece--either as a percent or as a dollar
amount--in relation to the entire pie. If necessary, select Reports
from the Navigation bar, select Where The Money Goes from the Report &
Chart Gallery, and click Go To Chart/Report. Next, click the Customize
button located at the bottom of the chart window and click the Chart
tab in the Customize Report dialog box. In the Pie Labels section,
select Percents or Dollar Amounts and click OK.
Just as you can indicate which categories should be included in
your
tax reports, you can also decide which accounts Money should scour for
taxable transactions. For instance, you'll want to make sure that any
asset accounts you use to track the value of your home or car are
excluded from the taxable transaction reports. That way, you won't
skew the results of your tax reports and you won't end up paying taxes
on money that you never received.
To specify which accounts should be included in the tax reports,
select Reports from the Navigation bar and then select Taxes from the
Reports & Charts list. Select Tax-Related Transactions from the
Reports & Chart gallery, select Previous Year in the Date Range field,
and then click Go To Report/Chart. Next, click the Customize button,
and select the Account tab. Remove any account from the report by
clicking once on the account name to remove the checkmark. Click OK
when you are finished. Make sure you perform these steps for every tax
report you create.
----------------------------------------------
IRRECONCILABLE DIFFERENCES REVISITED
Last month we showed you how to use Money's Reconcile feature to
balance your checking account with your bank statement. In that series
of tips, we instructed you to get the Difference amount as close to
zero as possible and to adjust the account balance as necessary if
there was any discrepancy. A vigilant TipWorld reader scolded us for
providing such advice and insisted that we should have instructed our
readers to investigate any discrepancy with their bank.
Of course, it goes without saying (but in this case we should have
said it), that if the difference between your Money checking account
and your bank is off by more than a few dollars, (or any amount that
you may be uncomfortable with)--then by all means, talk with your bank
and find out where the discrepancy lies.
Keep in mind, however, that the first time you use Money's
Reconcile
feature to balance your checking account, the difference amount will
always be out of sync, unless you go back and reconcile all of your
past statements with your Money account.
----------------------------------------------
IRRECONCILABLE DIFFERENCES, PART 1 OF 2
Once you have determined that all of your transactions are present
and
accounted for when you're reconciling your bank statement with your
Money check register, take a look at the Difference balance,
calculated at the left side of the Balance Account screen. As we said
before, your goal is to get this balance as close to zero as you can.
Sometimes, the Difference may be out of whack and you're not sure why.
It could be because a transaction has not yet cleared (if someone has
been sitting on your check), or you could have made an error when
inputting a transaction into Money.
In any case, when you have gotten the balance as close to zero as
it's
gonna get, click the Next button. If there is a discrepancy, Money
asks you what you want to do about it. You can go back to the Balance
Account screen and attempt to reconcile the accounts again, or you can
adjust your balance to account for the discrepancy. Or you can simply
choose to postpone the reconciliation. When you postpone the
reconciliation, all transactions that you marked as cleared will
appear as such in your check register, but the account just won't be
reconciled. Sometimes, that is the best you can do.
To postpone the reconciliation, first select Go Back To Balancing
The
Account and click Next. Back at the Balance Account screen, click the
Postpone button. When you return to your check register, you'll find
that the transactions are marked as cleared. While this isn't the
ideal solution, it at least lets you know that these transactions have
cleared with your bank. You can always pick up the reconciliation
process at a later date and try again.
----------------------------------------------
IRRECONCILABLE DIFFERENCES, PART 2 OF 2
In our last tip, we showed you how to deal with account balances
that
don't match up when reconciling your check register. You can postpone
the reconciliation or you can adjust the balance of your checking
account to accommodate the outstanding difference. To adjust the
balance, click Next in the Balance Account screen. In the resulting
dialog box, select Automatically Adjust The Account Balance, select
the appropriate category--such as balance adjustment--and click Next.
It may be necessary to create the category called Balance Adjustment
to assign to the value. Money will add the balance adjustment amount
to your account and will then complete the reconciliation process.
Note that all of your transactions that were previously marked as
Cleared in your check register will now be marked as Reconciled. In
addition, Money will display a Balanced On date in the lower left of
the screen.
----------------------------------------------
KEEP AWAY FROM RECONCILED TRANSACTIONS
Once you have reconciled your electronic check register with your
printed bank statements, you want to ensure that these accounts are
always in sync. One way of doing so is to instruct Money to give you a
heads up if you try to edit a reconciled transaction. To do so, select
Tools, Options and click the Editing tab of the resulting Options
dialog box. In the Confirmation Options section, make sure that the
option labeled Display A Warning When Changing Reconciled Transactions
is selected. (You'll know that it is currently selected if a checkmark
appears to the left of the option.) Click OK.
Now if you try and change a reconciled transaction, Money will
alert
you to the fact.
----------------------------------------------
MAKE YOUR OWN MONEY
In this age of information at your fingertips, don't you sometimes
just want to say, "Enough's enough!" Money can also be guilty of
providing more information than you might want to know. For instance,
have you ever wanted to create a simple report that only lists the
deposits made to your checking account? Although Money doesn't provide
such a report, you can easily create your own by doing a little
tweaking to a pre-designed report.
To create our Deposit report we're going to customize the Account
Transactions report, which normally shows all of the transactions in
your account, so that it will only show Deposits made into the
account.
To create this Deposits Only report, select Reports from the
Navigation bar and select Spending Habits. Then, select Account
Transactions. Next, click the Customize button and select the Details
tab. In the Type field, select Deposits, and click OK. Finally, click
the Accounts dropdown menu at the bottom of the report screen and
select the name of your checking account.
Money generates a report that lists only those transactions
registered
as a deposit.
----------------------------------------------
MAKE YOUR OWN MONEY
In this age of information at your fingertips, don't you sometimes
just want to say, "Enough's enough!" Money can also be guilty of
providing more information than you might want to know. For instance,
have you ever wanted to create a simple report that only lists the
deposits made to your checking account? Although Money doesn't provide
such a report, you can easily create your own by doing a little
tweaking to a pre-designed report.
To create our Deposit report we're going to customize the Account
Transactions report, which normally shows all of the transactions in
your account, so that it will only show Deposits made into the
account.
To create this Deposits Only report, select Reports from the
Navigation bar and select Spending Habits. Then, select Account
Transactions. Next, click the Customize button and select the Details
tab. In the Type field, select Deposits, and click OK. Finally, click
the Accounts dropdown menu at the bottom of the report screen and
select the name of your checking account.
Money generates a report that lists only those transactions
registered
as a deposit.
----------------------------------------------
PLAN YOUR VACATION, PART 1 OF 3
With summer just a few short months away, it's time to start
thinking
about your next vacation. Surprise! Money, can help you keep track of
that most important asset--your vacation time. To do so, create an
asset account and then enter your vacation accrual as an increase in
the account, and enter time taken as a decrease. In fact, you can use
this method to record sick leave, personal days, or any other time off
allocated to you by your employer.
To keep a running total of your vacation time, select Accounts from
the Navigation bar, click the Account Manager button, and then click
the New Account button. In the New Account dialog box, select Not Held
At A Bank, Brokerage, Or Other Financial Institution and click Next.
Select Asset from the list of account types and click Next. Enter a
name for the account, such as Vacation, adjust the start date of the
account as necessary, and click Next. Enter the initial balance of the
account in the asset's current value field. If your vacation days
accrue at an hourly rate, enter the number of hours you currently have
accrued. For instance, 7.5 or 15. Otherwise, enter the amount in days,
such as 5 or 10. Click Next. Finally, select No and then click Finish.
----------------------------------------------
PLAN YOUR VACATION, PART 2 OF 3
Once you have created the Vacation account, you can start recording
your accruals as they are earned. As you accrue more hours, whether
it's on a weekly or monthly basis, enter the accrual as an increase in
the asset account. To do so, select Accounts from the Navigation bar,
click the Account Manager button, and then double-click the Vacation
account. Now, enter the accrual amount in the Increase column.
Remember to use the same kind of number--either hours or days--for
each increase. For instance, if you accrue one day per month, enter 1;
if you accrue by the hour, such as 7.5 per month, then enter 7.5. It
really doesn't matter, just as long as you stick with the same accrual
rate each time. Then as you take time off, enter the time taken as a
decrease, again using the same accrual rate.
----------------------------------------------
PLAN YOUR VACATION, PART 3 OF 3
If you'd like, you can set up a scheduled (or recurring) deposit to
automatically enter your vacation accrual directly into your vacation
account. That way, you won't have to remember to do it yourself each
month.
To do so, select Bills from the Navigation bar and select Set Up
Bills
& Deposits. Click the New button at the bottom of the Recurring Bills
& Deposits screen. In the Create New Scheduled Transaction dialog box,
select Deposit and click Next. Select More Than Once, At Regular
Intervals, and then select the frequency, such as Monthly, and click
Next to continue.
Select Direct Deposit in the Payment Method field and click Next.
Select Yes, It's Typically The Same Amount, and click Next. Finally,
enter the specifics--that is, select your Vacation account in the
account field and indicate the Next Due date. Leave the From field
blank, or if you like, you can enter something like Vacation Accrual,
and then enter the accrual rate in the Amount field. Leave the
Category, Classification, and Memo fields blank. Click the Scheduling
Options button and select Enter This Into My Register Automatically
and click OK. Finally, click Finish when you have supplied the
requested information.
The vacation accrual will now be automatically entered into your
Vacation account on the dates you specified.
----------------------------------------------
RECONCILING YOUR ACCOUNTS
If you're like most people, you probably don't balance your
checkbook
as often as you should. Fortunately, Money offers a Reconciliation
tool that enables you to make sure your figures match those of your
bank.
In fact, you have two choices when it comes to making sure that
your
electronic check register balance is on the same wavelength as your
bank is. You can either simply mark each transaction in your check
register as Cleared, just as you would in your paper register, or, you
can balance the account so that your check register matches your
printed monthly bank statements to a tee.
In this tip, we'll show you how to mark transactions in your check
register as Cleared. You can do this for those transactions that you
know are immediately deducted from your bank account, such as ATM
withdrawals or Debit card purchases. To begin, first switch to your
checking account: select Accounts from the Navigation bar, click the
Account Manager button, and then double-click the checking account
name. To mark a transaction as cleared, select the transaction in your
check register and then click the right mouse button. From the
resulting shortcut menu, select Mark As, and then Cleared.
----------------------------------------------
SNIFF OUT DUPLICATE ENTRIES
After entering a transaction, have you ever had the funny feeling
that
you've been there before? Like, maybe you had already entered the
transaction? Unfortunately Money doesn't alert you when you make a
duplicate entry, unless you are entering a check payment (and even
then, only when you type the same check number).
Here are a few ways to double-check your checks and balances:
* First, switch the register view to Top Line Only. That way, you
only
see what is important--the Date, Payee, and Amount. To do so, click
the View button, and select Top Line Only.
* Next, sort your register by Date. You'll then have to eyeball
your
entries to make sure you haven't entered the same transaction twice.
To sort by Date, click the View button and select Sort By Date. You
may also want to sort by the order in which transactions were entered;
if so, select Sort By Entry Order from the View menu.
* Finally, create a Register report and then go through the entries
one by one. To create a Register Report, select Reports from the
Navigation bar and select Spending Habits. Then, select Account
Transactions. Adjust the Date Range as appropriate.
----------------------------------------------
SNIFF OUT TAX DEDUCTIONS
One of the biggest incentives for using an accountant or a paid tax
preparation service to prepare your taxes is that they know a lot more
about taxes that you do. In particular, they'll know all about tax
deductions, those nice little line items that you can deduct from your
tax bill. Well, Money has its very own Tax Deduction tool, which can
help you determine if there are any tax deductions in your life that
you may not be aware of. Better yet, Money will also tell you if you
are eligible for the deduction. As usual, it's better to double-check
with your accountant or tax advisor to verify your tax forms before
you send them in.
Select Decisions from the Navigation bar, click on Tools, and then
select Tax Deduction Finder in the Calculator section. From the list
on the left edge of the screen, select Start, if necessary. In the
Start screen, select each of the categories in which you think you may
qualify for a deduction. Click the Next button. Now, for each
category, select each of the specific deductions. If you're not sure,
select the deduction and then read the description that appears on the
right side of the screen. Click Next. In the Qualifying section,
select each of the statements that reflect your specific deduction
situation. Click Next. The Results page then shows you exactly which
deductions you may have qualified for. Click the Next button again to
display the Summary screen, which shows you exactly what to do to
record qualified deductions, including which forms to use and any
limitations you should know about.
----------------------------------------------
TRACK DOWN BUSINESS EXPENSES, PART 1 OF 3
If you regularly incur business expenses for your job, then you
know
how difficult it can be to keep track of those expenses and make sure
you get reimbursed correctly. In this tip we'll show you how to create
a Business Expense Account to track all of your business expenses.
This account allows you to not only keep your business expenses
separate from your personal expenses, but it also helps you to ensure
that you are properly reimbursed.
To set up a Business Expense account, select Accounts from the
Navigation bar, click the Account Manager button, and then click the
New Account button. In the New Account dialog box, select Not Held At
A Bank, Brokerage, Or Other Financial Institution and click Next.
Select Asset from the list of account types and click Next. Enter a
name for the account, such as Acme Anvil Business Expenses, adjust the
start date of the account as necessary, and click Next. For example,
if you plan on tracking expenses from last month, adjust the date
accordingly. Leave the asset's Current Value field blank and click
Next. Select No and then click Finish.
----------------------------------------------
TRACK DOWN BUSINESS EXPENSES, PART 2 OF 3
In our last tip we showed you how to create a Business Expense
Account
to track the business expenses you incur from your personal checking
account from month to month. (Select Accounts from the Navigation bar,
click the Account Manager button and the New Account button, then,
select Not Held At A Bank, Brokerage, Or Other Financial Institution
and click Next. Select Asset from the list of account types, click
Next and follow along to complete the Business Expense account setup.)
In this tip, we'll show you how to record the expenses and how to
record reimbursement checks as they are issued to you.
As you incur business expenses, enter each expense as a separate
transaction in your checking account, just as you normally would. But,
in the category field, select Transfer: Business Expense to transfer
that amount to the Business Expense account you created.
When you do, the transaction is recorded in both your checking
account
and in your expense account. Note that when you switch to the Business
Expense account, (which you can do by clicking the Accounts button and
selecting Business Expense from the resulting list), the transaction
is designated as an Increase in the Asset value of the Business
Expense account.
Once you've received an expense reimbursement check, enter that as
a
deposit in your checking account as you normally would. Again, assign
the Transfer: Business Expense category to transfer that amount to the
expense account. When you do, the balance of the expense account is
decreased accordingly.
----------------------------------------------
TRACK DOWN BUSINESS EXPENSES, PART 3 OF 3
In this series, we're showing you how to make sure you get paid for
all your business expenses. In this tip, we'll show you how to get a
clearer picture of your expenses by using the reconcile feature to
check off each expense as you are reimbursed for it. For instance, if
the expense reimbursement check is itemized, you can use the reconcile
feature to check off each expense that was covered by the check. That
way, you can tell at a glance which expenses you have been reimbursed
for and which are still outstanding.
To reconcile your Business Expense account, first, select Accounts
from the Navigation bar and select Account Manager. Then switch to the
Business Expense account in the register. Select each transaction that
was covered by the expense check and click the right mouse button.
>From the resulting shortcut menu, select Mark As, then Cleared. A "c"
appears in the column to indicate that it has been received and
cleared. Now at any time, you can simply glance through your expense
account and determine which are still outstanding.
If you begin to mark transactions as cleared in your check register
and they mysteriously start disappearing from view, don't worry,
you're not imagining things. Here is probably what happened: In the
View menu of the account register, Unreconciled Transactions has been
selected, which means that only those transactions that have not yet
been cleared or reconciled will be displayed in the check register.
