[Bubbalarry]

Originally Posted by barb1191

Don't understand why one would need Quicken when banking online has all the bells and whistles one needs and eliminates the need to make a data entry on every check written. I have direct deposits, my Payees that are the same every month are paid automatically by the bank as "Recurring Payments." Such utilities/other payees that vary, I just need to plug in the amount and pay date and, voila, they send the checks. I have set up all of my Payees with the proper info for the bank, i.e., payee name, address, account number, etc.

I use one charge card and buy EVERYTHING on that card, even groceries, and pay in full every month. With this charge account I receive a check from them for about $180 every few months for bonus dollars which is made up of an accrued percentage of purchases, i.e., gas, food, scripts, etc etc. The point of charging everything on the credit card is that your money stays in the bank thirty days longer collecting interest and MUST be paid in full each month, otherwise it would be digging yourself a deep, dark hole that would be impossible to climb out.

This has worked for me and I hardly ever write checks, use USPS stamps, and the credit card company sends me an end-of-year accounting of my spending categorized (gas, food, pharmacy, etc). With online banking I have full control of my funds and can print a cancelled check, print any statements, make recurring transfers; been doing this for about ten years and find it most effective.

I'm under the impression that with Quicken you must enter all the transactions and that software doesn't send the payment out to the payee, yes? If you're using online banking, why would you need Quicken? Online banking does it all and no monthly charges and TurboTax is free.

barb1191

No not all transactions are done manually only those you write checks from your program. Once you setup a payment Quicken remembers the payee and the address so typeing is minimal. With the program I download from the bank every deposit, check, withdrawals from payees that are Direct Pay by my bank, and all credit card purchases. It works for me since we own several properties and have many bills to pay from them. Quicken allows me to add each property and when the checks clear from the main checking account confirm the deductions were correct and then make sure it's added to the appropriate account by using C&P. It also alerts me when a bill or a property tax payment is due. I've seen online banking and yaes it's OK, but for us it isn't enough.