Banking Software is Worth Every Penny

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.