To display all transactions in the check register, regardless of
their
reconciliation status, click the View button and select All
Transactions.
----------------------------------------------
WHEN YOUR BANK CHANGES HANDS
While we're on the subject of bank name changes, you may need to
update your account information to reflect changes to your basic
account. For instance, you'll want to update the financial
institution, account number, minimum balance, or what have you, for
your new bank. To modify the account information for an existing
account, switch to the Account Manager if necessary, select the
appropriate account, click the right mouse button, and then select Go
To Details. In the resulting Account Details screen, make any changes
to the information as needed. Select Register or click the Account
Manager button when you are done.
If you're an America Online user and you've been trying to access
the Web from within Money, chances are you aren't having any luck. The
reason is that you must first log on to AOL before you can access the
Web from Money. To help make this process easier, you can instruct
Money to remind you to log on whenever you attempt to access a
Web-related feature.
To do so, select Tools, Options, and select the Connection tab in
the Options dialog box. In the Internet Connection section, select
Prompt Me When An Internet Connection Is Required, So I Can Make The
Connection. Click the Connection Settings button and then select the
Connection tab in the Internet Properties dialog box. Select Connect
To The Internet Using A Local Area Network and Click OK twice. The
next time you attempt to access the Web, Money will display a dialog
box prompting you to first log on to your ISP.
When you want to determine the current market value of a particular
investment, then you'll want to switch to the Positions View. In this
view you'll find the ticker symbol, the most recent market price, the
number of shares you own, and the current market value of an
investment. You'll also find an entry at the very bottom of the list
that calculates the total cash balance you have available in all of
your accounts, and the Total Portfolio Value is also calculated.
If you're like most people, your bank has probably been sold once
or maybe even twice in your lifetime. If you've included the name of
your bank in any of your accounts, such as AnyBank Checking, you can
simply rename your account to accommodate the bank name change. To
rename an account, select Accounts from the Navigation bar and click
the Account Manager button. Next, select the account you want to
rename, click the right mouse button, and select Rename from the
resulting shortcut menu. The current account name appears highlighted.
Simply start typing the new name for the account and press the Enter
key when you have finished.
In past tips, we've stressed how important it is to use categories
when entering transactions in your Money accounts. Doing so enables
you to use all of Money's reporting and graphing tools to track past
expenses (and plan for the future). Want to look at your transactions
from yet another angle? Try your hand at classes.
Similar to categories, classes are a means of separating your
transactions into groups. But classes don't replace categories; they
complement them. Assigning a particular class to transactions across
multiple categories allows you to track those transactions as a group.
Sound confusing? As an example, suppose you have three
categories--Deodorant, Coffee, and Pizza--and you want to track how
much your household spends on these items. But in addition, you'd like
to track the amount a certain family member, Clayton, spends on these
items. Set up a class called 'Clayton' and assign it to each
applicable transaction. From then on, you can separate all the
information pertaining to this class from the rest of the data in your
Money file.
First, create a classification. Press Ctrl-Shift-C, then select
'Classification 1' in the list on the left side of the window. Select
a type--in this case, Family Members--then click OK. Now click the New
button and type the name of a class you'd like to create within this
classification. In this case, you'd type
Clayton
and click OK. Repeat these steps to add as many family members (or
other types of classes) as you'd like to that classification. In our
next tip, we'll show you how to assign a class to a transaction....
As you know, you can designate any of your monthly expenses as a
recurring bill with Money's Bills & Deposits feature, so that you
don't have to re-enter the same information time after time. But did
you know that Money will also keep an eye out for any transactions
that occur on a regular basis--and when it finds one, will ask you if
you want to add it to Bills area? For instance, if you record a
transaction to your local grocer month after month, Money will ask if
you'd like to add it to your list of recurring transactions. If this
alert appears as you are working in Money, respond accordingly. If you
agree, the Create New Scheduled Transaction dialog box is displayed.
Simply follow along to record the transaction.
Ever make a mistake while writing out a check? Everyone's done it.
So you scribble VOID in big letters across its line item in your
checkbook, rip up the check, and try again on the next one.
Now you need to void the transaction in your Money account. No
scribbling or ripping necessary. Right-click the transaction you want
to void, select Mark As, and in the resulting menu, select Void. Done.
In the past we've shown you how to use Abbreviations, which can be
helpful when you have categories or payees that have similar names. By
assigning an abbreviation to a category, you only have to type the
quick abbreviation to assign the correct category. To assign an
abbreviation to a Category, click Categories on the Navigation bar,
and select Categories from the left pane. Next, select the Category
for which you wish to assign an abbreviation and click the Go To
Category button located at the bottom of the screen. Enter an
abbreviation in the abbreviation text box of the resulting Category
information screen.
To view a listing of all of your categories and their
abbreviations, click the View button near the top of the Categories/
Lists window and select Categories, Their Subcategories, and Their
Abbreviations.
Money has a couple of ready-made reports that show you, at a
glance,
all of your recurring bills and deposits. These reports let you
view
all bills and deposits for the current month, as well as all of
your
recurring bills. Oddly, Money does not provide a similar report
that
shows all of your recurring deposits. But it's easy enough to
create
your own by customizing the Upcoming Bills report.
To so this, select Reports from the Navigation bar and click What I
Owe in the Reports & Charts area. Then in the Report & Chart
Gallery,
select Upcoming Bills and click the Customize button at the bottom
of
the screen. Enter a title for the report, such as Upcoming
Deposits,
and in the Include Transactions field select Deposits Only. Click
OK
to save the customized report and then click Go To Report/Chart to
display the report.
To save this Upcoming Deposits report for future use, click the
right
mouse button and select Add To Favorites, and then click OK in the
resulting dialog box. To view your Upcoming Deposits report in the
future, select Favorites, Favorite Reports, and select Upcoming
Deposits. The final step is to reset the Upcoming Bills report to
its
original settings. To do so, click the Reports & Charts button,
select
What I Owe, followed by Upcoming Bills. Click the Customize button
and
in the Customize dialog box click the Reset button. Click Yes in
the
resulting dialog box.
----------------------------------------------
VIEW TOTAL FOR PAYEE
Want to see how much you've paid out to a particular payee? No need
to create a fancy report. It's all right there in that payee's
details.
From any account register, right-click a transaction for that payee
and select Go To Payee: [Payee Name]. Alternatively, press
Ctrl-Shift-C to jump to the Categories and Payees area, click Payees
on the left, right-click the payee you want to analyze and select Go
To Details. In the lower-right area of the payee's details, you'll see
a table of all transactions for that payee, as well as the grand
total.
In the past, we've shown you how to use Money's monthly reports to
get a quick look at your top expenses for any given month. In the
Spending section of these reports, Money pulls together three
different types of information: Income vs. Expenses, Monthly Expenses
Compared, and the Top 5 Expense categories for both the current and
previous months. You can then view all of the transaction details of a
specific category simply by double-clicking the category name. You can
also produce a quick report that lists all transactions assigned to a
specific expense category for a particular month. It's a lot easier
than fiddling around with report settings to get this custom chart.
First, select Reports from the Navigation bar and then select
Monthly Reports. From the Reports & Charts Gallery, select the monthly
report you want to view, and click Go To Report/Chart. Next, identify
the category expense you want to view, and double-click the category.
From the resulting View Transactions dialog box, click the Create A
Report button to produce the category spending report. If you want to
save the report for future use, select Favorite, Add To Favorites,
enter a name for the report and click OK.
In our last two tips, we showed you how to access your own browser
software when you want to explore areas of the Web that you can't get
to by using Money's internal browser. If you'd rather not use Money's
internal Web browser at all, you can have Money launch your own Web
browser instead.
To do so, select Tools, Options, and click the Connection tab. In
the Browser section located at the bottom of the Options dialog box,
select Always Use My Default Browser To Browse The Internet and then
click OK.
Now, when you launch the Web from within Money, Money launches your
browser software.
In our last few tips, we showed you how easy it is to track your
vacation expenses in a specially created vacation spending account.
Another option you have is using a classification to help designate
particular expenses as vacation-related. Doing it this way lets you
continue using your normal, everyday categories to categorize your
vacation spending--but at the same time designate them as
vacation-related. For instance, you can see how much you've spent on
groceries while on vacation, but keep the amount separate from your
grocery spending at home.
To create the Vacation classification, select Categories from the
Navigation bar and then select Classification 1 from the Categories &
Payees list. Next, click the New button located at the bottom of the
window, and type Vacation in the Name field of the resulting New Class
or Sub-Class dialog box. Click OK when you are done.
To classify transactions in either a new or existing transaction,
tab over to the Classification 1 field and select Vacation from the
resulting list.
Last month, we talked about the Financial Reading On The Web
feature that allows you to download pertinent financial articles via
the Internet. We instructed you to update your Internet connection
whenever you wanted to download new articles by clicking the Update
Internet Information link. But we failed to mention that each time you
update your Internet connection, Money downloads these articles, plus
a lot of other information, such as stock quotes, currency exchange
rates, mortgage information, and a few other items. While this isn't a
problem, it does increase the amount of time it takes to perform the
update. If you prefer, you can specify exactly what information should
be downloaded when you choose to update your Internet information.
To do so, select Tools, Options and click the Connection tab. In
the Downloading Internet Information section, select the appropriate
options and then click OK. For instance if you only want to download
financial readings, make sure that Headline And Updates From The
Internet is the only option selected in this section. The next time
you update your Internet connection, Money will only download the
specific information you requested.
One of the more exciting tasks when tracking investments is keeping
on top of the current security price. This is one of the quickest ways
to see how your investments are faring in the market. In this tip,
we'll show you how to update the price of your investments. You may
want to perform this step every day, or at the very least, once a
week. You can manually update the security price, which we'll show you
how to do in this tip, or you can download prices via the Web, which
is explained in the next tip.
To update the price of a security, first select Investments in the
Navigation bar and then select Quotes View (note that you can also do
this right from your Investment account register as well). Next,
select the security and click the Update Price button. In the
resulting Update Price dialog box, you'll find a listing of all of the
price updates for the current security. If necessary, enter the date
(which will already be set to the current date) and then enter the new
price of the security in the Price field. Click the Update button and
then click Close. Back at the Quotes View you'll see that the security
now reflects the updated price.
In our last tip, we showed you how to update foreign exchange rates
manually. A faster way to update foreign currencies (and to ensure
up-to-the-minute rates) is to download the rate information from the
Internet. With this method, you can specify only those exchange rates
you want updated.
To get started, select Tools, Update and click the Currencies tab
in the Options dialog box. Next, select the currencies you want to
update online. (Note that there are some currencies that are not
available for online updating.) Select the currency you want and then
select the Update Exchange Rate Online option. (If this option appears
grayed out, then that currency is not available for online updating.)
Next, click the Connection tab and make sure the option labeled
Stock Quotes, News, Market Indexes, And Currency Exchange Rates From
Investor is selected. Click OK when you have finished. To update the
currency rates, select Tools, Update Internet Information and click
OK.
If your overseas vacation took you through multiple countries, you
can record all of the different exchange rates in a single shot. By
doing so, the exchange rate information will be available to you when
you select the Foreign Currency from the Currency Converter. That is,
you won't have to enter the exchange rate for each currency you use.
To update multiple exchange rates, select Tools, Options and select
the Currencies tab. From the Currency list, select the currency you
wish to modify, and then enter the appropriate rate information in the
lower portion of the dialog box. Repeat this step for each currency
you want to modify. Click OK when you have finished.
In our last tip, we showed you how to password-protect a Money
file: Open the relevant file; select File, Password; type the desired
password and click OK; then type it again and click OK.
The question then becomes, how do you *undo* password-protection,
in the event that you change your mind about security? Select File,
Passwords, type the current password and click OK. (Note: Depending on
your version, you may need to click OK a couple of times to close the
New Password box and Confirm New Password dialog boxes.) Your file is
no longer password-protected.
(Tip-in-a-tip: To change your password, follow the steps above; but
type the new password in the New Password and Confirm New Password
boxes.)
The world is a noisy place. Ever have a day where you just want a
little peace and quiet? Turning off Money's sounds can be the first
step.
Select Tools, Options, and on the General tab, deselect Play
Sounds. Click OK, and Money will now do its thing quietly (although
the sounds generated by your Windows sound scheme may continue to beep
at you).
While you're at it, close your office door and send all your calls
directly to voice mail...
In addition to viewing the price history of your investments,
another way to track the history of an investment is to take a look at
all of the trades for that particular investment. To display this
information, double-click the investment from one of the Portfolio
Views to switch to the Price History View. Then, select Buys & Sells
from the list of options along the left of the window. In this view,
Money generates a listing of all of the buys and sells associated with
that investment.
Even if you haven't got your financial act together enough to
actually purchase investments, you can still track the securities you
hope to someday own. By doing so, you just may gain the confidence to
open that brokerage account after all.
To track a security you don't own, select Investments from the
Navigation bar and then select Investments To Watch. Click the Add
button, select Investment from the resulting dialog box, and click
Next. Select the type of security, either Mutual Fund or Stock, and
click Next. Enter the name of the security and the ticker symbol if
you know it and click Finish.
Once you've added securities to your watch list, you simply treat
those securities as if you owned them. Update the security price as
necessary, keeping an eye on how the price fluctuates. If the price or
performance keeps going up, it may be time to buy. If the price or
performance stagnates or drops consistently, you can breathe a sigh of
relief that you didn't actually buy. In any case, the Investments To
Watch list can be a great way to keep track of any sort of investment
possibility.
Last month we showed you how to create an investment account and
record stock purchases. In this tip, we'll show you how to add mutual
funds to an investment account.
First, switch to the investment account in which you want to record
the mutual fund purchases. Select Accounts from the Navigation bar,
click the Account Manager button, and then double-click the name of
the investment account. Next, click the New button in the transaction
form at the bottom of the register window. (Select Use Forms To Enter
Transactions from the View menu if necessary.)
Enter the date of the purchase in the Date field, the name of the
mutual fund in the Investment field, and then press the Tab key to
move to the next field. In the Create New Investment dialog box,
select Mutual Fund from the list and click Next. In the resulting New
Mutual Fund dialog box, the name of the fund already appears in the
Name field. Enter the ticker symbol for the investment and click
Finish. In the Activity field, select Buy. Enter the number of shares
you've purchased, the cost per share, and the commission fee in the
Quantity, Price, and Commission fields, respectively. Note that the
Transfer From field contains the name of the associated cash account.
Press the Enter key to record the transaction.
Still another way to view your top expense items is to use the Find
And Replace command to locate transactions that are of a certain
amount. For instance, you can find all transactions with an amount
of
$500 or higher. To do so, select Tools, Find And Replace. From the
resulting Find And Replace dialog box, first make sure Regular
Accounts is selected in the Search Across field, then select
Advanced
Search, and click Next. Select the Amount tab and in the Search On
This Range field, enter the From and To Amounts.
For instance, enter 500 and 1500 respectively, and click Next. In
the
resulting Search Results screen, Money displays all transactions
that
meet the search criteria, (in this case, any transaction with an
amount between $500 and $1500). Click the Create Report button to
view
the search results in report form.
----------------------------------------------
TRACKING BONDS
In our previous tip, we showed you how to record shares of mutual
funds in your investment accounts. Here we'll show you how to record
bond purchases. First, switch to the investment account in which you
want to add the bonds. Select Accounts from the Navigation bar, click
the Account Manager button, and then double-click the name of the
investment account. Click the New button in the transaction form at
the bottom of the register. (Select Use Forms To Enter Transactions
from the View menu if necessary.)
