🚀 go-pugleaf

I have used both Dollars & Sense and MacMoney, but it has been over a year
since I used D&S and I haven't tried the latest version.  I switched from
D&S to MacMoney because of problems using the old copy protected version of
D&S on my hard disk and because I was unhappy that I could not export my
data to other programs.  The new version of D&S is not copy protected, but
the upgrade cost was so high that I could buy MacMoney from a mail order
firm for about the same amount, which is what I did.

MacMoney takes much better advantage of the Mac user interface than does
D&S.  (D&S is a port of a program from the MS-DOS world.)  MacMoney is very
easy to use, e.g., recording a newly written check involves filling in
fields in a window that looks like a check.  MacMoney reminds you when
automatic payments/deposits are due.  You select "automatics" from a menu
and a window appears with a list of the transactions.  Click next to the
ones to want to pay and you're done.  MacMoney can easily distribute
payments/deposits among several accounts.  The account types include: Bank
Accounts, Cash Accounts, Credit Cards, Income, Expenses, Assets, and
Liabilities.  Creating accounts is easy and you can do it anytime you want.
It is very easy to go back and correct errors.  MacMoney can produce a large
number of reports and graphs.  Reports can be displayed on screen, sent to a
printer, and saved in a text file, which can be read and processed by
another program, such as Excel.  I have gotten better support for MacMoney
than I ever did for D&S.  The author of MacMoney responds to my questions
via email on GEnie.  He also has accounts on CompuServe and The Source and
MCI.  Of course, Survivor Software also provides traditional telephone
support.  The documentation that comes with MacMoney is not great, but it is
satisfactory.  Registered users also receive a newsletter periodically.  THE
CURRENT VERSION OF MACMONEY IS 3.0.  I am reasonably happy with MacMoney.

Since this is a response to a message that explicitly asked for a program
that could handle stocks, bonds, CD's, etc., I will point out that neither
D&S nor MacMoney is specialized to manage a portfolio of investments.  You
can though keep records of your investments using these programs, provided
you don't need an accurate minute-by-minute report of your net worth.  

MacMoney is published by Survivor Software Ltd., 11222 La Cienega Blvd.,
Suite 450, Inglewood, CA 90304.  You can get it by mail from MacConnection,
Programs Plus, and other mail order software distributors.  Expect to pay
about $40-45.

Aside from being a customer, I have no connection with any of the companies
or individuals I've mentioned above.

Duane Williams (dtw@cs.cmu.edu)