Appletell | Apple, Mac, iPhone, iPod | News, Rumors, Reviews, How-Tos

If you’re one of those Mac users who wanted some how to control your finances, personal or business, and tried without success to bond with some software to do that, then you should take a look at what I’ve found to be the key to success in the road of controlling personal finances.

Quicken:Mac from Intuit, is one of the best applications out there for the task. It’s a powerful tool designed for and by Mac users. I’ve tried to use it several times before (since my days on Windows), but I have never been able to stick with it long enough to gain control of my finances.

After several failed attempts with the application, I’ve now found a key factor to success that I’d like to share with all of you who, like me, haven’t lost faith yet and are willing to try a few more times to gain the battle against routine, and overwhelming detailed financial applications.

Every single time I installed a brand new version of Quicken, my enthusiasm could not reach higher in the sky. I had an indescribable amount of energy, and I seriously wanted to make it work. I’ve already thought about all the categories I wanted to record, I had every account number and details of all my credit cards by my side. I even had some old receipts to introduce in the system right away. I just could not wait to start.

The problem for me (and for most us, I could guess) was that I couldn’t keep that initial rush of enthusiasm for more than a few weeks. At the beginning of the process, it was easy for me to record every single expense I had. The application consumed a big part of my day. At the beginning, that was fine with me, but that’s a rhythm that could not be kept in the long term.

I had set so many categories in order to track every single dollar spent, that I now had to record even the change in my pocket. That was the consequence of the initial session of configuration where I was as excited as a kid at Christmas, and I put down everything I could think of. This, my friends, is the most common mistake of all and it’s also the main cause of failure when using any personal finances application.

I could not say why this time I was able to indentify and correct the problem, but now that the key factor was out, I could do something to fix it. I’ve been using Quicken for months now, and it’s not a big part of my routine. On the contrary, it’s a simple habit scheduled at the end of the day. I could summarize my experience of bittersweet years with Quicken in these few but important success tips:

• Set up a simple initial configuration of your financial environment. Just add the main accounts you want to track (including credit cards). If your needs grow with time, the software will allow you to do so in a heartbeat. Avoid setting the cash account if you can. This will help you simplify a lot the record of daily transactions.
• Gather just the main categories to track. Focus on the main flow of money that you want to monitor. Use high-level categories when possible to decrease the level of detail that will eventually become tedious to record on daily basis.
• Record in daily basis. Don’t let too many days go by without sitting with the software. To make it a daily habit is the best way to guarantee the continuity.
• Use scheduled transactions. Set up as many routine transactions as possible. You can save a few movements if you tell Quicken to automatically execute those recurrent transactions that you will have to record every week or month.
• Make the effort. Finally, just make the effort to transform the application into an everyday tool for you. Nothing that benefits you will come without some cost. Like a diet or the dental flush, if you are consistent enough to fit it into your life, you’ll be just collecting the benefits in the future to come..

If you have your own tips for sticking with Quicken or any other program, share them in the comments.