Enter the date of the purchase in the Date field, the name of the
bond in the Investment field, and press the Tab key to move to the
next field. In the Create New Investment dialog box, select Bond from
the list and click Next. In the resulting New Bond dialog box, the
name of the bond appears in the Name field. Enter the Par value of the
bond and the bond maturity date, and click Finish. In the Activity
field, select Buy. Enter the number of bonds you've purchased, the
cost, and the commission fee in the Quantity, Price, and Commission
fields, respectively. Note also that the Transfer From field contains
the name of the associated cash account. Press the Enter key to record
the transaction.
Ahh, summer. Chances are you'll be taking (or may already have
taken) a vacation in the upcoming weeks. Fortunately Money can help
you create a vacation account budget and keep track of all of your
expenses. You'll not only have a grip on this year's vacation
spending, but you'll be able to use the data to plan for next year's
big trip.
To create a vacation account, select Accounts from the Navigation
bar and then click the Account Manager button. Click the New Account
button at the bottom of the window, select Not Held At A Bank,
Brokerage, Or Other Financial Institution and click Next. Select Cash
as the account type and click Next. Enter a name for the account, such
as My Vacation, and click Next. Leave the opening balance amount field
blank for now and click Finish.
Are you a regular player in the stock market but haven't yet gotten
around to tracking your investments in Money? If so, then you'll like
this next set of tips. We'll show you how to set up an Investment
account in Money to help you monitor the progress of your investment
portfolio. Make sure that you have a copy of your most recent
brokerage statement before you begin.
To create an Investment account, select Accounts from the
Navigation bar and click the Account Manager button. Then, click the
New Account button at the bottom of the screen. Enter the name of the
institution that the account is held at and click Next. Select
Investment from the list of account types and click Next. Enter a name
for the account (if you don't like the one proposed by Money),
indicate whether the investments held at this account are
tax-deferred, and click Next. Enter the estimated value of the
investments in the account, indicate if your Investment account has an
associated cash account, and click Next. If you do have an associated
cash account, enter the current balance and click Next. Money displays
a message that it has created the account, so click Next and then
click Next again. Finally, click Finish.
At this point, Money creates the new Investment account and adds it
to the Account Manager screen, where it is currently highlighted.
Double-click the account name to switch to your new investment account
register. Over the next few days we'll show you how to add specific
security types to your investment account.
Our last tip got you started on tracking your investments in Money.
We showed you how to create the Investment account using the New
Account command. (Select Accounts from the Navigation bar and click
the Account Manager button; click the New Account button at the bottom
of the screen, and then follow along, filling in the information that
is called for. Enter the name of the institution that the account is
held at and click Next.) In this tip, we'll show you how to add stocks
to your account.
First, open the Investment account by double-clicking its name in
the Account Manager. Then click the View button and select Use Forms
To Enter Transactions, if necessary. It's a good idea to use this
transaction form to record your investment purchases, at least until
you get familiar with the investment register. Note that the fields
that appear in the Transaction form vary according to the type of
security you are recording and the sort of activity you are doing.
Click the New button to get started. Enter the date of the stock
purchase in the Date field. In the Investment field, enter the name of
the company whose stocks you have purchased. When you press the Tab
key to move to the next field, the Create New Investment dialog box is
displayed. Select Stock from the list and click Next. In the resulting
New Stock dialog box, the name of the stock appears in the Name field.
Enter the ticker symbol for the security and then provide the
remaining information and click Finish. In the Activity field, select
Buy. Enter the number of shares you've purchased, the cost per share,
and the commission fee in the Quantity, Price, and Commission fields
respectively. Notice that the Total field adjusts according to the
values you entered. Note also that the Transfer From field contains
the name of the associated cash account. Press the Enter key to record
the transaction.
After you've recorded your stock purchases in your Investment
account, there are a few figures that appear at the bottom of the
Investment window. These may need some explanation: The Cash Balance
figure calculates the amount of cash that is currently in the
associated Cash account. The balance of this figure will adjust as you
purchase additional investments or make deposits to the account.
The Account Value figure is calculated according to the amount in
your Cash account as well as how much your security is currently
worth. This figure is the one to keep a close eye on as it adjusts
whenever you update the values of the securities and make additional
stock trades.
During the initial Investment account setup, Money prompted you to
provide the initial cash balance of the associated Cash account. The
balance of this account represents the funds you have available to
purchase securities and also represents any uninvested money you have
in the account.
To view the associated Cash Account register, click the Cash
Account button located at the bottom left of your Investment Account
register. You'll be switched to the Cash Account register, which
basically has the same name as your Investment account but is also
designated with the label (Cash) after it. You can see that for every
security purchase you made an associated transaction was created in
this account. If you need to change the initial cash balance of the
account, select Details, and in the resulting Account Details screen,
enter the amount in the Opening Balance field. Select Register to
return to the Account register.
In our last tip, we showed you how to set the initial Cash balance
of your Investment account. In this tip, we'll show you how to record
deposits of additional cash into your investment account. For
instance, if you receive a yearly bonus from your employer, you may
want to use that cash to purchase additional investment securities.
To record a deposit of additional cash into the Investment account,
click the View button and select Use Forms To Enter Transactions, if
necessary. Click the Deposit tab and enter the specifics of the
deposit as you would any other deposit transaction. Press Enter to
record the deposit.
Money updates the Account balance to reflect the deposit.
In addition to depositing funds directly into your Investment cash
account, you can also transfer funds from another account, such as
your Checking account. To do so, click the View button, and select Use
Forms To Enter Transactions, if necessary. Next, click the Transfer
tab, and select the account from which you wish to transfer the funds
in the From field. In most cases, you'll want to run any cash
transfers through your Checking account. In the To field, make sure
the Cash account associated with your Investment account is selected.
Enter the amount of the transfer and press Enter to record the
transaction.
Money updates the balance of your Investment account to reflect
this infusion of cash. A corresponding transaction is also entered in
the account from which the funds were transferred.
Money can help you keep track of so many things in your life. Not
only can you monitor your personal finances, but you can record
important personal information and even see how long you'll live, as
we showed you a few tips back. Money can also keep track of all of
those precious items in your home when you use the Home Inventory
Worksheet found in the Decision Center. With this worksheet, you can
create and store a record of all of your family heirlooms, and it's
good enough for use in making insurance claims or writing a will. Over
the next series of tips, we'll show you how to use the Home Inventory
worksheet to keep track of everything in your possession.
To launch the Home Inventory Worksheet, select Decisions from the
Navigation bar and then select Tools. Finally, click on the Home
Inventory link in the Worksheets portion of the page.
To add an item to your inventory worksheet, select Decisions from
the Navigation bar and then click on the Home Inventory link in the
worksheet. Click the New button located at the bottom of the Home
Inventory screen. In the resulting Inventory Details dialog box,
select the appropriate category from the Asset Type field. For
instance, select Furnishings if the current item you are cataloging is
your couch. Fill in the remainder of the information in the supplied
fields and click Enter. Remember, the more information you record
here, the better. This may be all that stands between you and your
insurance adjuster if you ever need to file a claim.
Let's recap how to pull up the Home Inventory worksheet in Money.
Select decisions from the navigation bar and then select Tools. Click
on the Home Inventory link in the Worksheets portion of the page.
You can change the "view" of the Home Inventory worksheet simply by
clicking on the appropriate asset type from the listing displayed at
the left of the screen. For instance, select Furnishings to see all of
the inventory items you've assigned to that category type. You can
also select All to display all of the items in your inventory,
regardless of category type. Note that when you select All, the items
are sorted by category type.
Tip: As you enter your inventory items, first select the type of
item that you are categorizing, choosing from the listing at the left
edge of the screen. When you do, Money will have automatically
pre-selected that type in the Inventory Details dialog box.
If you are cataloging a number of similar items in your Home
Inventory, such as the artwork hanging on your walls or the CDs in
your music collection, you can accomplish the job a lot quicker by
using the Copy button to make a quick copy of the current item. After
making a copy of an item, you can simply enter the specifics for each
item.
Select the item you want to duplicate and click the Copy button
located at the bottom of the Home Inventory screen. Money creates a
copy of the item and then displays the Inventory Details dialog box.
Record the specifics of the item and click Enter.
Just as you should update your Home Inventory whenever you purchase
new items, you should also update your inventory if you sell an item,
give it away, or just plain get rid of it. In this case, you'll want
to remove the item from your inventory list altogether.
To remove an item, select the item you want to remove from your
Inventory Worksheet, and click the Delete button located at the bottom
of the screen. Click Yes to confirm that you wish to delete the item.
Money removes the item and any record of it from your inventory
worksheet.
Money's Home Inventory worksheet could be a real lifesaver in the
event of a disaster, so you'll want to make sure your inventory always
reflects your current situation. If you need to update the specifics
of an inventory item, whether it be logging a different description,
assigning a new value for the item, or making a note of its location
in the house, it is very easy to do. Right-click on the item you want
to edit and select Details from the dropdown menu (or, you could
select the item you want to edit and then click the Details button
located at the bottom of the Home Inventory screen). The Inventory
Details dialog box is then displayed, and you can make changes as
necessary and click Enter.
Another way to get a quick look at your top expense items for any
single month is to switch to one of the Monthly Reports that Money
automatically creates. In these reports, Money calculates the Top 5
Expense categories for both the current and previous months.
To view your top expenses, select Reports from the Navigation bar
and
then click on Monthly Reports. Next, select the appropriate month's
report from the Report & Chart Gallery and click Go To
Report/Chart.
Scroll down through the first section of the report, labeled
Spending,
until you reach the Top 5 Expense Categories section. Here you'll
find
all of the pertinent information.
Note that if you want to view the details of a specific expense,
simply double-click the category name.
----------------------------------------------
THE PRICE IS RIGHT
If you're interested in how your investments are performing
strictly from a price standpoint, then you'll want to check out the
Quotes View. This view lists all of the investments you are tracking
in your portfolio and concentrates on delivering to you price and
share information. For instance, you'll find the most recent market
price, the change in value since the last price update, the high and
low prices, and the trading volume. To switch to this view, choose
Investments from the Navigation bar and select Quotes View. This view
can be handy when you're simply looking to find out the latest price
of a particular security.
Although the views in the Investment Portfolio enable you to look
at a number of different nuggets of performance information, not one
of them provides a single place to view the most pertinent
information. That is, you'll need to switch between a few different
views to gain the proper perspective on your investments overall.
Fortunately, you can get a look at all of the pertinent data for a
particular investment. The Analysis provides, among other things, the
Fundamentals, Quotes, and Performance of the security. To display this
information, double-click the investment name in any of the Portfolio
Views. Then select Analysis from the list of options along the left
side of the screen.
The Monthly Expenses Compared chart on Money's monthly report
appears in pie chart form, which is useful for illustrating how your
expenses break down in your overall spending. But if you display this
information in a bar chart, it can show you how the categories compare
to one another. To switch chart types, point to the chart and
right-click the mouse. From the resulting shortcut menu, select Bar
Chart.
In this series of tips, we showed you a few ways to keep abreast of
your investments' performance. By adding an Investment Summary to your
Financial Home Page, you can get a quick sense of how things are
shaping up without having to flip through different Portfolio Views.
To add the information to the Financial Home Page, select Tools,
Options and click the Money Home tab. Select the Investment Summary
option and click OK. The Investment Summary section displays the list
of securities you are tracking, the last price update, and the change
in price. If you want more in-depth information, click on any of the
investment links to switch to the Details view.
One factor that can help determine the validity of an existing
stock purchase--or whether you should invest at all--is the
Price/Earnings ratio, which is the price of a stock divided by its
earnings per share. For some, a stock with a high P/E ratio indicates
a better value but it can also indicate greater risk. You can
determine the P/E ratio of your own stock investments by switching to
the Fundamentals View. In this view you'll find a listing of all of
your current investments, their most recent market price, the 52-week
high and low price, and the P/E ratio.
In the past, we've shown you how to use the Split feature, which
allows you to record portions of a multi-item transaction into
multiple categories. But what do you do when a portion of the bill,
such as sales tax, isn't easily assigned to a single category? The
solution is to simply press the F6 key to disperse the amount equally
among all of the items in the transaction.
Let's try it. To split a transaction, enter the specifics of the
transaction as you normally would. When you get to the Category field,
select Edit, Split from the main menu or click the Split button in the
Transaction form. In the resulting Split Transaction dialog box,
assign a category and enter the amount of each individual item. When
you have finished assigning categories, the Unassigned Amount
calculated at the bottom of the dialog box probably displays the sales
tax amount. At this point, press the F6 key and watch as each item
amount is adjusted to compensate for the sales tax. Pretty neat huh?
Click the Done button and then press the Enter key to record the
transaction.
Just create a killer report? Granted, Money reports are fairly easy
to create (press Ctrl-Shift-R, select a report type, and so on), but
that doesn't mean you want to go through the creation process every
time. Save custom report settings under Favorites for quick access in
the future.
Assuming you just created a report you want to keep at arm's reach,
select Favorites, Add To Favorites. Type a name for the report and
click OK. To view this report in the future, simply select it from the
Favorites menu.
One of the quickest ways to see how well your investments are doing
is to take a look at the history of your investment account. This
shows you how the value of the investments in the account have
increased or decreased over time.
To view such an account history, first switch to the appropriate
investment account. To do so, select Accounts from the Navigation bar,
click the Account Manager button, and then double-click the name of
the investment account. Then, select History from the options listed
along the left side of the window. If necessary, right-click anywhere
in the graph window and select Legend from the resulting shortcut
menu. Money produces a line chart with a separate line for each
investment in the account. Prices may date back as far as the last
twelve months.
In our last tip, we showed you how to have Money delete all the
categories you don't use. Select Tools, Options; click the Categories
tab; under Use Standard Categories make sure Ask Me Before Removing
Each Category is selected. Then click Remove Unused Categories and
click Yes or No to confirm or cancel each deletion.
Want all those categories back? You can restore the Money
"originals" with the click of a button. Select Tools, Options and
click the Categories tab. Select Restore Standard Categories, and, in
a flash, a message appears to let you know the restoration is
complete. Any standard Money category will now appear back in the
list. What's more, your custom categories remain untouched--for
example, if you changed the name of an 'original' category, that
custom category AND one with the original spelling will now appear on
the list.
In our last tip, we showed you how to use the Recently Paid Bills
list in the Bills area to check on the status of a payment (go to
Bills in the navigation bar and choose Recently Paid Bills). You can
make your searching go a bit quicker by changing the sort order of
three columns--Date, Payee, and Amount.
For instance, to view your bills in alphabetical order, click the
Payee column heading. To view bills by the date on which they were
paid, click the Date column. Note that you can switch the order of the
columns (highest to lowest in the Date and Amount fields and Ascending
to Descending in the Payee field) by clicking the column heading a
second time.
In the past we've shown you how to save a customized report as a
favorite so that you can access it at a later date. To do so, you
simply launch the appropriate report, select Favorites, Add To
Favorites, and then type a name for the report. Easy enough.
Today we'll show you how to rename a favorite report. To do this,
select Reports from the Navigation bar and select My Favorites. Then,
from the Report & Chart Gallery, select the report you want to rename
and click the Rename button at the bottom of your screen. Enter the
name for the report in the New Name field and click OK.
While we're on the subject of categories, you might find that you
want to change the name of a category to something more descriptive or
meaningful. If so, it's easy enough to rename a category.
Select Categories from the Navigation bar and make sure Categories
is selected. From the resulting Category list, select the category you
want to rename and then click the Modify button. Enter the new name
for the category and click OK. Note that Money renames all occurrences
of the category with the new name.
Need to transfer some money from savings to checking? No matter
what the amount--even a mere 50 bucks to cover the cable bill--just
fill out a Transfer, and Money will enter the transaction in both the
giving and receiving accounts.
Open the account register from which you'd like to transfer funds.
Click the Transfer tab (at the top or bottom of the transaction form,
depending upon which version you're using). Click the down arrow in
the To field and select the account to which you'd like to transfer
the money. Next, complete the Date and Amount fields. Click OK and
Money completes the record of the transfer. (Just don't forget to make
the real transfer at the bank.)
