Original Message - From: DAVID ALLAN
                      To: ALL
                 Subject: How much time do you devote?
                    Conf: Quicken software discussion on Fido - QUICKEN
                  System: Pro-Mail Communications
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DA>úHow much time do you devote to doing your checkbook with Quicken?
That all depends on what work needs to be done.  Writing a
couple of dozen cheques a week (using pre-printed laser cheques)
takes about 5 to 10 minutes.  Reconciling the chequebook (once a
month when the statement comes in) takes about 5 minutes.
DA>úDo you do it all thru the week?  Or maybe once a week?  If so, how long
DA>údo you set aside to do it?
I do my stuff on an ad-hoc basis, and it never seems to
interfere.  When I first started using Quicken I found it very
cumbersome, but as I learned about some of its features and
discovered that there are lots of shortcuts to doing things with
Quicken, I soon came to like it very much.  Now I'm starting to
wish that there were OTHER things I could do with it.
DA>úIt seems to me that you *could* spend all day doing quicken....There 
appear
DA>úto be more things that you can do with it....than you have time
DA>úto do it!  (Especially if you are a perfectionist...!!!)
Perfectionists shouldn't do anything that impacts on
time-management.  For those tasks, you should hire someone to do
them for you.  Perfectionists tend to waste more time than they
actually put to productive use, because they keep "playing" with
things, trying to get things better.
With Quicken (once you have set up your accounts) you simply add
in the stuff that needs to be added, reconcile bank and credit
card accounts, change or add anything "on the fly", and then get
back to work and making money.
As an example of how Quicken can really work for you..., just
the other day I had to make a " hasty" trip to my bank manager
to see about a small loan.  It took about a minute for Quicken
to QUICKLY print out a very professional-looking and accurate
net worth report (or balance sheet).  The fact that I was all
organized and presented my financials to the bank in a very
professional manner certainly didn't hurt when it came to
getting the loan approved very quickly.
Like anything else..., Quicken is simply a tool.  Just as a good
hammer will help you drive a nail a lot better, Quicken will
help you organize your financials a lot beeter.  However, if you
have no need to drive any nails, a good hammer is of no
value..., and if you have no need to keep your financial in
order, Quicken probably wont do you any good either.
DA>úThoughts?
I resisted Quicken for a LONG time, thinking that it was too
complex.  Once I learned how it worked, I wouldn't be without
it. Even my wife likes it..., and she HATES computers .
If the cheque-processing (writing and reconciling) is the part
that's giving you the most grief, I would strongly reccommend
getting pre-printed cheques..., preferably laser cheques..., as
that will make a HUGE difference when it comes to time
management. 
Cheers...., Brian        EMail:  bhillis@sympatico.ca
                          Fido:  1:250/1004
 
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