In 2007 I started to use Mint.com. I used it side by side with Microsoft Money. In 2008 I stopped using Microsoft Money because the product was put out to pasture. Microsoft Money served me well for about 6 years, starting in 2001. It was one of the reasons I starting using my PC more than my Mac.

Anyway, I think Mint.com sort of sucks now. Here is why:

1. They frequently can't connect to my financial institutions. They could not connect to Fidelity for over a week.

2. They frequently duplicate my transactions. For a few days, every single Wells Fargo transaction was duplicated

3. Their automatic "renaming" and "categorization" feature sucks. It doesn't work. For example, every purchase at my grocery store "Bert's Red Apple" is named "Apple Computer" an categorized as electronics

4. For 5 months now, my investment accounts don't have charts

5. My 401 cost basis and balances are never the same as Fidelity

From what I can tell, no one is working on the software.

So I did something I swore I would never do (credit to Mike Torres for convincing me). I purchased Quicken 2011. And while I feel like I am stuck in the 90s sometimes, I have to give Intuit credit for actually improving the product from the last time I tried it (2009). I can deal with the fact that the dialogs look like Windows 95, and that the "Preferences" entry is under "Edit" (a throwback to the Mac origins of Quicken) and that there seems to be two features that control everything around categories and renames because at the end of the day Quicken makes me feel in control of my finance and budget. I can actually project my cashflow and bills over the next 30 days, and see my investment performance... 

Anyways, it feels good to be back, and it's always easiest to start with a new finance package in January so that come December, I can track my performance against my budget and financial goals.