No More Microsoft Money After June 30
Posted on Wed, 10th June, 2009 by Jeremy (30) Comments
I suppose it probably doesn’t come as much of a surprise, but Microsoft is discontinuing their money management software at the end of the month. They had a good run, but it’s pretty hard to keep up with so many free money management platforms and the long-standing top finance package that Quicken offers.
The writing was on the wall since last fall Microsoft announced they were going to stop selling Money in retail stores and offering annual updates. I know that buying software in the store as a whole might be slowly becoming a thing of the past, but you usually don’t see major titles stop offering their products in stores unless there are plans to discontinue it entirely at some point.
Microsoft did post an official announcement on their site today. It isn’t long, but the important part states (emphasis mine):
Microsoft Money Plus will not be available for purchase after June 30, 2009. All purchased Money Plus products must be activated prior to Jan. 31, 2011. With banks, brokerage firms and Web sites now providing a range of options for managing personal finances, the consumer need for Microsoft Money Plus has changed. After suspending annual updates of Money Plus in 2008, Microsoft is announcing today that we will no longer offer Microsoft Money Plus for purchase after June 30, 2009.
Some things have certainly changed as you have companies like Mint providing a unique personal finance package for free. But I’m not sure what banks and brokerage firms are offering that compete with what Mint, Money, or Quicken have to offer. Sure, they may provide some added features that can help consumers with their money, but nothing nearly as comprehensive as their software.
I think the main issue is that people know that they can get virtually the same level of service without paying by using Mint or Quicken Online. Sure, if you have more complicated finances or need more granular levels of reporting you might still opt for a more robust package. But most people are just looking for something simple, and Microsoft has been lagging in that department for years.
Are You a Money User?
So, I’m curious if there are any MS Money users out there. I’ve used it occasionally over the past few years for testing purposes, but I always fall back on Quicken. It’s not that Money is bad software, but I got my start on Quicken. Like the saying goes, you can’t teach an old dog new tricks. It’s hard to get out of a rhythm. But if you are using MS Money, how did you like it, and is the cancelation of it going to force you to look for an alternative?
I have used Money for at least 10 years now, and I have so much historical data in there that I have no desire to change to something else. Money does what I need it to, and the learning curve for switching has always been too steep.
I don’t know how long the ability to download prices and transactions will last, but as long as that functionality remains, I will stick with Money.
Interesting – I didn’t know that Microsoft was going to discontinue. I’ve never used the software before – but I have to agree – there are lots of free services that can substitute managing money. I would think that Microsoft also faces a lot of pirating issues as well and lose a lot there.
Holy cow! This is the first that I have heard of Microsoft giving up on their Money platform. I’ve been using Money for years and went to my backup files to see how long…16 years! Turns out I started the year after graduating from undergrad.
Talk about teaching an old dog new tricks, I’m really going to have to figure out what to do when my current version becomes obsolete!
Any thoughts?
Jorge, I know it isn’t something that will be easy as you mentioned, but you’ll probably want to slowly start getting acclimated to a new platform. I’m sure you can still use Money for quite a while before it becomes totally obsolete, but if you slowly become familiar with a new program over the course of a year or so the final transition shouldn’t be as painful.
I’m with you, Jorge. I have been using MS Money for years and just got it configured perfectly (budgeting, retirement accounts, mortgage, credit cards, etc.) I guess I will keep using it until it expires.
I always used Money but after a computer crash last week downloaded trials of both Money and Quicken. In a week, Money has corrupted my data file twice, requiring me to completely rebuild my accounts and portfolios (restoring them from the backup led to the same corrupt issue). Quicken has had no issues. I was planning to switch and this just confirms that decision.