In our past few tips, we've been discussing the cash account
associated with your investment account for purchasing securities. To
recap, any security purchase you make is paid for with funds available
from the associated cash account. In this tip we'll show you how to
record a security purchase paid for by other means, such as cash or
funds from your checking account.
First, record the investment purchase as you normally would. That
is, click the New button in the Transaction form at the bottom of the
register, and enter the purchase date, investment name, and select Buy
in the Activity field. Enter the number of shares you've purchased,
the cost per share, and the commission fee. If you paid cash, leave
the Transfer From field blank (you may have to delete a reference to
the cash account). If you paid using funds from another account,
simply select that account's name from the list in the Transfer From
field. You should also make a notation in the Memo field indicating
where the funds came from, for future reference. Press the Enter key
to record the transaction.
While you are watching the rise and fall of your investments, there
are times when your investments may actually pay out money to you in
the form of dividends. When this happens, add this form of income to
the appropriate investment account.
First switch to the investment account in which you wish to record
the dividend. Then, click the New button in the transaction form at
the bottom of the register. (Select Use Forms To Enter Transactions
from the View menu if necessary.) Enter the date the dividend was
recorded to your account in the Date field. Select the name of the
investment from the Investment field or type the name if this is a new
investment. In the Activity field, select Dividend and then enter the
amount of the dividend in the Total field. If necessary, select the
appropriate account to transfer the funds to in the Transfer To field.
By default, the funds are automatically transferred to the associated
cash account. Press the Enter key to record the transaction.
Sometimes, such as when you use your ATM or Debit card, you know
that the transaction has been immediately applied to your bank
account. If you want to get a head start on the reconciliation
process, you can enter the transaction as usual and then assign it as
cleared ahead of time. Then, when you're ready to reconcile the
register with your bank statement, you'll just have to double check
and make sure the transaction has in fact cleared with your bank.
Before you start, the first thing to do is to switch the view so
that only Unreconciled Transactions are displayed. To do so, click the
View button on the View bar at the top of the Account pane and then
select Unreconciled Transactions from the resulting menu. Only those
transactions that have not yet been reconciled will be displayed.
To mark a transaction in your check register as cleared by the
bank, right-click the transaction and select Mark As from the
resulting shortcut menu. Select Cleared from the Mark As submenu. The
character C appears in the column labeled C of your check register.
Once a transaction has been designated as cleared, the next time you
run the reconciliation process, those transactions will already by
accounted for.
Curious to see how much you've spent on a category--say, dinner
out--but don't want to fuss around with the report options? Here's how
to quickly produce a listing of all transactions assigned to a
specific category. First, choose Categories from the Navigation bar.
In the Category list, select the appropriate category, click the right
mouse button, and select Go To Details from the shortcut menu. In the
lower right corner of the resulting Details screen, you'll find a
listing of all of the transactions currently assigned to that category
to date. To get a closer look at a transaction, simply double-click a
specific listing. Notice that the Total line shows the total amount
assigned to that category.
In our last tip, we showed you how to generate the Account Details
report, which can be useful when you want to take a look at your
account balances and other information. You can also generate a
quickie report right from the Account Details report to get a full
listing of all of the transactions in a specific account. To do so,
first double-click the account name that you want to report on, and
then click the Create A Report button from the resulting View
Transactions dialog box. The Account Transactions report will list all
transactions for the current account only.
One surefire way to keep track of important payee information, such
as phone numbers, billing address, and account numbers, is to record
this data for each of the payees in your Payee list. Once you do, you
can produce a vendor list and keep it with your records so that you
can easily refer to it if you need the information and don't want to
fire up Money to get it.
First, to record payee information, switch to the Payee list by
selecting Categories from the Navigation bar and selecting Payees.
Next, select the Payee from the listing and click the Go To Payee
button. In the upper right of the resulting screen, record the payee
information as appropriate. Click the Back button to return to the
Payee list.
Now, to produce the vendor list, click the View button and select
the appropriate option. For instance, select Payees, Phone Numbers,
and Account Numbers. To print the listing, select File, Print, make
any changes to the print settings as necessary, and click OK to print
the listing.
Once you've recorded all of the items in your home inventory,
you'll want to print out a copy of the worksheet so that you can refer
to this information if you ever need to file an insurance claim or
review your current possessions. Store a hard copy of the Home
Inventory worksheet wherever you keep the backup copy of your Money
file. If anything were to happen to your PC or your home, you would
still have the data available for insurance purposes.
To print the worksheet, first switch to the appropriate view in the
Inventory Worksheet. We recommend that you select All so that all of
your inventory items appear in the worksheet. Next, select File,
Print, and click OK to print the worksheet.
When you print your Home Inventory worksheet, you'll see that the
hard copy includes a listing of all of the items in your inventory.
The information includes a description of the item, the inventory
type, the location of the item, the replacement amount, and the
current value. But oddly enough, it does not calculate how much your
total inventory is worth. Fortunately, this figure is automatically
calculated and shown at the bottom of the Inventory Worksheet. You'll
simply need to jot down this figure on your hard copy. To calculate
the overall value of your inventory, make sure you first select the
All category type from the left side of the screen.
Want to make sure your Money accounts match up with those of your
bank? You can easily customize the Account Transactions report to
create your own monthly account statement. This report is useful for
tracking down errors or simply to provide you a hard copy reference to
have on hand.
To create a bank statement report, click on Reports in the
Navigation bar, select Spending Habits, and then double-click Account
Transactions from the Report & Chart Gallery. In the resulting Account
Transactions window, select the name of your checking account in the
Account field at the bottom of the screen and in the Date Range field
select Custom Dates. In the resulting Customize Report dialog box,
enter the appropriate statement dates in the From and To fields. Click
OK. Money produces a report that includes only those transactions
recorded within the specific time period for your account.
In our last tip, we showed you how to reproduce your bank's monthly
account statement report. If your bank statement period spans more
than a single month, for instance, if it runs from the 23rd of one
month to the 24th of the next, then you'll notice that your account
statement report subtotals the transactions by month. That is, it
lists all of the transactions that fall in the first month and then
lists all that fall in the second. Such a setup can be a little
confusing, especially when you want to compare this report with the
statement produced by your bank. Fortunately, you can remove the
subtotal option altogether so that the transactions appear pretty much
as they do on your bank statement. That is, the report will list
deposits first, then checks, and then other withdrawals, and will sort
them by date.
To do this, click the Customize button and select the Rows &
Columns tab in the resulting dialog box. In the Subtotals By field
select None and click OK. Money reproduces the account statement
report and automatically sorts all of the transactions by type and
then by date.
In this series of tips, we've shown you how to reproduce a monthly
account statement report. You may have noticed in your report that
Money does not list out all of the transactions assigned to a split
category. Instead, each split transaction displays the total amount of
the transaction and the label "Split" appears in the Category column.
You can, however, include all of the items in a split transaction in
your report. To do so, click the Customize button at the bottom of the
Report window and select the Rows & Columns tab in the resulting
Customize Report dialog box. Select the option labeled Show Splits and
click OK.
Once you've assigned abbreviations to your categories, you may want
to print out a listing of the categories and their abbreviations so
that you can refer to them as you enter transactions. To produce such
a listing, first switch to the Category list, if necessary (click
Categories on the Navigation bar and select Categories from the left
pane). Next, click the View button and select Categories, Their
Subcategories, and Their Abbreviations. Finally, select File, Print,
adjust the print settings as necessary, and click OK to print the
listing.
Once you've located the help you need in Money's Help system, you
can always print it out and keep it handy for future reference. To
print a help topic, first locate the topic in question and then click
the Print button. In the resulting Print dialog box, review the
current print settings and then click OK when you are ready to print
the topic.
Besides viewing the price history of a single investment, you can
also compare an investment's performance with that of another
investment. To do so, first switch to the Price History View for the
first security. That is, double-click the investment from any of the
Portfolio Views and select Price History. Then, in the Compare With
Investment field found in the Price History window, select the name of
the Investment from the drop down list. A new line is then added to
the chart for the second investment.
As you're typing information for a new transaction--for example,
inside a checking account--Money expects you to use the Tab key to
move from one field to the next. Press Enter by mistake (in between
fields), and Money thinks you've completed that transaction.
Can't seem to get used to this way of doing things? Then say so.
With a simple option change, Money will allow you to use the Enter key
instead of Tab.
Select Tools, Options and click the Editing tab. Select Use Enter
To Move Between Fields, then click OK. From now on, pressing Enter
moves your cursor to the next field, not to the next transaction.
(Note: Pressing Enter from inside the Memo field or clicking the
Enter button on screen will complete the transaction.)
Want to feel like you're playing with the tycoons of Wall Street?
You can instruct Money to prompt you when a security reaches a
predefined price that will either prompt you to buy more shares or
sell what you already have. The Advisor FYI feature, which lets you
keep an eye on account balances, among other things, will also monitor
the prices of your investments.
To set it up, select Tools, Customize Advisor FYI. In the resulting
dialog box, select Investment Prices from the list of options and then
click the Investment Prices tab. Next, select the Investment you want
to monitor, select the High Of and Low Of options and then enter the
appropriate values in the High Of and Low Of fields. Click OK. Now,
when those investments reach those prices, you are alerted in the
Advisor FYI section on your Money Home Page.
In the past, we've told you how you can change the start up
location of Money so that you can pick up where you left off in your
last session. This means that Money will display the last place you
were working in Money, rather than open to the Money Home Page. In
this tip we'll show you how to configure Money so that it always
displays the last register used in the previous Money session. Unlike
the Last Setting Used option, the Account Register option will always
defer to the last register used.
To do this, select Tools, Options and click the General tab if
necessary. In the Display section of the dialog box, click the
dropdown arrow and select Account Register from the list of options.
Click OK when you are done. Now, the next time you start Money, the
last register you used will always come up.
If you make use of the Transaction forms to record transactions in
your Money check register, then you know how easy it is to enter
transactions. First, click the View button, and select Use Forms To
Enter Transactions. Then just select the appropriate form and provide
the requested information. But if you've been using the forms for any
length of time, you also know that it's also pretty easy to get mixed
up and use the wrong form to record a transaction. That is, maybe you
enter a check in a withdrawal form or a deposit in a check form. Don't
worry too much about it, though. You can just switch to the proper
form and correct your mistake. To do so, click the More button, select
Change Transaction Type To, and then select the form you meant to use.
Money will then adjust the data appropriately. In some cases you may
be required to enter additional information, such as a check number.
Worried about other people--coworkers, kids, whomever--snooping
through your financial business? Then lock your Money file up tight.
Assign a password to a file, and from then on, no one can get in but
you.
With the file you'd like to password-protect open in Money, select
File, Password. Type your password twice, and then click OK. From now
on, trying to open the password-protected file produces the Password
dialog box. Enter the secret password or keep out!
If you'd rather not have Money scan your check register for
recurring payments, you can simply turn this feature off. To do so,
select Tools, Options, deselect the option labeled Watch My
Transactions For Recurring Payments (the checkmark should no longer
appear), and click OK. Note that this does not prevent you from
scheduling your own transactions in the Bills area. It simply means
that you won't be interrupted as you work.
When you use the Bills area to schedule recurring monthly payments,
deposits, or transfers, you can record these transactions from any
number of accounts. For example, you may schedule your bills through
your checking account and your deposits through a savings account. In
any case, you can do a quick balance check of an account by clicking
on the appropriate transaction in the Bills area. For instance, to
view the balance of your checking account, click a checking-related
transaction. At the bottom of the Bills window, you'll see the label,
Balance Of "Account" (where account is the name of the currently
selected account). Two figures are then calculated: the Current
balance, which determines the balance of as today, and the After
balance, which adjusts it based on the amount of the current
transaction.
How many times has this happened to you: after switching to another
account to view something, you start to record your checking account
transactions in the wrong account. Curses! Don't worry, you don't need
to retype them, you can simply move them to the correct account
instead.
Select the transaction you want to move, click the right mouse
button, and select Move To Account. You can also select Edit, Move To
Account. From the resulting Move Transaction dialog box, select the
name of the account to which you want to move the transaction and
click OK.
Ever find a VISA transaction you meant to enter in your checking
account register? Don't waste time deleting the transaction from the
VISA account and then retyping it into your check register. Money will
move it for you in one easy step.
Right-click the transaction you want to move and select Move To
Account. Select the account to which you'd like to move the entry,
then click OK. Done.
MOVE ALL TRANSACTIONS UNDER A CATEGORY TO A NEW ONE
Want to switch all transactions under a particular category to
another? For example, you might switch all 'Dining Out' to the more
general 'Entertainment' category. Money allows you to move an entire
category in one fell swoop.
Select Go, Categories, or press Ctrl-Shift-C. Right-click the
category you'd like to relocate and select Move. Select the category
(and subcategory, if applicable) to which you'd like to move the
transactions, then click OK. The "old" category disappears from the
category list, and all of its transactions are moved to the new
choice.
If you're having a problem with Money and aren't having any luck
finding a solution with Money's Help system, then you can explore your
help options online. Remember though, that you'll need access to the
Internet to use the online help options. A good place to start is the
Microsoft Money home page. Here you'll find information on the latest
version of Money, as well as links to other helpful areas on the Money
site. To access the Money home page, select Help, Microsoft On The
Web, Microsoft Money Home Page. Note that you will have to first log
on to your Internet provider before you perform this step.
Another useful source to check out when you're having problems with
Money is the Frequently Asked Questions page on Money's web site. This
FAQ, as they are called, contains a list of some of the most common
questions users have when they call in to Tech Support. So, when you
get stuck, the FAQ page would be a good place to start before you
place your own call to tech support. To activate the FAQ page, select
Help, Microsoft On The Web, Frequently Asked Questions. Again, you may
have to fire up your Internet connection before you perform this step.
If all else fails with Money's Help options, you can go straight to
the source. The Online Support command found in Money's Help menu
brings you to Microsoft's Product Support Services page. Here you'll
find a wealth of information and services to help you get the
information you need. You can take a look at some of the FAQs and
Highlights that Online Support has gathered, or you can search through
the Knowledge Base for answers. You can ask specific questions and
hopefully find answers to not only Money-related issues, but the rest
of Microsoft's product line as well. Remember that you may have to log
on to your Internet provider before you perform this step.
To use the Online Support Services, select Help, Online Help. Check
out the displayed links or click the Searchable Knowledge Base link to
search the knowledge base yourself. Fill out the displayed form, which
entails selecting the product, indicating how you want to search, and
then typing in the question you have. Hopefully, the Knowledge Base
will have the answer for you.
One surefire way to keep on top of your monthly bills is to mark
them
as received in your Money file as they arrive in the mail. If you
do,
you'll always know exactly which bills are actually in your
possession--and are therefore due for payment.
To mark a bill as received, select Bills from the Navigation bar
and
then select Pay Bills from the Bills & Deposits area. Next, select
the
appropriate bill and click the right mouse button. Select Mark As
from
the resulting shortcut menu and then select Received. When you do,
the
label Received appears in the Status column. Once you pay the bill,
the status changes to Paid.
----------------------------------------------
MAKING PERMANENT CHANGES TO A BILL, PART 1 OF 2
In our last tip, we showed you how to make changes to a single
occurrence of a regular bill. In this tip we'll show you how to make a
permanent change to the details of a bill. As an example, say your
monthly insurance bill has increased by $25.
To make permanent changes to a bill, select Bills from the
Navigation bar and then select Set Up Bills & Deposits. In the list of
transactions, select the bill you want to change and click the Edit
Details button. Make the changes necessary and click OK. Note that
this change affects all future payments of the bill.
In our last tip, we showed you how to make a permanent change to a
recurring bill's information. In this tip we'll show you how to change
the scheduling options for a bill, for instance, if you want to change
the frequency with which the payment is due.
