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FREE Microsoft Money Replacement – Mint.com

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Microsoft money replacement

Have you been using Microsoft Money, but are now looking for an replacement/alternative?

Join the club.

I searched for months to find financial tracking software that works for me and have used everything on this page at one time or another.

Mint.com a free replacement that works great

  • Mint.com is a FREE online alternative to Microsoft Money.  I have personally tested and used Mint.com and recommend it as the best free alternative.  Another free option would of course be to use a spreadsheet.

YNAB and other non-free alternatives

  • You Need A Budget (YNAB) – In my opinion, this is the best budgeting software on the market… and they offer a generous 60-day free trial.  Many PF Bloggers use YNAB to manage their finances.
  • Mvelopes – Applies financial software technology to the traditional envelope method of budgeting and is another popular choice among PF Bloggers.  They offer a 14-day free trial and their prices are as follows: Quarterly = $39.60 ($13.20/mth) – 1 Yr = $129.60 $10.80/mth) – 2 Yr = $189.60 ($7.90/mth)
  • Quicken – Touted as America’s #1 Personal Finance software, Quicken offers a variety of products ranging from $0 (online version) to $99 (business version).

Google personal finance templates

I am not opposed to paying for software, but I am also not afraid to examine free tools to see if they meet my needs.  There are a lot of useful templates Google Docs inventories, I tested many before deciding to create my own from a template.  I especially like the rating system, which allows me to see which templates have been more useful to more users without having to waste my time trying each one.

  • Manage Your Expenses – This section mostly gives you a choice between Family Budgets or Personal Budgets, but also has several spreadsheet templates for Wedding Budgets and even offers a Home Improvement Spreadsheet.
  • Pay Off Your Debt – This section is currently offering payment calculators.  Specifically there is a Credit Card Payoff Calculator, a Mortgage Payoff Calculator, and a Simple Loan Calculator.
  • Grow Your Savings – This section offers several tools to help you get you manage and grow your savings account including registers, ledgers, & calculators.

What do I use?

I am currently testing the trial of YNAB. I have also used Mint.com, which is free… but mostly I just use a simple budget spreadsheet I created and keep in Google Docs.

Tax Preparation Help – Online, Software, Professional, and Paper

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More Tax Preparation Help

Matt has already looked at TurboTax online this week.  While TurboTax is still my personal favorite tax program and I will be using the PC based TurboTax Deluxe this year, there are many other options for tax preparation.  Let’s review a few of them today.

Computer software and online tax preparation

This is how I like to do my taxes.  There are now more choices than ever, with programs for your computer, and lower cost options available over the Internet.  The most important part of any tax software is making sure it will work for your situation.  The cheaper programs are usually lighter on features.  If you choose a program that only does simple (1040EZ) returns but you need a full 1040, you might end up costing yourself more than the $20 you saved.

Also consider user-friendliness.  Some programs work better for beginners, others are cheaper but are suited for those with a better understanding of their tax situation.

Here are a few options for software and online tax preparation:

  1. TurboTax is the original in this field.  If you can take a bubble quiz, you can do your own taxes.  In fact check out this nifty little quiz tool they made called the TurboTax TaxCaster that helps you estimate your 2009 taxes.
  2. H & R block has joined the party and now offers online tax preparation and computer software.  Both are priced to compete with TurboTax.
  3. Tax Act is very favorably priced although it lacks TurboTaxes’ Q & A format.  I have been told it is better suited for the more experienced, but I have not used it.
  4. IRS FreeFile allows those with incomes under $57,000 to use this list of services free.  Lots of choices, and all the cautions about picking an appropriate one for your situation apply.  I am unable to review any of them, as my income is over $57,000.  IRS FreeFile offers no state option, only federal.

The Professional

Probably the most popular way to handle tax season is to just let someone else do it for you.  Personally, I believe each of us should make every effort to prepare our own taxes before handing off the responsibility to another.  We sign our returns, making us liable for their contents, so it makes sense to educate ourselves to ensure they are prepared correctly.  Additionally, no one cares about your money like you do – so it makes sense to assume that most professionals will be motivated by revenue first and your personal situation second.

H & R block says:

“Tax laws and IRS rules are complicated, and the language of the tax code is difficult to understand.”

I don’t think they give us enough credit… I believe we’re smarter than that!  There are a lot of tools out there to help us.

In most situations you don’t have to be an accountant to understand your tax situation, and it is never a bad idea to learn how to file for yourself rather than automatically assuming it too complicated.  We cannot shift the responsibility if something goes wrong, so we should not be so quick to shift the responsibility to file.  Tax professionals claim to guarantee their work, but will not answer to the IRS if there is a problem.  We will.

If you must use a tax professional, choose carefully.  They are everywhere this time of year, and the whole lot of them are promising to get you more money than anyone else.  As previously mentioned there is nothing arcane about tax preparation.  It is a complex math problem, nothing more.  We just need to work through the problem to find the best solution for our tax situation, and all the rules are public knowledge.  You do not want to be accomplice to a tax professional with questionable practices who bends the rules to get you a little more, and we do not want to hire someone who is incompetent.

