Why use Microsoft Money or other Personal Finance Manager

A common question that is asked is why use Microsoft Money, or another personal finance manager (PFM) tool? I can go onto the Internet and use tools that do everything that Microsoft Money does.

The simple answer is that the web provides you with a whole variety of tools and helps you manage your Money. You can track stocks, pay your bills, view bank accounts and do many other tasks.

However, using something like Microsoft Money or Quicken consolidate that information into one place. You have all of your account information in one location. This allows a PFM to be able to analyze your transaction and other data, something that the web can't really do, unless you can find one place to hold all of the information.

A PFM provides an overall picture of your finances, and allows a lot more tracking that any website can do. It has the benefits of having a lot of historical data too, so spending trends and forecasts can be made. You can see all of your regular transactions in one place, which is very useful if you use more than one financial institution.

In addition, because PFM programs (especially Money) can utilize the Internet, you get many of the benefits that web based tools can provide.