To do so, select Bills from the Navigation bar and then select Set
Up Bills & Deposits. In the list of transactions, select the bill you
want to change and click the Edit Details button. Click the Scheduling
Options button in the resulting dialog box and make any changes
necessary. Click OK twice to save the changes. Again, the changes you
make are in effect for all future payments of the bill.
Need to make a change to the details of a split transaction? If so,
simply select the transaction and press Ctrl + S or select Edit, Split
to open the Split Transaction dialog box. Make the changes as
necessary, click Done, and then press Enter to record the updated
transaction.
If you're a frequent visitor to the ATM, then you're probably
familiar with the Deposit with Cash Back feature, an option that
enables you to withdraw a cash amount from your deposit. You can
record such a transaction in Money in one of two ways. You can enter
two separate transactions--one that records the deposit and another
that records the withdrawal, or you can record a single transaction
and use the Split feature to account for both the deposit and
withdrawal.
To use the Split method, enter the Deposit transaction as you
normally would but when you get to the Category field, press Ctrl + S
or select Edit, Split. In the resulting Split Transaction dialog box,
first assign the appropriate category and then enter the amount of the
deposit. Again, assign a category and enter the amount of the
withdrawal. Click Done when you have finished. Finally, press the
Enter key to record the transaction. Note that the total amount
deposited will be adjusted accordingly by the amount you withdrew.
Can't seem to lay your finger on a particular transaction? No point
straining your eyes scanning through an entire account. Ask Money to
track it down for you. As long as you know at least something about
the entry, such as the date, category or amount, Money can find what
you're looking for.
Press Ctrl-F, and inside the resulting dialog box, you'll find six
tabs on which to enter the information you know about the transaction.
(Depending on your version of Money, if you're presented with a
wizard, select Advanced Search and click Next to access these six
tabs.) For example, you might know that the transaction was in the
Healthcare category. Or you might click the Date tab and select
Previous Month under Range.
Regardless, when you're finished entering criteria, click the Find
(or Next) button, and Money presents you with a list of all
transactions that fit the bill. Right-click the one you're after and
select Go To Account: [Account Name] to jump to that transaction in
the given account.
At any point in time, you can quickly take a look at your loan
information--such as the remaining balance or length of loan or the
next due date--without having to generate an amortization schedule. To
do so, select Accounts from the Navigation bar and click the Type
column to quickly sort your accounts by type. Next, select the
appropriate loan account and then click the right mouse button. Select
Go To Payment Terms from the resulting shortcut menu.
One of the more useful reports offered by Money is the Income vs.
Spending report, which shows you how much money you take in every
month and then how much goes out. By default, Money calculates this
data for an entire month. Another way to look at this report and get a
better idea of where your income and expenses fall throughout the
month, is to view this data in a two-week breakdown, similar to your
pay period. That way you can see the effect that your spending has on
your income for each pay period.
First, select Reports from the Navigation bar and select Spending
Habits. From the Report & Chart Gallery, select Income vs. Spending,
and click the Go To Report/Chart button to generate the report. Click
the Customize button at the bottom of the Income vs. Spending report
window. In the resulting Customize Report dialog box, select the Rows
& Columns tab, and in the Columns field select Two Weeks (or Half
Months) and click OK.
Money then displays the report in two-week periods. At the bottom
of the report, take a look at the Grand Total amounts. You can see how
much you have left over after each paycheck and then how much is left
over at the end of the month.
If you're the type who keeps reference books propped open while you
work, you'll like this tip. You can configure the Help pane in Money
so that it remains open onscreen as you go about your work. Whenever
you need to look something up, it is right there at your service.
Normally, the Help pane recedes into the background whenever you
activate another area of Money.
If you want Help to remain active throughout your session, simply
click the little Pushpin icon in the upper right of the Help pane.
Now, whenever you access the Help system, it remains active for the
length of the current session. If you want to close Help for the time
being, just click the Close Money Help button. Click the red question
mark in the Navigation bar to reactivate it.
In this past series of tips, we've been discussing the additional
help options Money makes available via the Web. As you may have
noticed, when you access the Web from within Money, Money launches its
own internal Web browser and uses that to display the Web page. The
biggest benefit to using Money's internal Web browser is that you can
continue to work in Money, switch to other areas, and keep your Web
connection open and current, without having to leave the Money
program.
When you launch the Web from Money, the label "Web" is added to the
Navigation bar. To switch to another area of Money, just select it
from the Navigation bar. To return to your Web connection, select Web
from the Navigation bar.
While we won't attempt to detail the pros and cons of Quicken over
Money and vice versa, there is one nice little feature that Quicken
users have been using for a long time that Money users can now enjoy:
a single category list. Using a single category list, you can select
both the category and subcategory designations from a single dropdown
list box, rather than having to make two separate selections in the
Category and then Subcategory fields. While this may not seem like
that big of a deal, it's just one of those user-friendly features that
go a long way, especially when you're dealing with a large number of
transactions.
To switch to the single-category list, select Tools, Options, and
select the Categories tab. Select the Use A Single List For Categories
And Subcategories As Well As Classifications option. Click OK.
Now when you are selecting a category, click the Category field to
drop down the category listing. You'll find that all of the categories
and the appropriate subcategory designations appear in the same
listing.
By default, Money organizes the data in your Income vs. Spending
report alphabetically, by category. If you prefer, you can sort the
categories by amount, so that you can view your expenses in order from
highest to lowest.
To change the sort order, select Reports from the Navigation bar
and select Spending Habits. From the Report & Chart Gallery, select
Income vs. Spending, and click the Go To Report/Chart button to
generate the report. Click the Customize button at the bottom of the
Income vs. Spending report window. In the resulting Customize Report
dialog box, select the Rows & Columns tab, select Sort By Amount and
click OK.
Once you've created your Home Inventory, you may decide that you
want to track its value along with the rest of your finances. To do
so, you must first create an asset account named Home Inventory. Then,
record the total value of your inventory as the current balance of the
Home Inventory asset account. You can then include the home inventory
so it appears as an asset in your Net Worth report.
Before you create the Home Inventory asset account, jot down the
total value of your asset account, a figure that you'll find at the
bottom of the Home Inventory worksheet. (Make sure you select All so
that this figure includes all of the items in your inventory.)
Next, select Accounts from the Navigation bar, click the Account
Manager button and then click the New Account button. In the New
Account dialog box, select Not Held At A Bank, Brokerage, Or Other
Financial Institution and click Next. Select Asset from the list of
account types and click Next. Enter a name for the account, such as
Home Inventory, adjust the start date of the account as necessary, and
click Next. In the Current Value field, enter the total amount of your
home inventory value and click Next. Select No and then click Finish.
Once you've created your Home Inventory asset account, you'll want
to make sure that it is marked for inclusion in your Net Worth
reports. To do so, select Reports from the Navigation bar and select
What I Have. Then, select Net Worth from the Report & Chart Gallery
and click the Customize button. Next, click the Account tab, and
scroll through the list to see if the Home Inventory account is
included. Select it as necessary and then click OK.
Once you've created the Home Inventory asset account, you'll need
to make sure that you consistently update the value of the Home
Inventory Asset account whenever you update the items in your Home
Inventory worksheet. While you could add these value adjustments as
increases or decreases respectively within your asset account, we
suggest that you simply update the balance of the account. Otherwise,
you would have only a partial listing of inventory items in your Home
Inventory asset account, and it could get quite confusing to keep
track of the two.
To update the balance, select Accounts from the Navigation bar and
then click the Account Manager button. Double-click the Home Inventory
asset account in the Account Manager and then click the Details link.
Enter the new opening balance for the account and then click on
Register. You'll see that the Current Value figure at the bottom right
of the screen has been adjusted as appropriate.
In the past, we've shown you how to use an asset account to track
the value of your home in Money. Here we'll show you how to adjust the
value of the account as you make improvements to your home. For
instance, when you remodel your kitchen or add a second bathroom, you
can add the total cost of the remodeling job to your home account.
To create a home asset account, select Accounts from the Navigation
bar, click the Account Manager button, and then click the New Account
button located at the bottom of the Account Manager screen. Select Not
Held At Bank, Brokerage, Or Other Financial Institution and click
Next. Select House from the list of account types and click Next.
Enter a name for the account, such as My House or 1122 Main Street,
enter the date you purchased your home, and then click Next. Enter
your home's current value or the amount you paid for your home and
click Next. Select No and then click Finish to complete the account
setup.
Once you've created the home asset account, you can update the
value of the account by transferring the amounts you've spent on
improvements to the home account. For instance, you can transfer from
your checking account to the home account a record of the money spent
on carpeting the family room. When you do, the Current Value of the
home account is increased by that amount.
To transfer remodeling expenses, enter the remodeling-related
transaction as you normally would in your checking account. But, when
you get to the Category field, select the Transfer option from the
bottom of the Category list and then select the account--in this case,
Home--that you want to transfer the amount to. Press Enter to record
the transaction. Money records the transaction in your checking
account and deducts the appropriate amount from your checking account
balance. Money also records the transaction in your Home account as a
fund transfer and the home account balance is increased by that
amount.
If your remodeling project is a big one, chances are that you took
out a home equity loan or secured a line of credit from your bank to
pay for the work. In either case, you'll want to create a separate
account to track these funds and monitor the expenses of your project.
In this tip, we'll show you how to set up a home equity account.
Select Accounts from the Navigation bar, click the Account Manager
button, and then click the New Account button located at the bottom of
the Account Manager screen. Select Not Held At Bank, Brokerage, Or
Other Financial Institution and click Next. Select Mortgage from the
list of account types and click Next. Follow along with the on-screen
prompts in the New Loan Account dialog box to provide the necessary
loan information. For instance, you must provide the loan amount,
interest rate, and term, among other things. The final step in the New
Loan Account dialog box is to associate the home equity loan with your
home account. To do so, select Yes and then click the Next button.
Select your Home account from the dropdown list and then click Finish.
In our last tip, we showed you how to create a home equity loan
account. Here we'll show you how to create a line of credit account,
another financing option you have when you decide to make some home
remodeling repairs and you need help paying for it.
To create a line of credit account, select Accounts from the
Navigation bar, click the Account Manager button, and then click the
New Account button located at the bottom of the Account Manager
screen. Select Not Held At Bank, Brokerage, Or Other Financial
Institution and click Next. Select Line Of Credit from the list of
account types and click Next. Enter a name for the account, such as
Home Remodeling Budget, and click Next. Leave the field labeled How
Much Do You Owe On This Account blank for now, and click Next. Select
Credit Card, click Next, enter the interest rate you'll be paying, and
click Next. Enter the Credit Limit, or the maximum amount you can
spend with the credit line and click Next. Select Keep Track Of
Individual Credit Card Charges and click Next. Finally, click Finish
to complete the account setup.
Once you've created the line of credit account, you can then keep a
close eye on your remodeling budget by recording all project-related
expenses in the Line Of Credit account. As you record each job-related
transaction in the account, the You Owe balance at the bottom of the
register adjusts to account for each expense. To record the
transactions, simply switch to the Line Of Credit account and record
your transactions as you normally would, except this time be sure to
enter each expense as a charge. The You Owe balance calculates how
much of the credit line you have spent.
If you ever get stuck in your dealings with Money, you have a
number of choices available for finding your way out of a technical
jam. Whenever you need assistance, simply click the red question mark
that appears in the far right of the navigation bar or select Help,
Help Topics. The Money Help pane appears containing a listing of
topics related to the task at hand. Simply click on any of the listed
topics for further information.
If the list of displayed topics does not provide the information
you need you can also ask a specific question of Money and see what it
can come up with. To do so, type the question in the text box provided
at the bottom of the Help pane and click the Search button. Money then
displays the Search results screen, which will contain a number of
topics that may answer your question.
The Contents help option is another tool you may find useful when
trying to find a solution to a problem. In fact, the Contents feature
is useful when you are not entirely sure what you are looking for.
That is, when you click the Contents help button, a table of
contents-like listing is displayed. You can then select from among
these topics to find the help you need.
In this tip we'll show you how to use the Keyword Search option to
narrow down your search for help by topic. The Keyword Search tool is
similar to a book index. That is, you simply type in the term you are
looking for and then choose the appropriate topic from the displayed
listing. Of course, the key to this method is being able to identify
the topic on which you need help.
To use the Keyword Search option, first click the red question mark
to activate Help, if necessary. Next, click the Binocular icon and
then type the word or phrase you are looking for or select it from the
Keyword list. Money displays a list of related topics in the Topics
Found area. Simply click on the appropriate topic heading to view the
full contents of that topic.
Another handy tool in Money's Help pane is the Back button which,
just like in your favorite web browser, retraces your steps and allows
you to revisit all of the help screens you've viewed in the current
Money session. Once you've begun exploring Help, you'll notice that
the Back button becomes active. Simply click it to view any recent
help screen.
It's been known to happen. A credit (not a charge!) appears on your
credit card or monthly bank statement. Maybe you returned an item
purchased with your ATM/Debit card or the credit card gods worked in
your favor and reduced some monthly charge. Whatever the case, how do
you go about accounting for this refund or credit?
When you return an item, enter the transaction as usual in your
check register, except enter the amount of the refund in the deposit
column. If you are returning an item purchased with a credit card,
switch to your credit card account and then enter the credit amount in
the Credit column. To make sure that the refund/credit amount is also
properly deducted from the category amount, assign the same category
to this credit transaction as you did to the original purchase. For
instance, if you purchased a new pair of jeans you probably assigned
the category Clothing to the original purchase transaction. Just make
sure that you also assign the category Clothing to the refund/credit
transaction. Money will display a Warning dialog box alerting you that
you are attempting to assign an expense category to an income item.
Just click No in this Warning box. Money then records the transaction.
By default, Money arranges the transactions in a register by
date--a setting that works pretty well most of the time. But did you
know that you could also view your transactions by the order in which
they were entered? What's the big deal, you ask? Well, with this view
you can see all of the transactions you entered in a single batch,
regardless of the transaction date. Say, for instance, that you
recorded a bunch of receipts in your check register yesterday and now
you're not sure if you entered a particular one correctly. Easy enough
to find out: just switch to the Entry Order view and take a look.
To switch to this view, click View at the top of the register
window and then select Sort By Entry Order. Money then lists your
transactions by the order in which they were entered.
Curious to see where you stand financially on an account by account
basis? If so, check out the Account Details report, which includes
both the opening and current balance of your accounts, among other
things. Such information can be extremely useful when you want to see
how far you have come in paying down your credit card debt, or how
much you have socked away into your savings account.
To run the Account Details report, select Reports from the
Navigation bar and then select What I Have. Next, select Account
Details from the Report & Chart Gallery and click the Go To
Report/Chart button. The resulting report includes your accounts, the
bank name, account number, account limit, opening balance, and current
balance. The opening balance and current balance columns are the most
important here. If you prefer, you can get down to details by omitting
the bank information (bank name and account number) from the report.
To do so, click the Customize button, select the Rows & Columns tab
from the Customize Report dialog box, deselect the option labeled Bank
Information, and click OK.
In the past two tips, we've been discussing various ways to update
security prices. You can do so manually, by simply typing the new
security price directly into the Portfolio View window. You can also
download updated security prices via the Web. Whichever method you
choose, you'll probably also want to see how those prices have changed
over time. You can easily view the price history of any security at
any time.
To do so, select Investments from the Navigation bar if necessary,
and select the Holdings View or Quotes View. Double-click the security
whose price history you want to view. Select Price History, if
necessary. A line chart shows the history of the investment. It also
shows the all time high and all time low prices. You can view
individual prices by pointing to an area on the chart. A small pop-up
window displays the date and price.
If you want to see all of the actual prices, click the Update Price
button. The resulting Update Price window appears, displaying all of
the past history of the security price. If you want to add a new
price, enter the price and click Update. Click the Close button to
close the price history window and return to the Price History view.
