How to Find the Budget in Quicken Starter Edition 2010

Quicken Starter Edition 2010 is Quicken's most basic money management tool. Retailing at $29.99, it is $30 cheaper than the next option in the financial software product line. While it does offer significantly less features than Quicken's pricier tools, such as managing investment portfolios, it's a good alternative for individuals looking to manage a relatively small portfolio of credit cards and bank accounts for a personal account or small business. Starter Edition 2010 also includes bill alerts, the ability to create reports and the ability to create a budget to better manage income and expenses. The budget, however, can be difficult to find, as even Quicken's own tutorial on creating a budget doesn't make clear how exactly to access the budget.

How to Find the Budget in Quicken Starter Edition 2010

If you click on the help button located within your Quicken Starter Edition and search for creating a budget, Quicken will offer step-by-step instructions on creating a first or additional budget. The problem, however, lies with the first step: "Click on the Planning tab." The Starter Edition doesn't come with a planning tab. Quicken does have a "Spending Planner" option on the "Tools" group under the "Home" tab, but this is not the Quicken budget referenced in the tutorial. The budget is well hidden. In order to utilize it, you have to find it.

Show the Quicken Tool Bar

The Quicken Tool Bar that contains the budget may not be displayed. In order to restore the budget icon, you will need to show the tool bar. Select "View," then "Show Tool Bar." A toolbar will display above the Accounts toolbar and will include a number of icons for Quicken Reports, Services, Calendar and more. You can customize this tool bar to include the "Budget" icon.

Add the Budget Feature to the Tool Bar

Click on "Edit" then "Customize Tool Bar." Select "Budget," located under "Add to toolbar." Then click "Add." This will move it to the "Current toolbar order" window and it will be displayed on the toolbar.

Create a Budget

Click on the "Budget" icon to open it. From here, you can follow Quicken's instructions on setting up either an automatic or manual budget. If this is your first time creating a budget, you may want to select the automatic option and let Quicken import the information for you.