I am still using Quicken for Mac 2006. I forget exactly why I didn't switch to Quicken for Mac 2007 when it came out, but who could have imagined that it would be the last real update of the software for 5 years! I also forget exactly when Quicken Essentials for Mac was introduced-- it made me so angry, I guess I was doing my best to block it out! Intuit actually sent me a free copy to review, which I never did because it would have been such a slam. They basically took a decent financial program with a full set of features and said "oh gee, you Mac users just like things that look pretty and you aren't really numbers people anyway, so here's a financial program that only shows you the big picture and doesn't actually let you DO anything!" If you have any interest in really analyzing and tracking your finances and investments, it's useless. Let me just say it again: it SUCKS!!
At this point, it's almost impossible to buy Quicken for Mac 2007-- you can find it for sale on a couple of websites, including Amazon
, but it's $150!! And it doesn't work on the most recent Lion Mac OS. Intuit claims they will be releasing a Lion-compatible update, but I'm not holding my breath. They seem to be more focused on developing iPad and iPhone apps. And while I do use Mint a little bit on my phone just to check balances, I don't consider it a real solution. I need to be able to save all my cash and bank account and investment transactions, categorize them in detail, run reports, export data to Excel for further analysis, etc. My current set-up involves using Pocket Money on my iPhone to enter daily transactions, which I then export to Quicken via a QIF file. I download investment and credit card transactions and enter repeating bills in the Quicken program on my laptop and then export an updated file back to my phone so I can see the most up to date balances.At some point in the next few years, I'd like to upgrade to a newer Mac-- my current one actually works just fine, so I suppose I should thank the people at Intuit for preventing me from incurring an unnecessary expense. But if they don't release a new version, my options will all involve switching to a new program and losing at least some data. I'm not sure which would be least painful-- switching to Quicken for Windows would probably be the least complicated on one level, but that would involve paying $70 for the Quicken software itself (I think I'd need the Premier version to do the investment tracking I want to do), plus $80 for Parallels software to run Windows on the Mac, plus a copy of Windows 7 for $120. A total of $270 to keep using Quicken on a new computer!?! That SUCKS!! SUCKS, SUCKS, SUCKS!!
Saying that makes me feel a little bit better! :)
What are your favorite financial tracking programs?
I moved from windows to mac a few years ago and I saw the same thing you did. I went with Moneydance. It is a Java app that works well and works cross platform. It also has a free trial that allows you to import your quicken files (read the instructions carefully to get good results) and then manually enter 100 transactions before you buy. I chose it over iBank (in the app store) because iBank doesn't allow you to use specific lot identification for investment sales. Moneydance also has an iPhone app. They syncing can be problematic (firewall stuff) but a new version with dropbox sync has been promised. Recently, I've also started to use YNAB (as in YouNeedaBudget.com). It is the best program I've seen for budgeting and really changes the focus from account centric (like Quicken, Moneydance, etc.) to budget focused. They have a great iPhone app but it only works in conjunction with the desktop program. The problem with YNAB is it is only budgeting - doesn't do investments. However, I like it so much, I'm actually using both.
ReplyDeleteI'm using Moneydance right now, too, on Windows XP x64. It runs on the interpreted Java language, so it works on Linux and Mac OS as well.
ReplyDeleteFor the past four years I have used Moneydance to track my savings accounts, checking accounts, credit cards, savings bonds and retirement account investments. Treasury Direct does not offer QIF or OFX downloads as far as I know, so I update the interest earned on the savings bonds manually in Moneydance.
I second what Harry-Runner-TX said -- check out the trial version to see if it's something that can work for your situation.
I ended up using iBank after I couldn't get Moneydance to sync with any of my banks. Honestly, I'm not using iBank the way I used to use Quicken (I last used 2005, and when they killed updating for that 2 years ago, I wasn't ready to spend $70 on a poorly reviewed 3 year old program), so I'm mostly using iBank to track my investments. It, too, has a free trial, though, so check it out.
ReplyDeleteYou might want to try Crossover for Mac - it runs Windows programs on a Mac without having to use Parallels or Fusion or having to buy Windows. It's $40, plus $70 for Quicken, bringing your total to $110.
ReplyDeleteHave you looked into Mint.com? I switched over from Quicken for Mac.
ReplyDeleteI would recommend VMware Fusion + a copy of Windows 7. That way you can run any Windows app whenever you want.
ReplyDeleteI use Moneydance too. It works nearly as well as quicken. There are a few quirks / misses (i.e. if I transfer stock from one account to another I can't just put that in moneydance - I have to sell and then transfer the cash). Overall it works pretty well and syncs with most of my accounts.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting post, thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteMoneydance is just great,since it's developed on java,so it is platform independent and runs well on Mac and Linux other than Windows. So,it's really worthy of purchasing.
ReplyDeleteI love Moneydance! It has really worked well for me. I haven't even tried Quicken for the Mac; I didn't realize support sucked so bad. I've heard great things from PC users about Quicken.
ReplyDeleteI use mvelopes after years of quicken/excel juggling. It's been completely life-changing!!!
ReplyDeleteJane B.