In these past few tips, we've talked about how to update your
accounts if you change banks. You may not want to rename an existing
account at all to reflect a bank change but instead, you may want to
create a brand new account and bring the balance forward from the old
account. That way, you have an accurate history of both your old and
new bank accounts. To create a new account, switch to the Account
Manager and then click the New Account button. Provide the requested
information in the resulting series of dialog boxes. When prompted for
the opening balance, enter the current balance of your old account as
the opening balance for the new account. Click Finish when you are
done. You can use this account from now on to record deposits and
withdrawals. Just remember to reconcile your old account as your bank
statements arrive.
When you access the Web from within Money, Money launches its own
internal Web browser and uses that to display the Web page. This means
you can continue to work in Money, switch to other areas, and keep
your Web connection open and current, without having to leave the
Money program.
The downside to using Money's internal Web browser is that you are
unable to access other areas of the Web, unless you can do so by
clicking on links (URLs). That is, there is no area for you to type in
the address of a Web site that you might want to launch. Fortunately,
you can temporarily suspend Web viewing in Money's browser and launch
your own full-blown browsing software. For instance, if you normally
use Netscape Navigator to browse the Web, clicking Full Browser
launches Navigator.
To switch to your own Web browser, click the Full Browser button
located at the top of the Money browser. When you do, your own Web
browser software is launched, and the Web site you were viewing in
Money is then loaded into the browser software. Note also that Money
is now running in a separate application window.
Regardless of which browsing method you choose (Money's internal
browser or your own), you can still switch back and forth between the
Web and Money fairly easily. As we mentioned, when you use Money's
internal browser, the Web connection appears within the Money window
and you can switch to other areas simply by clicking on that area in
the Navigation bar.
If you decide to use your own browser to view the Web, you can
switch back and forth between Money and the Web using the traditional
Windows method. That is, press Alt+Tab to switch between active
windows or click the appropriate button in the Task Bar.
Here's another lickety-split tip for you. Say that you are filling
out a transaction or entering information in a dialog box and you want
to cancel what you've done; simply press the Esc key to quickly cancel
whatever it is you are doing.
Just get back from that long dreamed of trip to Paris? Now the
drudgery returns as you attempt to track your French expenses in your
vacation account. But what do you do about that pesky foreign currency
problem? Nothing. Simply enter your transaction and let Money take
care of the conversion for you.
Here's how: Enter your transaction as you normally would, but when
you get to the payment field, right-click the mouse and select
Currency Converter from the resulting shortcut menu. In the Currency
Converter dialog box, enter the amount of the expense in the Foreign
Amount field, and select the currency in the Foreign Currency field.
Next, enter the exchange rate (which should be available in your local
newspaper or may even be found on the receipt). Select whether it is
in local or foreign units, and click OK. Money calculates the
appropriate amount in US dollars and enters it in the payment field of
the transaction. Enter the remaining details of the transaction and
press Enter.
Note: If you use the Transaction form to enter your transactions,
click the right mouse button on the Amount field and select Currency
Converter.
In this past series of tips, we've been discussing how you can deal
with foreign currencies and expenses in your Money accounts. To recap,
you use the Currency Converter to convert the currency from foreign to
domestic. If you charged expenses to your credit card while overseas,
it is likely that these charges will be converted by your credit card
company and will appear in the appropriate currency on your next
statement. The credit card company most likely uses the exchange rate
that existed on the date of your purchases, but you should certainly
check into it. To record these foreign-charged expenses, simply enter
each transaction as usual into the appropriate account.
One surefire way to keep on top of your investment performance is
to make sure the information you have for them is up-to-date. You can
have Money automatically trigger your Internet connection and download
investment prices for the day.
To do so, select Tools, Options and click the Connection tab. In
the Internet Connection section of the dialog box, select Check The
Internet For New Information Each Day When I Start Money. If you use
AOL, select Prompt Me When An Internet Connection Is Required, So I
Can Make The Connection.
Deselect the option labeled Leave My Internet Connection Open After
Downloading Internet Information. You'll also want to make sure that
Stock Quotes, News, Market Indexes And Currency Exchange Rates From
Investor is selected in the Downloading Internet Information section
of the dialog box. Finally, click OK. Now, when you start Money for
the first time each day, Money will fire up your Internet connection
(or you will be instructed to do so), download the stock quotes, and
then disconnect.
Sure, Money's Bills & Deposits area makes it easy for you to keep
an
eye on upcoming bills--but what if you fail to look in this area on
any regular basis? Well, you can make sure you don't overlook
important bills by having Money display the Bills & Deposits area
each
time you start the program. That way, you can see exactly which
bills
you need to pay that day.
Select Tools, Options, and click the General tab in the resulting
Options dialog box. In the Display section of the dialog box, click
the dropdown box and select Bills, and then click OK. The next time
you start the program the Upcoming Bills & Deposits area will be
displayed.
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FINDING A SECURITY SYMBOL
When adding investments to your accounts, you may or may not know
the ticker symbol associated with the security on the exchange. Sure
you can wrestle with the newspaper and try and find it on your own, or
you can let Money take care of it for you. To use this feature though,
you will need access to the Web.
You can locate a security symbol either as you create a new
investment or after the fact, by visiting the Details screen of a
security. In either case, you can either provide the name of the
security or leave the Name field blank. I've found that it works
better if you leave the Name field blank in Money. Click the Find
Symbol button. This action brings you to the MoneyCentral Investor
page on MSN. First, select the type of Symbol (Stock, Mutual Fund, or
Index.) Next, enter the name you want to find; this would be a company
name (in the case of stocks) or the name of the fund or index. Select
Contains, and click the Go button. MoneyCentral then returns a list of
symbols. Take note of the symbol for your security, switch back to
Money, and then enter it in the Symbol field.
As you probably know by now, Money's Financial Home Page provides a
wealth of information. One area you may find helpful when it comes to
making financial decisions is the Financial Reading On The Web section
of the page. If you have access to the Web, you'll find a number of
timely articles on money-related subject areas including retirement
and investing.
To check out the Financial Reading section of your home page,
select Money Home from the Navigation bar, if necessary. Use the
scroll bars on the right side of the screen to scroll through the
information displayed on the home page. If you can't locate the
Financial Reading section (it's usually toward the bottom of the
page), click the Personalize Your Financial Home Page link found at
the bottom left of the page. In the resulting Money Home dialog box,
make sure that the option labeled Financial Reading On The Web is
selected. Click OK.
When you're ready to download financial news and advice articles to
the Financial Reading section of your Home Page, all you need to do is
to click the Update Internet Information link. This is where you'll
need access to the Internet to perform the rest of these steps. To
update the information, click the Update Internet Information link
found at the bottom left of the home page or choose Tools, Update
Internet Information. Note that if you use a service such as AOL or
CompuServe, you may have to first log on to your Internet connection
before you perform this step.
Money then establishes a connection to the Internet and updates all
areas of Money as appropriate. For instance, it may download stock
quotes in addition to downloading articles. Click Close in the Call
Summary dialog box when Money has completed the update. The Financial
Reading On The Web section now displays all of the latest articles,
organized by subject matter and then by publisher. To read an article,
click on the article heading. This will launch the site and display
the article.
In our last tip, we showed you how to download articles to the
Financial Reading section of the Financial Home Page by updating your
Internet connection. If Money automatically disconnected from the
Internet after completing the update, don't worry; we can show you how
to fix that. You simply need to tell Money that you want your Internet
connection to remain active. To do so, select Tools, Options and click
the Connection tab of the resulting Options dialog box. In the
Internet Connection portion of the box, click on the option labeled
Leave My Connection Open After Downloading Internet Information. Click
OK when you have finished. Note that you'll have to re-establish your
Internet connection and then click on any of the article headings to
read the article.
In this series of tips we've been discussing the Financial Reading
On The Web articles that you can download from the Internet with
Money. One nifty feature is the ability to select exactly which
subject areas interest you. For instance, you can indicate that you
want to read articles about taxes, savings plans, retirement, or
investments, but are not interested in articles discussing autos,
insurance, estate planning, or education.
To customize the article subjects you want to receive, click on the
Personalize Your Financial Home Page link found at the bottom left of
the Financial Home Page. From the resulting Options dialog box, click
the Financial Reading button. In the Subjects section of the Financial
Reading dialog box, select the subjects in which you are interested.
By default, Money has selected all of the subjects, so you simply need
to click on any subject to remove it from the checkbox. Click OK
twice. The next time you download articles, Money will only include
those articles about which you have expressed an interest.
In our last tip, we showed you how to customize the Financial
Reading section so that it only downloads financial articles that
interest you. Just as you can specify which subjects you are
interested in, you can also indicate which publishers you prefer to
read. For instance, you can select Business Week Online, Worth, and
the Wall Street Journal, and indicate that you don't want articles
from USA Today or what have you.
To customize the publishers, click on the Personalize Your
Financial Home Page link found at the bottom left of the Financial
Home Page. From the resulting Options dialog box, click the Financial
Reading button. In the Publishers section of the Select Financial
Reading dialog box, select the Publishers you want. By default, Money
has selected all of the publishers, so you simply need to click on any
publisher so that it is no longer selected. Click OK twice. The next
time you download articles, Money will only include those publishers
in which you have expressed an interest.
In the past, we showed you how to use the File, Archive command to
remove old data from your Money file. In this tip, we'll show you how
to use the File, Export command to move data from one file to another.
Unlike the Archive command, which physically removes the data from the
source file, the Export command only moves a copy of the data from the
source file to the export file.
To get started, select File, Export. Select Loose QIF, and click
OK. Enter a name for the Export file and click OK. Next, select
Regular and click OK. Finally, select the accounts from which you wish
to export data, and click Continue. Money will alert you when the
export is complete. Click OK when you are done.
Just as you can export data from your Money accounts, you can also
export a report to a separate file and then open it in another program
for further manipulation. To export a report, first switch to the
report you wish to export. For instance, select Reports from the
Navigation bar, select Spending Habits, and then double-click the
Monthly Cash Flow report. The report is then displayed. Click the
right mouse button and select Export. Enter a name for the exported
file report and click OK. Note that the file is saved with the TXT
file extension, indicating that it is a text file. You can then open
the export file in your favorite word processor or spreadsheet for
further analysis.
Before you can begin recording your vacation-related expenses in
your new Vacation account, you need to set the opening balance amount.
If you've allocated a certain amount of spending money to use on
vacation, or if you've already purchased travelers' checks, you can
use that amount as the opening balance of your vacation account. Then,
as you spend your vacation money, you record each transaction--which
of course decreases the overall balance of the account.
To update the opening balance of the account, select Accounts from
the Navigation bar, and click the Account Manager button. Select the
My Vacation account from the Account Manager, click Go To Account, and
then select Details from the left side of the account window. In the
resulting Account Details screen, enter the appropriate amount in the
Opening Balance field and then select Register to return to the
Register window. Note that the Ending Balance amount calculated at the
bottom right of the window shows the amount you just entered.
In our last tip, we showed you how to set up the opening balance of
your vacation account to accommodate the spending amount you've
allocated. Another way to adjust the opening balance is to transfer
the appropriate amount of cash into your vacation amount from another
account. Say, for instance, that you want to transfer cash from your
checking account to your vacation account.
To do so, first switch to your checking account and then enter a
new transaction. Type in Vacation Spending or something similar in the
Payee field, and then enter the amount of the transfer in the Payment
field. In the Category field, scroll down to the bottom of the list,
select Transfer, and then select the name of your vacation account.
Press Enter to record the transaction. Now, right-click the
transaction you just entered and select Go To Account: My Vacation
from the resulting shortcut menu. This will switch you to the vacation
account. You'll see that the amount you just transferred into it
appears as a separate transaction in the account.
Once you've created your vacation account and set the appropriate
opening balance, you're all ready to record your vacation-related
expenses. First switch to your newly created vacation account. If
necessary, select Accounts from the Navigation bar, click the Account
Manager button, and then double-click My Vacation.
Now, simply record your expenses as you normally would, assigning
the appropriate categories as usual. When you've finished, you'll have
an accurate account of not only how much cash you brought with you,
but also how much you spent. Any negative balance in the account
indicates that you've spent more than you originally allowed, while a
positive balance shows that you've spent less than anticipated. Use
these overall balances as a guide when planning for next year's
vacation.
Is there a misspelling in your Payee list? For example, if you made
a typo while entering a payee for the first time, don't waste time
correcting it every time you use it. Instead, go to the main Payees
list and make a permanent correction.
Press Ctrl-Shift-C to jump to the Categories and Payees area, then
click Payees on the left. Right-click the payee you want to edit and
select Rename (or select it and click the Rename button). Type the
correct name in the New Name field and click OK. The change affects
both past and future entries.
In our last tip, we showed you how to update the price of a single
security. Although updating investment prices is fairly easy to do, it
can quickly become tedious if you are working with even a handful of
investments. In this tip we'll show you how to quickly and accurately
download a large number of security prices in a single shot--via the
Web, of course. Remember though, you'll need access to the Internet to
do this.
To update security prices, first select Investments in the
Navigation bar and then select Quotes View. Click the Online Quotes
button. In the resulting Get Online Quotes dialog box, select each of
the securities whose price you want to update. Click the Call button.
Money then connects to the Web and downloads the appropriate data.
The new, updated security prices appear in your Portfolio Quotes
View. Note also that in the lower left corner of the screen Money
displays a message that states when the quotes were LAST UPDATED. You
can refer to this to see how current your prices are.
By now, we hope that we have made it clear how important it is to
assign categories to your transactions. It would be pretty impossible
to track your spending without them.
To make sure that a transaction does not slip through the cracks,
you can generate a report that shows only those transactions that do
NOT have an assigned category. Armed with such a report, you can
review each transaction and assign categories as needed. To create the
report, select Reports from the Navigation bar, select Spending
Habits, then Category Spending. Click the Categories field at the
bottom of the Report window and select No Category (blank). The
resulting category report will only include those transactions that do
not have a category currently assigned.
When you enter transactions in your Money accounts, do you
categorize each and every one? If not, start today. Categorizing is
crucial for tracking past finances and budgeting. Categories allow you
to break down how much you spend per week, month, or year, on any
given expense, such as food, housing or even video rental.
What if Money doesn't have categories that match your spending
habits? No problem. You can create new ones.
Select Go, Categories, or press Ctrl-Shift-C. Right-click the
category area for which you'd like to create a new category (or,
choose any category, for that matter) and select New. For example,
click on Charitable Donations to begin setting up a new category for
your favorite charity. Now just follow along with the wizard. Choose
whether you want to create a new category or subcategory; click Next;
type a Name; select a group; then click Finish. Repeat these steps to
create as many new categories as you need.
In our last tip, we showed you how to create a report that breaks
down your category spending by subcategory. The resulting bar chart is
useful in that it helps you compare each subcategory amount. You can
also display this information as a pie chart, which can be helpful
when want to see how each subcategory amount falls in relation to the
whole category. To switch chart types, simply click the pie chart icon
displayed at the bottom of the Report window. The resulting chart
shows your category spending as a pie chart, with each slice of the
pie representing an individual subcategory.
One of the most important lessons you'll learn from an investment
strategist is that you should strive to have a diversified portfolio.
You definitely don't want to put all of your investment eggs in the
same basket, so to speak. For instance, you should invest in stocks,
bonds, and mutual funds, rather than holding all of your future in the
volatile stock market. By diversifying, you can minimize risk and
perhaps achieve a greater return.
The Investment Allocation View in the Investment Portfolio can help
you get a sense of your own investment diversification. This view
displays a pie chart that graphs all of your investments and then
organizes them by type. To switch to this view, select Investments
from the Navigation bar and then select Investment Allocation.
