Fed Up of Quicken, Moving to Moneydance 2021 in the New Year.

One thing I have found about Moneydance that is way better than Quicken (US) is it supports foreign bank accounts and Credit cards. It actually downloads vis QFX from those accounts. Quicken US always forces us to get the appropriate version, in our case Canadian in order to do so. Otherwise all entries had to be entered manually, which is wat I USED to do. seems to be getting better and better.
 
I've been using Quicken 2010 (desktop CD) since, well, 2010. Online transaction updates stopped many years ago so I've been manually updating since then (takes me 5 min once a week). So, it goes without saying, I've not kept up with Quicken's pricing/distribution model for 10+ years. After following this thread, I have a couple of quiestions:

1) Does Quicken still offer the purchase of a standalone CD? Or is the program download-only nowadays?

2) Regarding annual renewal, what are you renewing exactly? The continued ability to download transactions from your institutions? If it's more than that, then what "robust" capabilities are you getting for the annual subscription?

I guess I'm just trying to comprehend why someone would pay $40-$50 a year for something that they, more than likely, could do manually in a matter of minutes. If I'm missing the big picture, please educate me :)
 
jimbohoward69 said:
I've been using Quicken 2010 (desktop CD) since, well, 2010. Online transaction updates stopped many years ago so I've been manually updating since then (takes me 5 min once a week). So, it goes without saying, I've not kept up with Quicken's pricing/distribution model for 10+ years. After following this thread, I have a couple of quiestions:

1) Does Quicken still offer the purchase of a standalone CD? Or is the program download-only nowadays?
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Yes, one can purchase a CD/DVD or download.

2) Regarding annual renewal, what are you renewing exactly? The continued ability to download transactions from your institutions? If it's more than that, then what "robust" capabilities are you getting for the annual subscription?
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For me, that's correct, it's to continue to use the aggregated account update tool. There may be other online features (that I don't use) that would cease to be available when the subscription expires. And, of course, the ability to use Quicken Support if/when needed.

I guess I'm just trying to comprehend why someone would pay $40-$50 a year for something that they, more than likely, could do manually in a matter of minutes. If I'm missing the big picture, please educate me :)
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For your use case, it may not make sense. I would spend considerably more time if manually updating all of our accounts, so I greatly value the online download capability.
 
jimbohoward69 said:
I guess I'm just trying to comprehend why someone would pay $40-$50 a year for something that they, more than likely, could do manually in a matter of minutes. If I'm missing the big picture, please educate me :)
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I just checked, I have 30+ accounts that I update (banks, credit cards, brokers, retirement plans, 401K, etc). Would take me more than a few minutes to manually update. I simply start the update, walk over, get a cup of coffee and instantly have my updated view, accounts reconciled. Don't get me wrong, Quicken doesn't do everything for me, but it does download and aggregate the transactional level detail and summarizes nicely. It can also produce extracts that I can quickly put into Excel for my deeper analysis. When $40 a year breaks the bank then I guess I won't have much need for Quicken. Until then it's saving me lots of time and effort.
 
ShokWaveRider said:
I just deleted the X Accounts, then compared the Real accounts with quicken and compensated by inputting an initial balance to offset the difference. Being as my history goes back to 2003, it is not really that important.
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Thanks. I have thought about doing that, at the moment I am examining the "source" account to find out the reason the "X" account was created. I do a lot of historical reporting from the Quicken data, have you found if just inputting an initial balance to offset the difference throws things off for MoneyDance reporting?
 
jimbohoward69 said:
... I guess I'm just trying to comprehend why someone would pay $40-$50 a year for something that they, more than likely, could do manually in a matter of minutes. If I'm missing the big picture, please educate me :)
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Well, you are missing the big picture and you're misinformed on two counts, at least in my case. My most recent 12-month subscription was $31... not $40-50... now I'll admit that you have to shop around/keep on the lookout for sales in order to pay that much less than the rack rate but it is not hard at all.

I would take me a lot more than a "matter of minutes" to do manually what One-Step Update does for me. For me, One-Step Update updates 14 different accounts and stock quotes while I am free to do other things... of those 14 different accounts, only a few typically have more than 6 transactions a month... but a couple (our main credit card account and main checking account) have many transactions a month. I have a handful of accounts that only have 1-2 transactions a month that I update manually and even that takes me much more than a "matter of minutes".

So for me, $31/year... less than $2.60/month is well worth the price of having access to One-Step Update.... that $2.60/month is the big picture... how much is your time worth?
 
jollystomper said:
Thanks. I have thought about doing that, at the moment I am examining the "source" account to find out the reason the "X" account was created.
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The 'X' account is a contra account. In the language of double entry bookkeeping it is the offset of the money as it is moved between categories. If you delete the X account it affects reporting. While it may show up in the Detail report the results are consolidated elsewhere, like in the Income/Expense report.

- Rita
 
You know that Moneydance can update all of your accounts at once the same as Quicken?

I do this all the time without any issues.
 
The response didn't have anything to do with MoneyDance... but rather with jimbohoward69 asking why many of us would spend money when in his mind to do it manually was a "matter of minutes".
 
OP Here again for a MD Update. Today was the first download from accounts. I did it with Quicken that does not expire till May or June and MD. I wanted to keep tabs to make sure MD was keeping up.

