You should hasten to use Quicken.

Managing my money properly is a top priority in my life.  I would think that this a top priority of most people.  Ever since I can remember, I’ve been reading books on managing my money.  If there is one thing I have learned from these books is that the most basic tenet of money management is, before you can manage your money, you must have an awareness of where it is going.  This is certainly not a remarkable revelation…

Back in 2006, I started using a financial application called Quicken. Quicken is a tool and a practical solution that helps me keep abreast of how I am spending my money on a regular basis.  Needless to say, I now have a comprehensive history of my spending habits for the past four years.  I can’t tell you how invaluable it is to have my financial history, broken down into categories, for this time range. It has really helped me understand my spending habits which ultimately allows me to make adjustments and better informed financial decisions going forward. So, what are the features of Quicken that have helped me manage my money?

Interfaces with your bank, brokerage, and mortgage accounts.

In your initial setup of the application, you set up any account that you may have including your bank accounts, brokerage accounts, mortgage, or home equity loans.  If your institution allows an interface to Quicken, and all of mine did, you can set up all of your accounts in minutes.

One click update of accounts.

With one click you can run an update of all of your accounts which will retrieve all of your transactions from your last update.

Categories will identify your spending.

This is the one thing that requires a little bit of work.  You have to set up different Categories that identify your transactions.  I set up parent categories such as Fuel-Automotive and then have subcategories beneath which identifies each of my cars.  When I buy gas for one of my cars I ensure that it falls under the proper car category.  What is great about setting up parent and child relationships is that in the reports all of the child categories will roll up to the parent so, at a quick glance, you can see how much you are spending on gas per month.  Most of the setting up of categories is done initially and what is great is that Quicken will remember if you have already categorized a particular payee and it will default in that category.  It takes me roughly 10 minutes per week to run the update and categorize any transactions that may be new to Quicken.

Setting up a Budget.

There is a separate section in Quicken which allows you to set up a Budget.  What is great is that it will use your past history to automate the process.  You can then make any changes needed.

Reporting gives you the visibility.

Once you have a history of your transactions in the application, the reporting is phenomenal.  There is a list of roughly 20 reports for Spending, Comparison, and Investing.  To be honest, I use the Spending by Category report religiously.  I also use the Spending by Payee report .  I haven’t ventured into a lot of the Comparison reports but an example of one is Current Spending versus Average Spending by Category.  It allows you a chance to see if there are any radical changes in what you typically spend on an average by category , to what your current spending is by category.  This is a report that can really help you manage any changes in your spending.

Great at tax time.

When I am ready to do my taxes, I have found that I have all of my pertinent information already in Quicken.  I am talking about my property taxes, mortgage interest, car registration, charitable contributions, etc.  Basically anything associated with doing your taxes can be found quickly in Quicken.  It has made a year-end pain-in-the-neck process, that much easier.

Quicken has helped me take control of my finances.  I can also say that I have only scratched the surface of the features that Quicken offers.  But, for taking control of your spending, and knowing exactly where your hard-earned money is going, there is no better tool.  Put down that notebook, stop updating that spreadsheet, and choose the automated solution to your finances.  I have used it religiously now for years and you cannot go wrong if you want to take control of your financial life.
(Disclosure: I have no affiliations with this product. I am just a very happy customer.)

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5 Essential Goal Evaluation Questions

This is a guest post by Laura Lee Bloor. If you want to guest post on this blog, click here to get more information.

Chances are, you made some goals or resolutions for 2010. When was the last time you looked at those goals? Whether it’s been two days or 20, bust them out now for another review.

OK, got your goals? Good. Here’s what I want to know: Do you have any goals on there that are repeats? Repeats are goals that show up on your list every year that don’t see progress or achievement. Common examples include, “lose weight,” “eat right” or “get fit.”

If you have goal repeats, something is holding you back from taking action. Either the goals need to see progress or they need to be eliminated from your list. So how do you figure that out?

To find the root of your problem, ask yourself these questions and answer them as specifically as possible: (Let’s use the goal of “lose weight” as our example.) Read More>>

Review of Daniel Scocco’s eBook, Make Money Blogging.

This is a review of an eBook, entitled Make Money Blogging, by one of the foremost bloggers out there in the blogosphere, Daniel Scocco.  Daniel runs a small (tongue firmly planted in cheek) blog called DailyBlogTips. One of his goals is to hit the 50,000 subscriber mark by July 21st.  I’ve been extremely fortunate to have been able to guest post on DailyBlogTips.  My guest posts on his blog were entitled Top 5 Blogging Misconceptions and 5 Reasons to be Critical of other Bloggers. If you want to generate traffic on your site, submit a guest post to Daniel.  If he accepts it, consider yourself honored. You will also be amazed at the reach of his blog and the traffic it generates.  Make it a killer post though.  The link to your guest post may travel like lightning throughout the blogosphere.

I recently downloaded a copy of Daniel’s eBook, and found it to be very interesting and informative.  Some common mistakes bloggers make are referenced to by Daniel:

1. Making a blog gravitate around you. Read More>>

5 Important Car Buying Tips

In the US, Presidents’ Day is a federal holiday, and is always celebrated on the third Monday in February.  Previously, it was called Washington’s Birthday but it has evolved, over the years, to be called Presidents’ Day in honor of multiple presidents.  This holiday, and the weekend preceding it, is known as a day for car dealers throughout the country, to have big sales on their inventory.  When purchasing a new vehicle it is important for you to do your homework if you want to get your best deal.