Tired of seeing that Automatic Backup dialog box (asking if you
want to back up your file) every time you exit Money? You're perfectly
capable of remembering to back up when you need to, right? Then
silence that reminder.
Select Tools, Options, and on the General tab under Backup, click
the down arrow and select Do Not Back Up (or Back Up Without Asking
Me, if that's your preference). Click OK, and now you can exit Money
at will--no questions asked.
(Note: Depending on your version of Money, you may find backup
options on the Backup tab of the Options dialog box.)
Are there categories you simply never use? Whatever you do, don't
go through the list one-by-one, deleting those that you don't use.
Money will sort through them all in a snap.
Select Tools, Options and click the Categories tab. Under Use
Standard Categories, make sure Ask Me Before Removing Each Category is
selected, then click Remove Unused Categories. Money will present you
with a dialog box telling you the category it is about to remove.
Click Yes to confirm, or No to skip that one. Continue clicking Yes or
No until the clean-up is complete.
Want all those categories back? In our next tip, we'll show you how
to restore the Money originals without changing any custom entries...
In our last tip, we showed you how to save a report as a Favorite:
Assuming that you have just created the report, select Favorites, Add
To Favorites, type a name for the report and click OK. From now on,
you can select the report by name from the Favorites menu.
Favorites menu getting a bit cluttered? Delete the reports you know
you'll never need again. Press Ctrl-Shift-R to switch to the Reports
Gallery, then select My Favorites. Select the report you want to
delete, click the Delete button at the bottom of the screen, then
click Yes to confirm.
While we're on the subject of favorite reports, here's how to
remove a report that is no longer a favorite. Select Reports from the
Navigation bar and select My Favorites. Then, from the Report & Chart
Gallery, select the report you want to delete and click the Delete
button at the bottom of your screen. Click Yes in the resulting dialog
box to confirm the deletion.
If, after some consideration, you decide to delete a category
outright, you can do that. Just remember that when you delete a
category, all transactions that are currently assigned to that
category will be affected.
To delete a category, select Categories from the Navigation bar and
make sure Categories is selected. From the resulting Category list,
select the category you want to delete and then click the Delete
button. In the resulting Delete Category dialog box, Money instructs
you to select a new category in which to assign to the existing
transactions. If you wish, you can select a new Category and
Subcategory, or you can leave these fields blank. When you leave the
fields blank, Money goes ahead and deletes the category designation
altogether, which means that the affected transactions will not have
an assigned category at all. Click OK when you have finished.
Here's a quick way to customize any report after it's been
generated. Simply double-click the date line that appears at the top
of every report to call up the Customize Report dialog box. Make your
changes and then click OK to return to the report. You're in, you're
out!
Considering buying a house or refinancing? For current rates and/or
to find a loan, you may want to check out MSN MoneyCentral.
Point your Web browser at
http://moneycentral.msn.com/loan/home.asp
and you'll see current rates on the left side of the window. While
you're there, have MoneyCentral run some numbers for you. Under
Estimate Monthly Payment, enter the amount you plan to borrow (and
adjust the Interest Rate and Length of Loan, if necessary), and then
click Estimate.
If and when you do take out a mortgage, be sure to set up a new
Loan Account in your current Money file. (In the Accounts Manager,
select New Account-or in newer versions of Money, select File, New,
New Account--enter the bank's name, click Next, select Loan as the
account type, and so on.)
As stated in our previous tips, Money's Reconciliation feature
helps you make sure your check register matches up with the statements
produced by your bank. One way to make sure that no transaction falls
through the cracks is to produce a report that lists all reconciled
transactions (or unreconciled transactions, for that matter). While
there is not a Reconciliation report per se, you can easily customize
one of Money's existing reports to do what you want. For instance, we
used the Account Transactions report.
To create the report, select Reports from the Navigation bar and
select Spending Habits from the left side of the screen. Next, select
Account Transactions from the Report & Chart Gallery and click the
Customize button. Select the Rows & Columns tab and then select the
option labeled Cleared Status from the Include Fields section of the
Customize Report dialog box. This will list the status of each
transaction in the report. Next, select the Details tab, and in the
Status field select Reconciled Transactions. Click OK and then click
Go To Report/Chart. Money produces a listing of all transactions for
the current account that have been reconciled.
In our last tip we showed you how to produce a reconciliation
report, which displays all transactions that you have recorded as
reconciled by your bank. You'll want to save this report as a favorite
so that you can access it again. To do so, with the report still
current, right-click anywhere on the report and select Add To
Favorites from the resulting shortcut menu. In the Add To Favorite
dialog box, enter a name for the report, such as Reconciled
Transactions, and click OK. You may also want to update the title of
the report. To do so, click the Customize button and enter the
appropriate name in the Title field. Click OK when you are done. The
next time you want to run the Reconciliation report, select Favorites,
Favorite Reports, and then select Reconciled Transactions.
Once you've recorded your vacation transactions, you can generate a
number of reports that list all of your vacation-related expenses.
Here's how: select Reports from the Navigation bar and select Account
Transactions. If you created a separate vacation account, select My
Vacation (or whatever you named the account) from the Accounts field
at the bottom of the window. Money will then produce a report that
only includes those transactions from the My Vacation account.
If you created a vacation classification in your regular account,
click the Customize button and select the Classification 1 tab from
the resulting Customize Report dialog box. Click the Clear All button
and then select Vacation from the list. Click OK when you are done.
Money produces a report that only includes transactions from the
vacation classification.
Need to make a copy of your current Money file for use on another
machine? If so, you've probably noticed that Money doesn't offer a
File, Save As or File, Copy command to help you do that. Fear not, we
have just the solution for you.
The easiest way to create a copy of your Money file is to do so
from your Windows 95/98 desktop. If necessary, switch to the Windows
Desktop. Then, locate the file you want to copy, (most likely stored
in the folder named MyDocuments). When you track down the file, select
it, click the right mouse button, and select Copy from the resulting
shortcut menu. Next, click the right mouse button again, and choose
Paste. Windows creates a copy of the file and stores it in the current
location with the name, Copy of filename. Press F2 and then type a new
name for the file. That's it!
Is your Payee list getting really long? Or just plain cluttered?
Head over to the main Payees list and delete the ones you never use.
(Note: The Payee list appears when you click the down arrow in the Pay
To field on a transaction form.)
Press Ctrl-Shift-C to jump to the Categories and Payees area, then
click Payees on the left. You'll see your Payees listed
alphabetically. Right-click one you want to remove from the list and
select Delete. Alternatively, select it and click the Delete button at
the bottom of the screen.
(Tip: Check the Last Paid column for Payees; if you haven't used a
payee name in over a year, delete it).
Not sure if you paid last month's water bill? Sure, you could
search through your check register for the corresponding transaction,
but why make more work for yourself when you don't have to? You can
quickly check to see if a bill has been paid or if a deposit has been
made by checking out the Bills area.
To do this, select Bills from the Navigation bar. Then select
Recently Paid Bills to display all bills and deposits that have been
recorded in the last 60 days. Check to see whether the water bill in
question is displayed. If so, refer to the Status column; it will tell
you if a bill has been paid or if a deposit has been received.
When you want to see how your investments are faring in terms of
market gain, check out the Performance View in the Investment
Portfolio. This view includes the current market price for all of your
investments, the Gain (or Loss) of a given security, the Gain (or
Loss) expressed as a percentage, and the Annual Return on the
investment. This information is generated for all of your investment
holdings. To switch to this view, choose Investments from the
Navigation bar and select Performance View.
Money's Financial Home Page is a helpful tool in that it provides a
great deal of information regarding your finances. For example, your
home page can display the Chart Of The Day, which offers a quick,
graphical representation of your finances each time you start Money.
To add the Chart Of The Day to your Financial Home Page, click the
Personalize Your Financial Home Page link found at the bottom of the
Financial Home Page and select Chart Of The Day from the list of
options. (A checkmark should appear to the left of the option,
indicating that it is currently selected.) Click OK. Money then adds
the Chart Of The Day to the home page, most likely at the very bottom
of the page.
Once you have added the Chart Of The Day to your Financial Home
Page, Money cycles through five different chart types, with a new one
appearing each time you start Money. If you prefer, you can select
exactly which charts you want or don't want Money to display. For
instance, you can deselect Asset And Liabilities or Current
Liabilities from the list and Money will then only display the
remaining three charts. You can even select a single chart, such as
Income And Expenses, as your sole choice. When you do, Money will only
show that chart each time you start the program.
To specify which charts you want Money to display, click the
Personalize Your Financial Home Page link and click the Chart Of The
Day button. In the resulting Select Chart Of The Day dialog box,
select the charts you want to display on your Money Home Page.
Remember that a checkmark indicates that the option will appear on
your home page. Click OK twice.
In addition to specifying the charts that you want to appear on
your Money Home Page, you can also include a chart that has been
designated as a favorite as a Chart Of The Day. If you haven't done so
already, designate the chart you want to include in the Chart Of The
Day as favorite. To do so, select Reports from the Navigation bar and
then select the appropriate chart. Next, with the chart displayed,
select Favorites, Add To Favorites, enter a name, and click OK. Once
you've assigned a chart Favorite status, it automatically appears as
an option in the Chart Of The Day dialog box. To then add the favorite
chart to the Chart Of The Day, click the Personalize Your Financial
Home Page link and click the Chart Of The Day button. In the resulting
Select Chart Of The Day dialog box, notice that your favorite charts
appear in the list by name. Select the favorite chart you want to
display on your Money Home Page and click OK twice.
The Chart Of The Day that appears on your Financial Home Page
provides a snapshot of your finances. If you want to get a closer look
at the chart and its data, right-click the chart and select Zoom from
the resulting shortcut menu. This displays your current Chart Of The
Day in all its glory in the Reports & Charts window. You can then
customize the chart options, change the range of dates, print it, or
what have you. Note that changes you make to the chart options while
the chart is displayed in the Reports & Charts window do not carry
over to the chart displayed on your home page.
As shown in our previous tip, the Details screen offers a quick way
to produce a listing of all transactions assigned to a specific
category. This transaction listing includes the check number, date,
payee, and amount of each transaction. By default, Money lists the
transaction in order by check number. If you want to change the order
of these transactions, you simply need to click the column heading of
the column you want to sort by. For instance, to see the transactions
listed by date, click the heading of the Date column. Note that you
can also change the sort order of a particular column, either in
ascending or descending order. Click the column once to sort in
descending order (highest to lowest) and click it again to sort in
ascending (lowest to highest) order.
When you open an account, you see all of the transactions inside
sorted by date, with the most recent appearing at the bottom of the
list. But that doesn't mean you have to keep them that way. Money
offers multiple sorting options for account transactions.
Click anywhere on the View line (just below your account name), and
select one of the sort options in the dropdown list. For example, you
might select By Entry Order to arrange everything in the exact order
in which it was entered, just like a real checkbook.
If and when you decide you liked Money's default arrangement
better, you can always switch back. Click anywhere on the View line
and select By Date (or Sort By Date).
We're discussing how to use categories to keep track of specific
spending and income items in Money. Is the term 'School' easier for
you to remember than 'Education'? No problem. You can change the name
of any of Money's default categories on a whim. And don't worry--you
won't have to go back through your accounts and replace all
occurrences of the old category name with the new one; Money changes
all of the existing entries for you.
Select Go, Categories, or press Ctrl-Shift-C. Right-click the
category you'd like to rename and select Modify. Type the desired name
in the New Name field, then click OK. Both existing and future entries
will reflect the change.
Our last tip showed you how to rename a report that you have
designated as a favorite. You can also change a report's title, which
is the descriptive name of the report that appears when you generate
the report. The report title is entirely separate from the report
name, and the it allows you much more creativity than the report name
does. To change a report's title, select the report whose title you
want to change from the Report & Chart Gallery. Click the Customize
button. In the Title field of the resulting Customize Report dialog
box, enter the new title for the report. Click OK.
Say that this month's cable bill is higher than usual because of
the Pay-Per-View movie you ordered. No problem. You can update the
details of the recurring bill payment to account for this higher
amount. If you do, this change will affect the current occurrence of
the bill only.
To make a change to a specific bill, select Bills from the
Navigation bar and then select Pay Bills. In the list of transactions,
select the bill you want to change and click the Edit Details button.
Make any changes necessary and click OK. Note that when you make a
change to the details of a bill, the label Updated appears in the
Status column.
We've droned on about how important categories and subcategories
are for helping you get a grip on your personal finances. In this tip
we'll show you yet another way that they can pay off, by creating a
subcategory report. This kind of report shows how much each
subcategory adds to the overall category total. For instance, you can
see how much you spend on your overall automobile expenses each month
broken down by subcategories such as fuel, service, and insurance.
To create a subcategory report, first select Reports from the
Navigation bar. Next, select Spending Habits and then select Who Is
Getting My Money from the Report & Chart Gallery. In the Categories
field at the bottom of the window, select the appropriate category
from the list. For example, select Auto. Then click the Customize
button. Select the Rows & Columns tab in the resulting Customize
Report dialog box. In the Rows field, select Subcategories, and click
OK. Finally, click the Go To Report/Chart button. Money produces a
customized bar chart that displays a separate bar for each subcategory
amount.
As you enter a transaction in your Account Register, Money saves
the information. For example, the person or entity to whom a check was
written is saved as a Payee. From then on, when you enter a new
transaction, you can click the down arrow in the Pay To field and
select that Payee. Hooray--you've saved yourself some data entry.
Want to save yourself some more? Instead of typing a dollar amount
in the Amount field, right-click anywhere in the transaction form and
select Previous Amounts. Select the one that matches the current
transaction (assuming there's one that matches--if not, you'll have to
type it in), and Money inserts the amount for you. Of course, you'll
still need to type in a date and adjust the Memo, if necessary.
(Note: This feature is also handy as a reference--for example, if
you're entering the electric bill and you want to compare this month's
bill to the last few.)
Money's internal Web browser works for the most part the same way
any other Web browser, such as Netscape Navigator or Internet
Explorer, operates. Here's an overview of the controls found in the
internal Web browser:
The first four buttons are similar to what you'd find in your
favorite Web browser. The first two, Back and Forward, move you to the
previous and next Web pages you've viewed. The Stop button cancels the
current page from loading, and the Refresh button reloads the current
page. The final three buttons are unique to Money's internal Web
browser. Clicking the Return To Money button brings you back to the
last area in which you worked in Money but keeps your Web connection
running. The Full Browser button launches your own Web browser (which
we'll discuss in our next tip), and the Disconnect button closes the
Web browser and disconnects you from the Internet.
In our last tip, we introduced classes. Similar to categories,
classes are a means of separating your transactions into groups--not
to replace categories, but to complement them. (For example, if you
want to track all transactions related to a particular family member,
regardless of the category, you might create a class for that person
under the classification Family Members.) To recap, press
Ctrl-Shift-C; select 'Classification 1' in the list on the left side
of the window; select a type--in this case, Family Members; click OK;
click the New button, then type the name of a class you'd like to
create within this classification; click OK.
Now that you've set up some classes, the next step is assigning
them to your transactions. Enter or edit a transaction in one of your
accounts, as usual, and you'll notice that a new field--the
classification you just created--has been added to the entry form.
Simply use this field to select a class for that transaction, just as
you would a category. (Note: You can also go back and assign classes
to existing transactions.)
In our last tip, we showed you how to rename a category. Another
option is to re-categorize the category. That is, switch it to another
category designation altogether. For instance, if you think Recreation
is an all around better category to use than entirely separate
categories for Golf and Tennis, then simply make the switch.
Select Categories from the Navigation bar and make sure that
Categories is selected. From the resulting Category list, select the
category you want to re-categorize, and click the Move button. In the
resulting Move Category dialog box, select the new category name and
subcategory as necessary, and click OK. Money will re-categorize all
of the existing transactions with the new category name.
