Microsoft Money 2002 Deluxe [OLD VERSION]

The first thing we noticed after launching Money 2002 Deluxe was how happy everyone in Microsoft land seemed. Images of beautiful people sitting around in loungewear floated across our screen, beckoning us to join the ranks of content Money users. Happily, we complied and began entering our personal finance information, including bank accounts, credit cards, monthly expenses, etc. While the setup wizard made getting started extremely easy, take note that many features require users to have a Microsoft Passport account. Without this account number, users are unable to access some of the cooler Web features available in Money 2002. Disabling this feature is complicated, and ignoring it is virtually impossible as you are constantly being asked to sign in to Passport.

That said, many of the new features that make Money a worthwhile upgrade revolve around better Web integration and online services. The new MoneySide bar follows you around as you surf the Web, providing you with access to your financial data as you shop, invest, or pay bills. You can also synchronize your Money data with MSN Money, which allows for up-to-date investing, banking, and financial planning information. Other improvements show up in the areas of report and chart creation, as well as the ability to send these reports via e-mail. Finally, a new Bill Setup and Edit feature offers a central location for tracking your bills and making electronic payments.

One of the great things about Money 2002 Deluxe is that you can use it as much or as little as you like. For example, if you just want to see how much a vacation will affect your monthly budget, the program offers a one-time expense feature to use during that month. If, on the other hand, you'd rather create a six-month plan to purchase a new SUV, Money 2002 will help you set up a budget to account for this expense over time.

Overall, Money 2002 Deluxe is a strong and dependable tool for managing your money, which can only lead to financial gains. --Gisele Toueg

Amazon.com Product Description
Microsoft Money 2002 is an easy-to-use personal finance management software application that helps you manage your personal finances, includingbalancing your checkbook, budgeting, reducing debt, planning for thefuture, and managing your investments and taxes. Money Setup Assistantwalks you through initial setup and gets you up and running within minutes.Money Help, the Money user guide, and how-to videos make it easy to getthe most out of Microsoft Money.

You can recover accidentally deleted transactions, mark transactions with a"follow-up" flag, and view date ranges. There are improved online bill payment features, an improved setup wizard, and an enhanced Pocket PC Detector that makes setup and synchronization easy. You will enjoy a personalized Web experience with tight integration with the MSN network and other Microsoft partner affiliate Web sites. There is also automatic connection to banks, withongoing, automatic updates to account registers, even when you are notworking in Money.

Managing your financial life is an inherently complex process. Integrating and updating constantly changing information from credit cards, bank accounts, loans, mortgages, investments, 401Ks, IRAs, etc. and displaying that information in a coherent and useful way is never going to be "simple". To think that software can do that without substantial effort from you is simple-minded, regardless of whether you use Money or Quicken or any other product. You have to read the manual, spend some time in the Help files and explore the program. If you do, you can make it work the way you want - no Moneyside if you don't want it; no registration nags if you don't want them; no advertising if you'd rather not see it. What you get is a complete and up-to-date picture of your finances presented in a way you can use.

The one complaint I see here that I do think is valid is the way MS has tied Money 2002 to Passport. I don't care for that either, but the rest of the program is sufficiently useful that I am willing to overlook it.

Money 2002 is a comprehensive and effective tool for managing your finances, but you're going to have to bring your brain with you when you use it.


Great Product for Personal Finances   November 5, 2001
Walter (San Jose, CA USA)
15 out of 17 found this review helpful

I purchased Money 2002 Deluxe as an upgrade to the existing version I was using - Money 2001 Deluxe. The features in the 2002 version that was most helpful to me includes:
1. Being able to undo an action (e.g. especially for those times when you delete a transaction in error)
2. Having more printing options, especially in the "forecast" cash flow section. I've always found the older version had limited printing capabilities.
3. Being able to flag transactions for later follow-up or making notes, similar to to-do action items.
4. The home page is more customizable, so I could "see" at a glance my spending habits, to-do actions, cash flow, etc.
5. The Bills and Deposits section is much more improved - though it takes a bit of getting used to in the beginning.

The feature I didn't like is Microsoft integrating the money file with a Passport account. While it adds another level of security, i.e. having a password to access the money file, I think it is just Microsoft's way of pushing their Passport technology. Fortunately, Money can be used offline - so it's neither here nor there regarding the passport option. All in all, I think it's a great product.


Simply Wonderful!   October 10, 2001
13 out of 15 found this review helpful

Money 2002 is the software you need to keep track of how you are doing money-wise. It downloads your statements, predicts cash flow, helps you keep on budget, helps prepare tax, educates you on financial matters... This list can go on and on.
I was a bit skeptical about whether I would benefit from a personal finance software, but decided to try it out. It has since then made my life easier and helped me really plan "events".
The plusses:
1> Interface - neat and intutive.
2> Download of account statements - if your bank offers it, you will not even have to key in the info, just see it!
3> Synchronization with MSN Money.
4> Planning tools - budget, lifetime,...
5> Portfolio analyser.

The minusses:
1> MSN Money requires you to sign up for Passport or Hotmail.
2> I couldn't find any kind of account whose type was "CASH". I mean if I pay for something or get some money in cash, I cannot keep track of it straight away... Should be there as people still do transactions in dollar bills :)

As with any software that assists you - the more and accurate information you give to Money the better it will be.


Superior to Quicken. Quicken users should switch.   September 8, 2002
6 out of 7 found this review helpful

As people who have used both programs know, Money and Quicken are effectively the same as for substantive content. Money has a slightly sleeker look-and-feel to it, consistent with Microsoft products, if that is important to you.

The reason I give it such good ratings is that, as a Quicken-user since 1997, I finally got sick of the ever-dreaded Quicken-crashes. I upgraded to Quicken 2002, which is probably the most unstable code Intuit has audaciuosly relased to the market to date. I have found Money *so* much more stable that it WELL WARRANTS the short learning curve frustrated users of quicken will have to make the switch.

The common complaint about Money is the ubiquitous advertising. However, these can be turned off under Tools...Options and never heard from again, so I consider a bit of a non-issue (besides it being slightly obnoxious that Microsoft would try to pass them off in the first place).

Conversion from Quicken is really quite easy. Even Quicken-purchased checks work seamlessly.


Easily the best   October 18, 2001
Gadgester (Mother Earth)
9 out of 12 found this review helpful

After seeing PC Mag giving Money 2002 Deluxe five stars, I bought the software to upgrade my previous version of Money. The installation went very smoothly, and I really like the refined new interface. While it's not drastically different from the previous version, it contains a lot of nice subtle changes that make the program even easier to use. Also, the new version is much more responsive and stable on my overloaded Win2k system.

Money 2002 excels in at least two areas: ease of use, and tight integration with Internet. There are tons of features -- and I highly recommend the deluxe version because it covers pretty much everything in personal finance management (trust me -- I used to work in finance) -- but they are all very easy to learn and use. You don't need Internet to use Money 2002, but Internet helps you take full advantage of it, such as creating a mobile Money portfolio on MoneyCentral/CNBC, working with your financial institutions online from one place (i.e., account aggregation), and finding information on houses and cars quickly and easily.

When you run the program with the CD-ROM popped in (you don't need the CD-ROM to run the program), you get audio commentary as well as video tutorials. In short, this version of Money is really worth the upgrade.