The
other day, my visiting in-laws spent about four hours reviewing
their checkbook and bank statement for a two dollar error. This
was after my father-in-law had already spent a considerable amount
of time balancing the checkbook.During
this time, the two dollar error grew into a one thousand dollar
error which caused a tremendous amount of drama before my mother-in-law
realized she had misread my father-in-law's writing. Pencils, paperwork,
a few choice words back and forth, and a calculator eventually solved
the mystery. Apparently a number hadn't been carried over or some
other simple mathematical mistake.
As
someone who has used Quicken and Microsoft Money for nearly twenty
years, this scene both amused and frustrated me. It takes me all
of one minute to balance my checkbook and another minute to pay
my bills each month using Microsoft Money.
Online
access to my bank accounts is free, web bill pay is free, and the
software was worth every penny. In fact, when I switched over to
the Vista operating system, my version of Money was incompatible.
I happily spent the fifty dollars to get MS Money 2007. I couldn't
imagine not having it, going back to the old checkbook register
and manually balancing my checkbook was not an option.
For
nearly twenty years, I have been extolling the virtues of Microsoft
Money to anyone who would listen, including my parents and my in-laws.
Ironically, my mother finally made the plunge about a month ago
and is a bonafide convert. She pays her bills with just a click
or two of the mouse and is now learning how to track and categorize
her spending (which she says is scary).
When
witnessing the search for the mysterious two dollars, I couldn't
help but chime in, "You're not using banking software yet?"
to which I received a "not now" look. Even though they
are in their seventies and eighties, these two are perfectly comfortable
using the computer for a wide variety of tasks.
My
father-in-law is slowly going blind so balancing the checkbook will
soon be my mother-in-law's job. I suspect it's been more than thirty
years since she's done the banking. If she has to learn how to do
it, she may as well learn how to do it using either MS Money or
Quicken. These programs are incredibly easy to use, accurate, and
give detailed reports on budgets, spending habits, upcoming expenses,
investment results, liabilities, net worth, and much more.
How
much is your time worth? Spending hours chasing a two dollar error
will put you in the red immediately. Use a banking software program
and free yourself up for more important tasks, like spending time
with your grandkids.- Celeste
Stewart