With all that said, we will now focus on tools for those who choose to shoulder the responsibility of filing their own taxes on paper.

Paper

Filing on paper is the oldest way to file our taxes – outside of armed men coming straight to our doors and taking their share.

One of the biggest advantages of filing on paper is cost – it is completely free.  All you need is a stack of forms and booklets.  A disadvantage is that the stack can get VERY thick really quick.  Another factor to consider into the equation of filing on paper is the time spent reading all the booklets in order to fully understand what forms you need, and how best to file them.  This will improve with time as your understanding and experience grow.

For the bona fide do-it-yourself-er filing on paper is an excellent option.  People who use paper usually tend to have the best understanding of what exactly is going on with their tax situation.  If you tend to pay in at the end of the year, I would recommend paper.  Why spend $50 to spend more money… right?

The IRS now provides fillable electronic forms to make things easier.  You still have to read the booklets, but these eliminate the need for a #2 pencil, and do basic computations on each form.  Here are a the fillable form FAQs to help you along the way.

Final Thoughts

The most important step to finding the right tax solution is to understand what you need to pay and why.  The more you learn, the better able you will be to find a product that meets your unique needs.  It will also allow for better big picture financial management.

What do you think?

How are you doing your taxes this year?  What positive/negative experiences have you had with various methods in the past?

Budget Your Money! – DFA Tip of the Week – 3/23/2009

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There are many ways to reduce costs in our every day lives, so to help do just that each Monday I will post a money saving “Tip of the Week”.

“And he said unto him, Well, thou good servant: because thou hast been faithful in a very little, have thou authority over ten cities.” Luke 19:17

This weeks tip involves…keeping a budget!

One of the single best pieces of financial advice you could ever receive is simply to keep a budget.  This is far from new information, but is something that bears repeating over & over & over again until it is adopted!  In Philippians 3:2 Paul says, “Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you, to me indeed is not grievous, but for you it is safe.” I too am saying it is not grievous for me to mention your need to budget your money, and indeed for you it is safe.

Budgeting

There are several approaches you can take to budgeting:

  1. Manual – use a pen & paper to create a physical copy of your family budget. You do not see this option mentioned on a lot of modern finance blogs and may think of it as “out-of-date” or “unstylish”…however…despite all that modern technology has to offer, this can be one of the most effective forms of budgeting available even today; it all depends on your specific situation.
  2. Spreadsheets – use MS Excel…even better…the free OpenOffice Calc or Google Docs Spreadsheet. This is an option a lot of people prefer due to the control you have, the privacy you have, and the flexibility you have.  A draw back of this option is that it can be both time consuming and tedious to set up the spreadsheet, especially if you are not versed in the use of spreadsheets.  There are many good free templates out there, but again…if you are not a seasoned spreadsheet user, this can be a tough road to hoe.
  3. Online tools – Using a piece of software built for the purpose of budgeting. There are both free & pay options available.  Some of the best free tools include Mint & Wesabe.  Two fee based software packages that are not free but are very effective budgeting tools  are YNAB (YouNeedABudget) and Mvelopes.  I am actually in the process of reviewing both of these and will be posting my results  soon.

What do I use to budget?  Currently I am using a combination of all three methods.

Because my wife has a serious aversion to computers & technology, we use a Moleskin journal to record our family budget.  The journal is used as a simple & quick overview for our income & expenses.  We do not go into detail here, but simply list the basic monthly debits & credits of our money.

The one technology interaction I request my wife does participate in is Mint.com.  We both have separate Mint accounts and use them to help us budget and keep track of our spending & individual transactions.  Keeping track of this information in a handwritten journal is both time consuming & impractical when free tools such as Mint.com exist.  Another benefit Mint provides us is the ability to view spending trends which enables us to visualize & identify problem areas, then develop a plan to curb them accordingly.

As I mentioned above I am currently in the process of downloading, installing, using & reviewing both YNAB & Mvelopes software budgeting tools.  Both of these softwares come highly touted and offer free trials, of which I am taking full advantage.  YNAB provides a 60-day free trial and Mvelopes offers a 30 day free trial.  Some differences between the two include but are not limited to the following:

  • Software type – YNAB is a software you purchase once & install on your PC whereas Mvelopes is a web & fee based subscription service.
  • Data importing – Mvelopes automatically downloads & imports your banking information for you while YNAB requires you to manually import the data.
  • Acessibility – YNAB is only accessible from the computer you install it on, but is more secure in that wise.  Mvelopes is accessible anywhere you have an Internet connection and browser therefore making it susceptable to security hacks and is also unusable if the Internet connection goes down, but if all is well gives you the ability to view your information from any Internet device.
  • Cost – YNAB is a one time purchase whereas you must pay for Mvelopes every month you use it indefinitely.

What do you think?  How do you budget & which methods mentioned above do you use?  Like I said, I am currently using all three & hope to narrow it down here in the near future.  Please share any experience you have for the benefit of all readers.

Click here to see all our past DFA Tips of the Week.