So far so good, I still actually prefer the quicken UI and ease of clearing VS MD that involves too many clicks to do the same thing. But I think I can live with it. I have till May or June to get used to it.
 
jimbohoward69 said:
I guess I'm just trying to comprehend why someone would pay $40-$50 a year for something that they, more than likely, could do manually in a matter of minutes. If I'm missing the big picture, please educate me :)
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I'll join with the others. Yes, you're missing the big picture. I switched to Quicken in 1999 when my assortment of spreadsheets, checkbooks and statements was starting to get annoying. I currently download banking and credit card accounts from 4 banks, and investment accounts from 3 brokerages. 22 accounts in all. Several hundred individual interest and dividend payments in the course of a year.

I don't use any of Quicken's budgeting or planning features, I use it as a super-checkbook that is balanced and correct at all times. I might look at an actual account statement once or twice a year.

I could not function without Quicken. As long as I don't venture outside the features that I use, and accept that their customer support is horrible, life is good.

edited: And did I mention that when I offered to help out a CPA friend part-time during an idle period awhile back, he was amazed that I could sit down with his Intuit QuickBooks system and jump right in with no training needed.
 
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Being a longtime Quicken users, I tried Money Dance couple weeks agao. It works for the most part, except for my credit union. Anyway, I jumped on pb4ski tips for $31 quicken deal, so Money Dance will have to wait another year (hopefully by that time it will work with me credit union)
 
pb4uski said:
The response didn't have anything to do with MoneyDance... but rather with jimbohoward69 asking why many of us would spend money when in his mind to do it manually was a "matter of minutes".
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I missed that, which is what I get for skimming.

Regardless of Quicken or MD, I agree it’s money well spent to use software that makes your life easier. I wouldn’t want to manually download anything. Unfortunately, auto downloads aren’t always available, he says while thinking about Fidelity/Elan. I guess for the 2%, it’s worth the inconvenience.
 
Gotadimple said:
The 'X' account is a contra account. In the language of double entry bookkeeping it is the offset of the money as it is moved between categories. If you delete the X account it affects reporting. While it may show up in the Detail report the results are consolidated elsewhere, like in the Income/Expense report.

- Rita
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You shouldn't need a contra account for transfers (not really a contra account, but as you call it)... for an asset its just debit the account that receives money and credit the account that transfers money out... that is the way that it is done in Quicken.
 
pb4uski said:
You shouldn't need a contra account for transfers (not really a contra account, but as you call it)... for an asset its just debit the account that receives money and credit the account that transfers money out... that is the way that it is done in Quicken.
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I agree. But if MD does exactly as Quicken does, they violate copyright. This is just one difference between the two products. Budgeting on Quicken is much easier than MD, but again, they can't do it the exact same way for legal reasons.

- Rita
 
No.... BS. There is no copyright on things like that. You're making stuff up.

For whatever reasons MD decided to do transfers in a screwy way.
 
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I received an advertising email from Quicken for "Simplifi by Quicken". Does anyone know if this is like a stripped down version of the full Quicken version?
 
Carpediem said:
I received an advertising email from Quicken for "Simplifi by Quicken". Does anyone know if this is like a stripped down version of the full Quicken version?
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As you received the ad, what did it say about it?
 
bobandsherry said:
As you received the ad, what did it say about it?
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Since I'm not a Quicken user, I don't know how it compares to the full version. Just thought a Quicken user here might have some knowledge about this 'Simplifi' version because I'm thinking about moving from Mint to Quicken.
 
It looks like a new product effort by Quicken focusing on mobile platforms and the web. No desktop version... so that is a big difference. $30/year subscription model.

https://www.simplifimoney.com/faq

What is Simplifi?
Simplifi is a brand new personal finance app brought to you by Quicken, a trusted leader in financial management software for over 30 years! Simplifi's designed to help you easily stay on top of your finances and reach your financial goals with confidence!

Is this a new version of the Quicken mobile app?
No. Simplifi is an entirely new personal finance app designed for mobile and is available to use on IOS, Android, and web platforms.

The Quicken Mobile app is a companion app that offers mobile access to Quicken data for Quicken members and the Quicken Web app lets Quicken members access their Quicken data from any computer with an internet connection.

Is there a Simplifi web app?
Yes! You can access Simplifi on the web using any computer with an internet connection. The web app and mobile app offer all the same features, so you can stay on top of your finances from anywhere and the way you want to. ...
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pb4uski said:
It looks like a new product effort by Quicken focusing on mobile platforms and the web. No desktop version... so that is a big difference. $30/year subscription model.
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Ahhhh, got it. Thank you. Will have to decide how I feel about no desktop.
 
It looks like Simplifi is Quicken’s attempt to get into the mobile platform after ignoring it for many years. So far the reviews are mostly negative, stating it does not do nearly as much as the Quicken desktop software and it costs about the same.

I’ve been hoping that Quicken would someday port their app to IOS but Simplifi can’t even read your existing Quicken data so this is not the right solution.
 
Carpediem said:
Since I'm not a Quicken user, I don't know how it compares to the full version. Just thought a Quicken user here might have some knowledge about this 'Simplifi' version because I'm thinking about moving from Mint to Quicken.
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It's been around for at least a few months. I looked at it a little bit over the summer, but didn't pay for it. It's more of a competitor to YNAB and maybe Mint than Quicken. It's mainly focused on spending and budgeting with some light weight investment tracking. There doesn't seem to be much reporting and no tax planning or retirement planning, and I don't think you can export your data to a spreadsheet for deeper analysis. Wirecutter really likes them though: https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/best-budgeting-apps-and-tools/

If the choice is between Mint and Simplifi, then you either go with Mint and deal with the ads and the fact that your data is being sold everywhere; or you go with Simplifi or YNAB and pay for the privacy. If you want more robust investing, planning (including multiple what-if budgets) and reporting, go with Quicken.
 
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