I have been using MS Money for years. I really don’t know how long really, but figure, I have updated (purchased) new versions about three times in my computing career. I loved it. But then the coolest thing happened. Mint. I love Mint! It works so well. It is idiot proof. Everything is there in front of me, and I dont need to do anything to make it happen. Everything stays updated automatically, all my balances are accurate. There is really nothing to dislike. MS Money was useful back when stand alone software was really necessary, but there is so much stuff that is Internet based now, so that you really don’t even need to own software anymore. I am not even going to get all worked up over how Microsoft products have gotten more heavy and bloated over the years. Just because technology exists to do something, doesn’t mean it has to. Anyway. Good riddance, MS Money!
Hi,
I’ve been using Money for a while now. I don’t use the automatic updates or the downloading from banks so I will continue to use Money. It will continue to do all that I need it to even after being discontinued from the company. I used the 2003 version for many years and upgraded two years ago to the 2007 version. I much prefer entering my data manually. I will continue to do what I’m doing for now. Eventually, I may switch but that won’t happen for a while.
I still use Money 2001, in VMware Fusion on my Mac. In fact that’s the only reason I run virtualized Windows on it. It won’t get any more obsolete.
I don’t trust online personal finance managers, specially those from small companies like Mint or Wesabe that could be acquired at any time.
I was planning on writing my own self-hosted web-based personal finance manager on top of Django as a learning project. I guess I will have to stop procrastinating about this at some point.
Sixteen years as a Money user, so changing will be a real pain. MS ought to sell the product to someone else who is interested in either continuing the product or integrating it into their online finance software. The first company to offer the ability to accurately import all my 16 years of transaction history wins my business…
I had used Money in the past as it shipped with my desktop computer. My girlfriend now has the desktop and I rarely use it so my Money file is outdated. I have been looking into getting software for my laptop but have not done so yet. I tried Mint but my checking account is not available and there is no manual entry so it just will not work for my needs (otherwise it looked pretty cool).
I did just discover that Quicken online has my bank so that may be an option!
I did some research last night, and apparently there is a way in quicken to import everything from Money. I also found out that you will no longer be able to update stock/mutual fund prices automatically inside of Money after the cutoff.
Has anyone successfully imported from Money to Quicken? Is it as easy as they say?
I’ve been using Money for at least 10 years. I keep track of banking accounts, my investment portfolios and my wife’s business transactions. I’ve never used the downloads from my bank (I prefer to take the 5 minutes a month to balance my account via the statement) but the last comment that stock prices will no longer be updated bums me out. I’ve never liked the budget tool and there are a few other things about how MS Money keeps track of that I don’t like, but that’s more about how I like to keep my data. If I can’t update stock prices, it looks like I might be looking into Quicken (it takes too long to update all of those prices by hand every day) But otherwise, I’ll probably stick with MS Money until it dies (old dog, new tricks, etc….)
Hi there everyone,
Thanks for those of you that mention Quicken and Quicken Online as potential alternatives for your next money management solution (if you are a MS Money user).
For those of you with heavy investment and tracking needs, check out the full gamut of Quicken desktop products. If you’re a desktop user currently, but really just track balances, get mobile and email alerts on balances, bills, etc. and want to see what’s left between paychecks and keep your spending in check, a free, Web-based solution like Quicken Online (quickenonline.com) might be the perfect fit.
We’re working on making the transition from MS Money desktop products to Quicken desktop products smooth for folks who want to switch: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-10262344-56.html
Thanks,
Chelsea, Quicken
I have been using MS Money since I received it free with my Packard Bell in the 90s. I’ve always considered it one of the nicer products that MS has made. Sad to see it go.
While I’ll have to eventually migrate to something else, I will be stretching as much life out of my latest version for as long as I can.
The long term use of MS Money or any other money management software is where their true power lies. MS Money has helped my family and I through good and bad times. It will be missed.
Last year I wrote up a quick post about my 10+ years of MS Money use…
http://www.redisaflavor.com/riaf/post/2008/09/28/10-years-of-Microsoft-Money-Use-Looking-Back.aspx
I’ve been using Money since the mid-90s. Like Marie, I don’t use any of the automatic update features, so I will use it until it won’t work anymore (probably when I buy my next computer in a few years).