Once you've set up your initial investment accounts in Money,
you'll use the Investments place to handle all of your subsequent
investment tracking needs. Unlike the Investment Register, which only
shows transactions for a single investment account, Money's Portfolio
Views enable you to monitor the performance of all of the investments
in your portfolio. You can see how particular securities are faring
and update prices, as well as chart the ups and downs of your favorite
security. Over the next series of tips, we'll show you how to use each
of the Portfolio Views to gain the best view of your investments.
First, to switch to Portfolio View, choose Investments from the
Navigation bar. Along the left side of the screen are a number of
options for tracking your investments. The first such option, Holdings
View, displays a summary of all of the investment accounts and the
individual investments in your Portfolio. The investments are grouped
by account and within each account group is a list of all of the
individual securities and their most recent price, the number of
shares, and the current market value. In addition, a total market
value is calculated for each account and the overall value of the
portfolio is calculated at the very bottom of the window in the Total
Portfolio Value figure.
ADJUST TRANSACTION NUMBER USING PLUS AND MINUS KEYS
Last month, we mentioned that Money offers shortcut keys for
changing the date one day at a time in either direction. Click once
inside the Date field, then press the plus (+) or minus (-) key on
your numeric keypad to advance the date one day forward or back,
respectively.
Similarly, you can use these plus (+) and minus (-) keys to
increase or decrease the transaction number. By default, Money
advances these numbers by one each time you enter a new transaction,
but suppose you're entering items out of your checkbook that just
happen to be out of order. Rather than retyping the entire number,
just click inside the Number field and press plus (+) or minus (-)
until you get the number you want.
Entering the date of a transaction? Don't waste time clicking the
down arrow next to the Date field and selecting the correct day or
manually typing in the correct numbers. Money offers shortcut keys for
changing the date one day at a time in either direction.
Click once in the Date field to place the cursor there, if it isn't
already. Press the plus (+) key on your numeric keypad to advance the
date by one day, or click the minus (-) key to go back one day. (Tip:
Press and hold either key to move quickly through dates in that
direction.)
You need to record the foreign currency rate in your vacation
account, but you find that Money's Currency Converter doesn't offer
you an option naming the country you traveled to or the currency you
used. Don't worry, you can add it yourself.
To do so, select Tools, Options and click the Currencies tab in the
Options dialog box. Click the Add New Currency button, enter the name
of the currency and symbol, and click OK. Then select the newly-added
currency from the list of currencies and enter the appropriate details
in the Exchange Rate field. Click OK. The next time you access the
Currency Converter, the newly added currency will be listed.
If you decide to schedule a payment as recurring, the easiest way
to do it is to select an existing transaction so that you don't have
to re-type any information, except for maybe the next due date. To
specify a payment as recurring, simply select the transaction from
your check register that you want to designate as recurring and
right-click the mouse button. Select Add To Bills & Deposits from the
resulting shortcut menu. Then follow along with the on-screen
instructions in the Create New Scheduled Payment dialog box to
complete the process.
So, you say you're ready to buckle down and start saving more for
retirement (or start saving, period)? Good for you. It may mean the
difference between just getting by and living the retirement life
you've always dreamed about. The easiest way to cut back on spending
(so you can save more), is to establish a strict (yet reasonable)
budget and stick to it. Without a plan, the money just flies out of
your hands, and--surprise, surprise--there's nothing left for your
future.
Now then, let's create that budget. As a good starting point, use
Money's AutoBudget feature to create a budget based on past spending
and earnings. (Note: You'll want to use this feature only if you've
entered at least one month's worth of information, categories
included.) Press Ctrl-Shift-P to switch to the Budget Planner area,
and click on Budget Planner; now click the Expenses line item. At the
bottom of the screen, click AutoBudget. Select each category you want
to add to the budget, then click OK.
Money completes your budget using previously entered information.
(Don't worry--you can change anything that doesn't look right.) Take
some time to look over all those numbers, and in our next tips, we'll
show you how to tweak that budget.
Over the last three tips, we showed you some basics for setting up
a budget. Now let's look at how all that hard work can help you stick
to a plan.
As Money recommends, you'll want to print out your budget and put
it somewhere visible, so you can keep these figures in mind throughout
the year. Press Ctrl-Shift-R to switch to the Reports and Charts area,
and in the Report and Chart gallery, double-click My Budget. Now
select File, Print (or, Ctrl-P), and so on to print a copy.
Two tips back, we showed you how to create a budget automatically,
based on previous spending and earnings. Press Ctrl-Shift-P to go to
the Budget area, click Budget Planner and click the Expenses line
item. Click the AutoBudget button; select each category you want to
add to the budget, then click OK. The result is a list of estimated
expenses by category--a good starting point, but certainly not the
finished product.
If an expense appears in the Occasional column, but will be a
monthly expense, select it and select Every Month in the field at the
bottom.
And now for the tricky one: Custom. If you spend money on
something, say, four times a year, or the amount you spend on
something varies greatly from one month to the next, you'll want to
create a custom budget for that category. Select the category, such as
Gifts. In the Customize Spending dialog box, click the Custom radio
button and enter an amount for each month, then click OK. The total
amount for the year will appear in the Occasional column.
In our last tip, we showed you how to create a budget automatically
based on previous spending and earnings: Press Ctrl-Shift-P to go to
the Budget area, click Budget Planner and click the Expenses line
item. Click the AutoBudget button; select each category you want to
add to the budget, then click OK. The result is a list of estimated
expenses by category--a good starting point, but certainly not the
finished product. Time for a little budget tweaking.
First off, there's no need to display every category in your
budget. Ditch those that don't apply to you. One at a time,
right-click any unnecessary categories and select Remove.
Next, edit any category that doesn't look quite right. For example,
if you did a lot of traveling recently, the monthly amount next to
Automobile: Gasoline will be a bit inflated. Select this category, or
any other you want to edit, then type a more realistic amount in the I
Plan To Spend field at the bottom of the screen. In the same way, you
can adjust amounts in categories on which you plan to cut back.
In our last tip, we showed you how to print out your budget (to use
as a constant reminder): Press Ctrl-Shift-R to switch to the Reports
and Charts area; double-click My Budget; then select File, Print (or,
Ctrl-P). Now for the true test--comparing your budget to reality. Once
you've been 'on' your budget for at least a month or two, go to the
Reports area and double-click How I'm Doing On My Budget. The result
is a bar graph displaying each category, Actual vs. Budget.
(Tip-in-a-tip: To change the time represented by the graph,
right-click the dates at the top and select Change Date. Take your
pick of options under Date Range; for example, you might select Last 3
Months under Date, then click View.)
In our last two tips, we showed you how to invoke the Paycheck
wizard to let you enter all of your paycheck information (gross pay,
deductions, and so on) only once. Enter your paycheck as a
transaction, making sure to click on the Paycheck category (under
Special), then follow along with the wizard to complete all relevant
information. From now on, you can select the appropriate Payee (most
likely, the name of your employer) on a new transaction form, and
Money completes all of your paycheck information.
So, what happens if two members of your family work for the same
company? Unless you make the exact same amount and have the same
withholdings, you'll want to create two separate Payees for these
entries. When entering these paychecks for the first time (to invoke
the Paycheck Wizard), simply use two different payee names in the From
field of the transaction form. For example, you might use
'Tipworld--Bob' and 'TipWorld--Marie.'
Do you enter your paycheck information every single pay period?
Stop wasting your time. The Paycheck wizard lets you enter this
information once and forget it.
Let's assume you are about to enter a paycheck deposit in your
checking account register. Under Category (on the transaction form),
don't choose Wages and Salary. Look further down the category list,
and under Special, select Paycheck. Up pops the Paycheck wizard. Leave
the 'Yes' option selected and click Next. Follow along with the
wizard, answering questions about retirement and savings withholdings,
and you'll find yourself in the paycheck dialog box. On the Wages tab,
double-click the first field in the Amount column, type your gross
pay, then click Done. Now click the Taxes tab and enter an amount for
each of the five tax items, as applicable. Click Done. In our next
tip, we'll tell you how to enter information on the other two tabs.
In our last tip, we showed you how to invoke the Paycheck Wizard,
so you can enter all of your paycheck information--gross pay,
deductions, and so on--once and forget it. Enter your paycheck as a
transaction, making sure to click on the Paycheck category (under
Special), then follow along with the wizard to complete all relevant
information.
When you get to the Paycheck dialog box, knowing where to place
different types of retirement holdings can be a bit tricky. If you
make contributions to a retirement plan, such as a 401k, enter these
on the Deductions Before Taxes tab. However, if you make contributions
beyond your pre-tax limit (some employers allow you to do this),
you'll want to enter those on the Deductions After Taxes tab. In both
cases, set up the contribution as a transfer (choose the Transfer
category), so the money goes directly into the appropriate accounts.
The next time payday rolls around, simply select the appropriate
Payee (most likely, the name of your employer), and Money completes
all of your paycheck information. To view withholdings and deductions,
right-click the transaction and select Split.
In our last series of tips, we showed you how to invoke the
Paycheck wizard to let you enter all of your paycheck
information--gross pay, deductions, and so on--only once. Enter your
paycheck as a transaction, making sure to select the Paycheck category
(under Special), then follow along with the wizard to complete all
relevant information. From now on, you can select the appropriate
Payee (most likely, the name of your employer) on a new transaction
form, and Money will complete all of your paycheck information.
If you get paid on the same day every month, or say, every two
weeks, you can enter your paycheck as a bill, so that Money will
prompt you to enter it regularly. Simply right-click a paycheck
deposit on your account register and select Add To Bills Place.
Complete the Frequency and Next Due Date fields, then click Finish.
Assuming you have the Bill Reminder turned on, it will remind you when
payday is coming up. (You'll also see a reminder on Money's Home
page.) You can then opt to enter it in your account with a simple
click of the Enter button, as if it were a bill.
In our last tip, we showed you how to change the amount of advanced
warning Money's Bill Reminder gives you before upcoming bills: Select
Tools, Options; click the Bills tab; change the number of days (and
select Count Only Business Days, if desired), then click OK. However,
if you open Money at least once a day, and you always start Money at
the Home page (where a list of reminders appears anyway), you might
find the Bill Reminder to be a bit of a nuisance.
To turn off the Bill Reminder, select Tools, Options and click the
Bill Reminder tab. Deselect Use Bill Reminder, then click OK.
Want to see exactly how your checking account balance will be
affected after you pay all the bills due this week? Don't waste time
checking each one off individually. Money can mark them all in one
fell swoop.
Press Ctrl-Shift-B to switch to the Bills area, if you haven't
already. Click on the Bill Calendar line item to open it, then
right-click the day for which you'd like to check the balance--for
example, the last day of the week--and select Show Transactions. All
bills due up until that point now appear checked, and a running
balance appears in the New Balance After Entering column.
In our last tip, we showed you how to check your balance after a
certain number of bills are paid (from the Bills area). Press
Ctrl-Shift-B to switch to the Bills area; on the Bill Calendar,
right-click the day for which you'd like to check the balance and
select Show Transactions. Now check the New Balance After Entering
column for the resulting balance.
You'll also notice there's a Balance Forecast graph on your screen
to display your forecasted balance pictorially. (Tip: Click the down
arrow at the top-left of the graph to switch from All Accounts With
Scheduled Bills And Deposits to Checking.) Want to see these results
projected over a longer period of time? Click the right arrow at the
top of the Bill Calendar. Each time you advance to a new month, the
forecast grows by that amount of time.
Money's Bill Reminder appears every time you start Windows (even if
you never launch Money) to remind you of upcoming payments and
deposits. By default, it reminds you 10 days before a given payment is
due (and every day after that until you pay it!), but if you prefer,
you can change that time frame. For example, you might choose to be
notified 10 BUSINESS days before a bill is due.
Select Tools, Options, and click the Bills tab. Select Count Only
Business Days (and change the number of days, if desired), then click
OK.
On the road a lot? You can manage your money over the Web from any
computer through MSN MoneyCentral. Just as you might use a Web-based
e-mail account to retrieve your e-mail from any computer, you can do
the same to access information from a Money 2001 file (although we
must admit, it's a little scarier having all your finances out there).
Select Tools, Access My Money Data on the Web, and then click the
Setup button. Create a Passport account, if you haven't already, then
log on to Passport. Review all of the account information, then scroll
down to the bottom of the page and click the Next button. Wait as
MoneyCentral Synchronization is completed, then click Done.
In our next tip, we'll discuss accessing your Money data on the
Web.
In our last tip, we told you how to press the Alt key in
combination with your keyboard's left or right arrow key to jump back
and forward, respectively. There's another keyboard shortcut you
shouldn't be without: To jump to your Home page, hold down Alt and
press--you guessed it--the Home key.
Want to jump back to the page you were just viewing? And then
forward again? Similar to a browser window, Money 2001 offers Back and
Forward buttons to take you where you want to go. But if you don't
want to take your hands off the keyboard, there's an even faster way:
Hold down the Alt key and press the left or right arrow to jump
forward or back, respectively.
Two tips back, we told you how to press the Alt key in combination
with your keyboard's left or right arrow key to jump back and forward,
respectively. Then we mentioned that you could jump to your Home page
by pressing Alt-Home. Want keyboard shortcuts for jumping to other
oft-visited pages? Rather than list them all here, we'll just tell you
where to look:
Select the menu bar's Go command and check the resulting list of
Ctrl-Shift combos. For example, you can jump to the House Center by
pressing Ctrl-Shift-H. Take a few minutes to memorize those you expect
to use frequently, and you'll be humming around Money in no time.
Want to change your Money 2001 color scheme? You can't choose from
a wide variety of color combinations, as you can in Windows, but Money
does offer a few different looks for text and backgrounds.
Select Tools, Options, and on the General tab under Color Schemes,
click the down arrow and take your pick. White on Black and Black on
White offer the most dramatic changes (and basically wipe out all
colors other than white or black). Also, you won't notice much
difference among Light Colors, Dark Colors and Money 2001 Default
Colors, other than the fact that the first two wipe the background
image off the left side of the Money page. Whatever your choice, click
OK to keep the change.
By default, when you launch Money 2001, you land on Your Money Home
Page. But if you always jump immediately to something else, such as
your checking account register, start there instead. You can always go
home later.
Select Tools, Options and on the General tab, under Display, click the
down arrow next to Start Money With This Page Open. Select the desired
starting point, such as Account Register, then click OK. The next time
you launch Money, you're right where you want to be.
Want to enter a transaction in Money 2001 without opening the
entire application? A perfect job for Money Express.
If you don't see the Money Express window on screen, double-click its
icon in the tray of your taskbar. Inside the Money Express window,
click the New Transaction button and then select the type of
transaction you wish to enter. Complete the necessary fields, and then
click
(Note: If you don't see a Money Express icon in the tray of your
Taskbar, you've turned this feature off. To turn it back on, open
Money and select Tools, Options. Click the Bills and Deposits tab,
select Use Money Express, then click OK.)
Upon installing Money 2001 on your system, you probably noticed a
Money Express icon in the tray of your taskbar. Whenever you start
your computer, this mini-version of Money appears on screen,
displaying such information as account balances and upcoming bills.
If you don't want to do anything Money-related at the moment, click
Close, and Money Express disappears. At any time, you can launch Money
Express by double-clicking its icon on your taskbar. To launch the
full version of Money 2001, click the Start Money button (or click any
account, bill or deposit in the Money Express window).
(Note: If you don't see a Money Express icon in the tray of your
Taskbar, you've turned this feature off. To turn it back on, open
Money and select Tools, Options. Click the Bills and Deposits tab,
select Use Money Express, then click OK.)
Tired of reading ads on your Home Page, or any other page for that
matter (for example all the links to Etrade)? Then turn them off.
Select Tools, Options and on the General tab, under Display, select
Turn Off Sponsorship and Shopping Links. Click OK.
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