Money Management Software Makes Internet Home

Keeping your accounts organized has never been easier; but which software package should you use?
    
Number crunching comes naturally to computers, so it's a no-brainer to enlist your PC to help out with your personal finances.

You've probably heard of the two market leaders: Microsoft Money and Quicken. Both have been around for ages and built up loyal followings. They come with robust security features, like data encryption and password management, and make it a snap to drink down those online bank statements, presenting the results in friendly tables. Balancing your checkbook is a cinch. It's easy to draw up a budget and tag your expense items to make sure that you're following the plan.

Software differences

Telling the twins apart is a different matter altogether. Money and Quicken can read each others' databases, their on-screen interfaces look and feel only slightly different, and each is available in the form of a full-featured website. If you're a Mac user, Quicken used to be the only game in town. Now, Microsoft changes that limitation with its online option.

You might need a test drive to make an informed decision between the two. Microsoft Money gives you a free 60-day trial of several of its personal finance editions. Quicken does the same, but only for the web-based version. Try both, and see which quirks appeal to you and which ones don't.  Then, you can cancel the trial if you don't like it. It's that simple.

You can't beat "free"

Underneath the top tier, you have a few options that won't cost you a dime, ever.

GnuCash started as a Quicken clone, and now sports a strikingly complete feature set with double entry accounting (just like its commercial competitors), investment portfolio tracking, reports, and graphs. It's an open-source project, run by unpaid volunteers, and the lack of corporate backing means that features like simple Quicken imports are missing. But for expense tracking and account balancing, it's hard to beat the bang for zero bucks.

The entirely web-based Mint goes in a different direction. Instead of going head-to-head with Money and Quicken, Mint asks for some log-in information for your bank accounts, credit cards, and so on, and then spits out email notifications when your balances run low, or you've been spending too much in restaurants. It's free, simple to use, and takes just minutes to set up. But it won't balance your checkbook, and the likes of Quicken have many more reporting tools, calculators, and other handy features.

Your money, your choice

If you want the best of the best, try and buy Money or Quicken. Misers may be satisfied with GnuCash.  Either way, Mint might help you stick to a budget and make better financial decisions. In the end, it's more important to start tracking your finances than to find the perfect tool for the job.

The ingredients are potent. Go mix up your favorite personal finance cocktail today!