I primarily use it to produce expense reports at tax time (charitable giving, medical expenses, etc.). Besides Quicken does anyone have recommendations for replacements? I am totally not interested in giving programs access to my bank account information.
Thanks, C.
I used to use this all the time. Sad to see it go. I like mint.com way better.
I’ve been using MS Money for a decade or so, and it’s done what I wanted it to do. I’m concerned about what I will do with my historical data since I’m kind of fixated on keeping details records. I’m pretty fed up with MicroSoft anyway, and I’m not afraid of changing products and learning a new software package. I just d don’t want to loose any data or have to spend hours manually transferring information.
Quicken, if they are smart, will create a fast conversion process and tutorial package for MS Money users who are ready to jump ship… it could give a nice bump to their sales.
I heard this wild rumor, that Microsoft makes more money than Apple does, when they sell a Mac. Due to the fact that Microsoft sells hardware for it or something. Can this be confirmed? Send it to Mythbusters?
I was lucky to be given a custom made spreadsheet that duplicates the requirements of the UK self-assessment income tax forms. It was free and runs beautifully on Linux!
I used Managing Your Money YEARS ago and it’s still the best PF software ever written! I cannot ever seem to get either Money or Quicken to work right. It’s always the syncing of the transactions that goes haywire.
It’s too bad Money is going down. It was the only thing that kept making Intuit improve their less-than-stellar product.
I used Quicken for 2 years but switched to MSMoney in the early 90’s (it came with a new computer). It’s a shame Money is shutting down. While far from perfect, it has served me well and hate to see it go. I’ll proabably switch back to Quicken when my software expires.
I am totally disappointed, too. I have tons of personal & business data going back to 2003. I relied heavily on the automatic update accounts features and not it disappears on Oct 09 when my subscription expires!! Bill. if you are listening.. can you please reconsider?? It’s just not right to abandon a good product that works so well.
I too have been using ms money for over 15 years. I found it easy to use and I definitely depend on the stock quote updates. I have looked at the conversion process for both quicken and moneydance. not very smooth and error prone. and the in both cases you still have to do a lot of manual verification and set up accounts before importing. first product that can read the .mny file and reproduce all the account info/transactions gets my business.
Like others have said what I liked about MS Money is it allowed me to manually enter all transactions. I liked this for many reasons. Mint does not allow me to do that…does Quicken do that. I did this with investments, bank accounts, credit cards and reward programs. Does Quicken allow you to manually keep track of all these. The only extra item I liked from MS Money is it would updated the stock prices
We have been using MSMoney since 1993. Our finances are a little complex, having grown over the years. I work in IT as an IT Manager for a government entity in AU too. I tried a migration to Quicken (as I would with need to with my employer) and had some issues. When I pressed quicken about some of the issues that needed resolution, they became very awkward tro say the least. Especially given requests like the ones I was making were legitemate issues and would be actively resolved by other vendors. The event left me to conclude that they were less than helpful when support was needed. As my Wife has only just let me know that Money is discontinued, and we are still using 2002.AU version, I am not sure what the best alternative is. Even this late after Microsoft anounced it (mid 2009), there doesnt seem to be a practical alternative.
Shoot I use MONEY 2007 because I operate in 2 currencies. I can download from any bank in the world. I used Quicken for 10 years but they didnot offer any multi currency bank facility. For a while I had USA Books on one computer & the foreign currency on another computer, but consolidating reports was bad. If Quicken has changed let me know. I had many long battles with Quicken in getting them to allow foreign downloads. So much so they wouldn’t answer my calls anymore. AT the time you could not load the USA version & a Canadian version on the same machine.
Gimmmmee back updated MONEY
Regards
Ed
My bank now has online budgeting capabilities so I can understand why the need for this has diminished. I was always a Quicken user, but I do think the banks offer a lot of services now that they never have before.
I used Quicken for a few years and got tired of all the bugs. I have been using MS Money for at least 6 years now. I wish someone would buy the right to sell Money from Microsoft and continue the product. All we need are the online updates. I don’t care about new features.