Microsoft Money 2003 Standard

It's hard to say your really excited about an upcoming software release and still keep a straight face. Still, I couldn't wait to pop up the hood and have a look at Money 2003. Perhaps it's a case of expecting a really great product to be somehow greatly better, but I was disapointed to find more or less the same thing.

One improvement I noticed is better reconciliation of imported statements - something that still remains a little off. Despite this and a coule other positive tweaks here and there, I'd wait to upgrade to v2003 if you're anticipating something "greatly better".

On the other hand, if you really want to keep up with the Gates's, or you can't resist the rebate (both reasons I fell prey to), then by all means have at it. This is a great product from someone who really know what they're doing.

* Note: I don't use Money's (MSN) online services, so this review only applies to the desktop app.


Save yourself. Buy Quicken.   October 10, 2002
 7 out of 8 found this review helpful

I absolutely hate Microsoft Money. I had used an older version of it in the past and found it unreliable and frustrating. The newer versions are just as bad. It is inconsistent with assigning categories to things; you can't reconcile with your online balance; the budgeting tools are very limited; I have a lot of trouble with it adding bills into the budget twice because of problems such as the bill scheduler and the budget planner not quite working together correctly; it's inconsistent with it's ability to recognize two transactions as being similar or not; and, basically, it has made me want to scream way too many times. I'm now going to buy Quicken for the 3rd time. (I have an uncanny ability to lose Quicken disks and then change computers.)


Good Program that has one fatal flaw   October 6, 2002
 13 out of 15 found this review helpful

Money is an excellent program, as I had switched to it from Quicken. I feel it does a better job in terms of reports, use & feel, and has many more options.

However, I recently came across the one major flaw that I had heard previously about. I had to re-format my OS hard drive due to a system crash. I had three Money backups - one on my other hard drive, one on floppy, and one on CD.

A year's worth of work is now down the drain because Money will not recognize any of the previous backup files. I had heard of this software glitch from others, but I am here to tell you that it is true.

I guess I am going back to Quicken. Even with all of the automated tools, this is a lot of work. I don't trust the backup system anymore and am not looking forward to re-entering all of my data over again. What a shame, because otherwise, this is a nice program.


Good Software (especially with the Rebates).   September 18, 2002
I bought Microsoft Money for $5.99 with all the rebates and felt that it is worth more than the money that I spent on it (a Papa John's Pizza costs more than $5.99 for all sakes !). I had some initial frustration with the software when I used it with Online Banking, but I figured out that it was due to my reservations about exchanging financial information online and the fact that I am not used to it.

I used to work in Linux for a long time before switching to Windows 2000, and I used GnuCash in Linux for my financial accounting. GnuCash does not support online banking and I had to manually enter and balance each and every one of my transactions, withdrawals etc., Since I am more used to that type of personal finance management, I found Microsoft Money 2003 Standard minus the Online Banking very useful. I really cannot comment on the Online Banking part of Money 2003, since I don't use it (or be comfortable with it).

I haven't yet explored the advanced feature of Money 2003, but I am impressed with what I have seen so far. And for $5.99, I think this is a very good deal.


Better than Quicken   September 7, 2002
 23 out of 24 found this review helpful

I've been using Quicken since 1995, and most recently upgraded to Quicken 2001. I never tried MS Money until recently, and was highly impressed! My hard disk died and my most recent quicken back-up was a month and a half old, so I thought after 7 years and some lost data, it was time to start fresh. So I downloaded the demo from microsoft to give it a try. Now I will never go back Quicken.
Money and Quicken are functionally equivalent, but Money is MUCH more customizable. Money is a bit annoying at first with asking for a Passport Id, and links to MSN, but these can be easilly turned off, deleted, or ignored. Money also has more reporting, charts and graphs than Quicken, as well as many more options. Money's interface is also cleaner, and simpler to use.