1. Get the invoice price.

In the age of the internet, finding the invoice price of the make and model of the vehicle that you want to purchase, is becoming easier and easier. Read More>>

A Glimpse into 3 Time Management Frameworks

This is a guest post by Richard Hemby. If you want to guest post on this blog, click here to get more information.

In today’s fast-paced world, excellent time management skills are a necessity for business executives and busy moms alike. With so many goals to achieve, our lives can quickly become overwhelming with productivity adversely affected. For those truly dedicated to managing their responsibilities well and achieving their personal and business goals, there are a few time management frameworks on the market to help foster success. Today, we will cover 3 of the most popular frameworks: Getting Things Done System (GTD), the Zen to Done System (ZTD), and the Autofocus System.

The GTD System

The GTD System was developed by international author and lecturer, David Allen. It utilizes two key elements, control and perspective, in the management of time. The guiding principle behind this system is that through recording task lists externally one frees up the mind. Read More>>

The Special Benefits of Giving Blood

Given the tragic circumstances surrounding Haiti, and the devastation in that area, there has understandably been a huge outpouring of support for those poor people.  Unfortunately, one of my co-workers grew up in Haiti, and he still has family over there.  The support he has received at my work has been uplifting to him and his family.  At a time like this, it is not unusual to think seriously about how you can help out your fellow man.  Giving blood is a way you can do just that…

For the first 50 years of my life I had never given blood.  When my eldest daughter turned 17, she was eligible in our state, to give blood.  Without hesitation, she decided to donate.  I was intrigued by the fact that she decided to do this, given that neither I, nor my wife, had given blood in the past.  She simply wanted to help out her fellow man and this was a substantive way for her to do so.  She didn’t have any money, but she did have something she could give that was more valuable.

Seeing how generous she had been, I decided, at the ripe age of 50, to give my first donation.  The fact that I waited this long to donate, was not for any particular reason.  I am not afraid of needles, and I don’t have any pre-existing conditions that would prevent me from donating.  I can’t really explain why I waited so long.  All I can say is that my eldest daughter inspired me to go make that first blood donation.  So, what are the benefits, you may ask?

You may help as many as three people with one donation.

Read More>>

A Practical Home Solution for an Ugly Roof.

This blog is geared toward practical solutions, and I certainly have one for you with this post. We had a new roof done on our house approximately ten years ago and, for a long time, it looked great. As the years went by, it started developing black streaks and mold on the roof shingles on the shady side of the house.  Understandably, I was concerned that we’d have to have our roof replaced.  And the most unnerving thing was that we were told that it should last at least 20 years.  So, I made it a point to start looking at other houses in my town and I saw these black streaks on the roofs of many homes.  I remember distinctly, as we backed out of our driveway one day, my eldest daughter exclaimed, “Our roof looks horrible!”  And I agreed, wholeheartedly. Read More>>

5 Parental Tips for Dealing with College Separation Anxiety.

So you’ve just dropped off your child at college for the first time and are feeling the pain.  That final hug was a lot more difficult than you had originally expected.  Your first-born is now among people you do not know, in a completely foreign environment, and you feel helpless as a parent.  My eldest daughter left for college for the first time last August.  The trauma of her exodus was detailed in this post.   Ironically, today we just returned from bringing her back to college after her 5-week holiday break at home.  Let’s just say that it was a whole lot easier dropping her off this time.  For those of you who have already gone through this college separation anxiety, congratulations on dealing with it and moving onto another phase of your lives.  After having gone through this heart-wrenching experience, I think I can help out my fellow brethren deal with being separated from their child for possibly the first time.  There are certainly things that you can do, as parents, to make this transition easier, for both you, and your child.

1. Communicate, but give them space.

As a parent, it is important to reach a happy medium with your child, in terms of communication, after they are at their college home. Read More>>

7 Ways To Warm Up To Better Coffee.

This is a guest post by Mike Crimmins. If you want to guest post on this blog, click here to get more information.

For some people coffee is nothing more than brown water and a source of caffeine. For other people it’s an experience like tasting wine, exploring new regions of the world as well as different parts of your tongue.

Once you’ve tasted good coffee, you’ll never want to go back to that stale ground coffee that comes in huge plastic bins. The good news is that you don’t have to spend a fortune to get great tasting coffee every morning.

Step 1

Buy a coffee grinder and whole beans. You can purchase a decent grinder for twenty bucks. The reason that you need a grinder is that ground coffee goes stale in fifteen minutes. Want to guess how long it was sitting on the grocery store shelf before you picked it up?

Step 2

Read More>>

Do you have to work full-time?

This is a guest post by Jen Smith. If you want to guest post on this blog, click here to get more information.

I have gotten a lot better at managing my money in the last few years. Now I have to be honest and attribute a lot of the credit for this to my husband . He is good at managing money in a very positive way and luckily our values and goals in life are very similar. However, obviously I am a willing learner and partner in this process for it to work. I haven’t always been this way and I wanted to share what I have been learning about money and how the way I now manage my money has enabled me to work less.

I have worked full-time in my main job (37 hrs) until July 2009, when I started working 30 hrs. Read More>>

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