Thank you both for the information. I was ready to just scrap this program
and go back to the 2001 version of Quickbooks I was using, but it looks like
Money 2006 will do what I want and also offer some extras that will help me
keep my financial goals in line.

Thanks again!

In microsoft.public.money, Tracy wrote:

- quote -


Tools-> Settings-> AccountSettings(global)-> DisplayAllAccountsInTheAdvancedAccountRegister
will make sure all of your registers are "advanced". You can enter
your transactions into the register which is available from the
Account List (Banking-> AccountList).


- quote -

It depends on how detailed you want to be. But at this stage, the
answer would seem to be yes. In fact, many of your categories
("classification" is something different in Money that you will not
want to use at this point) may be "split", which lets you break that
7-Eleven purchase into various categories. Later you may tend to be
less detailed, and just categorize that transaction as whatever you
spent the most on, or maybe just categorize it as "misc".

- quote -

http://www.microsoft.com/money/suppo...rt_manual.mspx may have
some things of interest.

Answers below.

"Tracy" <Tracy[at]discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:AE1FD49A-76D6-49DE-8569-E24C2209B9CC[at]microsoft.com...
- quote -

Before there was Transaction Download, there was manual data entry. It's
still there. You just go to a register, click on the next transaction field,
and enter your data. I never do anything else and I've entered data in every
version of Money since Mv2. That tens of thousands of transactions by now.

- quote -

Money attempts to associate Payee names in the downloaded data with either
what it thinks you'd buy at that payee (XYZ's Grille will probably associate
Grille with Dining Out) or with how you categorized your last purchase at
that Payee. You cite the classic example where this doesn't work and where
Money is bound to screw it up. One trip to 7-Eleven you buy
Automobile:Gasoline. The next time you buy Food:Groceries. The time after
that you buy some Automobile:Gasoline and some Foodining Out. Since Money
is only making a guess, it can't hope to get this right. Your remaining
choices are a) to not worry it, b) to edit the download transaction before
accepting it into the register, or c) to just enter the transaction by hand
in the first place. I opt for the latter in all cases. Many other posters
here think I'm nuts and opt for one of the other two choices. YMMV.

For new users, I recommend starting with manual transaction entry. Get to
the point where you understand how Money transactions work. Don't mess with
downloaded transactions, and all of the problems they can cause and because
of issues just like this, until you understand how Money transactions work
and what information in transactions does for things like Money reports and
so forth. Many other posters here think this advice is stupid. YMMV.

- quote -

Prior versions had more than is there today. That seems backwards, but there
it is. There is a new Money 2006 book in the "For Dummies" series.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/076...books&v=glance I
can't speak for how good it is, but the subject is clearly more
straightforward than, say, Asynchronous Transfer Mode Telecommunications
Protocols for Dummies or some of their other titles.

I just purchased Money 2006 and have a some questions that I couldn't get
answered through Help.

I would like to be able to enter checks, debits and ATMs as they occur. It
typically takes my bank about 2-3 days to clear the transaction before it
could be automatically updated in Money, assuming the person I write the
check to deposits it immediately. Essentially, I'd like Money to take the
place of my checkbook register. Is there a way to enter everyday
transactions manually? My other issue is how does Money know how to classify
the transactions it downloads from my bank? For example, I may buy milk and
bread (grocery) or gas (auto) at 7-Eleven. Will I have to go back through
any transactions that are downloaded from the bank to be sure they go to the
correct category?

Last, is there any type of online tutorial or step-by-step guides to help a
beginner learn the program?

Thanks in advance!