Wizard Walk-throughs

I bought this book to help me figure out the quirks of Money. But the more I flip through the book for answers the more frustrated I become. Basically, Mr Weverka just adds words around Money's dialog box wizards. If you're trying to do anything beyond the basics, this book won't help you. If you're looking for answers to tricky points like these, look elsewhere:

- I get paid on the 1st and 15th of every month. In case of a weekend or holiday, I'll get paid before. For example, if the 1st is a Saturday, I'll get paid the 30th or 31st of the previous month. The problem: Money's budgeting program puts this income in the previous month. So the previous month I get three paychecks, and the current month I get one. I looked for a solution in the book and found nothing. My best solution through trial and error: edit the transaction date to trick Money into thinking I got the deposit on the 1st.

- How to set up accounts for stock options, including a portion that's been exercised and being held. No mention in the book about this. Mr Weverka simply puts words around Money's Stock Option dialog boxes (which are very simple). Solution: set up separate accounts for held options -- found this solution after digging around online.

- Working the kinks out between Money tracking your gross income versus your basic accounts recording net income. Mr Weverka doesn't even mention the difference, let alone how to track the difference. He simply walks you through which buttons to press in the budgeting area. Oh, click "OK" after I enter my income? Thanks.

Bottom line, if you can follow on-screen directions, don't bother with the book. At the very least just borrow it from your library to get familiar with the program. If you need answers to more complex questions--although I wouldn't even consider mine particularly complex--search elsewhere.

Other Reviews

• Decent . .
• Wizard Walk-throughs
• Great for getting started, but missing what I was really looking for
• MS Money 2006 for dummies