Computer Info – May 7, 2003

 

This Week’s Meeting

            This week we will again take a look at Quicken – part 2.  We will have a question and answer session along with reviews of some of the back handout topics. 

            The next meeting will be May 21th.

Quicken – Part 2

            When you close the Quicken program, the date for a new transaction is set back to the current date.

Recording Split Transactions

            When you make a payment on your credit card, it usually involves many different accounts or categories that the money is being used for.  So when entering the check into the check register, you would choose the SPLIT button.  This would open up the Split Transaction Window.  In this window, you can choose the categories that would cover the amount paid to the credit card company.  If you need a new category, you can just type it in – and when you press the TAB key to move to the next field, you would be prompted “Do you want to create a new category with that name”. 

            Notice when you come back to the check register that only the total is displayed.  The category is listed as split.  Clicking on this will allow you to see which categories and amounts were used for this check.

Depositing a Pay Check using the split transaction.

            When you choose DEPOSIT in the NUM file column – after entering the name and hitting the TAB key, you will automatically be taken to the Deposit column for recording the amount rather than the payment field.  Click on the SPLIT button to enter the various categories.  First choose SALARY.  Enter your net pay.  Notice that this shows a negative amount.  For the next category, choose TAXES – FEDERAL.  In the amount field, type a minus number since it is a deduction.  Do this for the other taxes that were deducted from your check (such as Medicare – Social Security – State tax, etc). 

Printing Checks

            From the Banking Center – on the left hand side – choose Print Checks.  This will open a window that shows a check form.  From the menu you will find the option to order checks from Quicken.  This form will use your existing lists of payees and accounts.  When you enter the amount and press the TAB key, the written out form of the amount is automatically entered.  When you are finished – be sure to press the RECORD CHECK button – in order to place this transaction in the register.  Also notice that there is no space to enter the check number.  When you are ready to print the checks, click on the PRINT menu at the top of the Creating & Printing Checks window.  Click on CHECKS. 

            This opens up the Select Checks to Print window where you have a lot of control over which checks to print and what number to start with. 

Reconcile Your Account

            From the check register, you will find a menu for Reconcile.  On this window, you will enter the OPENING BALANCE – ENDING BALANCE – any SERVICE CHARGE or INTEREST amount.  Once you have done this, you will be given a list of the checks that you have entered – if they are also listed on your bank statement, then place a checkmark in the CLEARED (CLR) column.  Do the same with your list of DEPOSITS.  If the total come out the same, no problem.  If there is a difference, then you have to find the problem and correct the entry made in your check registry.  Just change the amount of the wrong entry.  Once you have finished, Quicken will place an R (for Reconciled) in the check registry. 

How to add multiple accounts to an existing data file.

            While you are on the MY FINANCES page, click on CREATE NEW ACCOUNT button.  Let’s add a Credit Card account – which is under BANKING & CASH.  Enter the name of the credit card, the financial institution, the last statement date and the amount owed at that time.  You can also enter the credit limit of this account.  Once you have created this account, look at the MY FINANCES page and you will now see two accounts listed. 

            If you now look at the NET WORTH section, you will see where the credit card balance has been subtracted from the amount available in your checking account. 

            The register for the credit card account looks very similar to your checking register – except that the amount columns are labeled CHARGE and PAYMENT. 

How to transfer funds between accounts

            When writing a check in the check register and making it payable to the credit card (ex. MasterCard).  When it comes to the category – click on the TRANSFER button.  This opens up the ability to Record a Transfer between Quicken Accounts.  By doing this, the check number is changed to TXFR (standing for Transfer) – so it is a good idea to record the check number in the Memo field. 

Setting up alerts – Updating with internet access

            Quicken displays ALERTS on the MY FINANCES center.  To setup the alerts, click on the ACTIONS menu from the top right hand side of the Alerts box and choose SET UP ALERTS.  By clicking on the BANKING tab, you can setup an Alert for when your checking account may go below a minimum where the bank would charge you a fee.  The Alert will notify you when that account is close to the minimum amount and again when it reaches the minimum amount.  The Alerts are not in the Basic edition.

            This is also where you will find the ONE STEP UPDATE SUMMARY (you must have Quicken registered in order to use this feature).  With internet access, you can update all of your Quicken accounts directly from your financial institutions, as well as pay bills, transfer money, download stock quotes – and update your Quicken program.  This screen is also where you can display the stock prices in the WATCH LIST (whether they are in your portfolio or just some that you are interested in).   

Calendar

            When you are in the calendar, you can click on the OPTIONS menu.  Here you can choose the items that you want to be displayed on your calendar.  By right-clicking on any date, you can add a NOTE for that date – such as “Make reservations for trip to Hawaii”.  You can also choose the color of the note.  The note is displayed on the date by a small colored box.  To read the note, just click on it.  If you are displaying your entered transactions, you can click on them to learn more about them. 

Scheduled Transactions

            On the MY FINANCES page, look for Bills and Scheduled Transactions.  Click on the ACTIONS menu to set up your scheduled transactions. 

 

Math Puzzle

It takes less than a minute to do this puzzle….

Work this out as you read.  Don’t cheat and read the bottom until you’ve worked through it!

This is fun!

1)      Pick the number of times a week that you would like to have dinner out.  (try for more than once but less than 10)

 

2)      Multiply this number by 2  (Just to be bold)

 

3)      Add 5  (for Sunday)

 

4)      Multiply it by 50 – I’ll wait while you get the calculator……………………..

 

5)      If you have already had your birthday this year add 1753….  If you haven’t, add 1752……

 

6)      Now subtract the four digit year that you were born.

 

You should have a three digit number.

The first digit of this was your original number

 

The next two numbers are….

 

YOUR AGE!  (Oh YES, It is!!!!!!)

Spyware

            Spyware programs report the computer owner’s browsing habits to a computer on the Internet.  Ads are customized for a computer owner.

            Here is a new twist.  A program called ClientMan.  When older versions of ZoneAlarm, a firewall, encounter ClientMan, the computer user is asked if ClientMan has permission to access the Internet.  ClientMan quickly checks the YES button, giving itself permission.  It also checks the ALWAYS box, to make the change permanent.

            So, be sure to keep your firewall UP-TO-DATE.

 

When Web Addresses Don’t Work

            If you type in a web addresses and get an error message such as

                        Error 404 – File not found

                        The page cannot be found

                        You are not authorized to view this page

                        Access denied

Try a couple of these suggestions.

1.      Try typing the web address again, and delete the letter ‘l’ in  .html.  Possibly they changed the filename extension from  .html  to .htm

2.      If that doesn’t work, start subtracting portions of the web address, gradually heading back to the root URL.  For example, if the URL is  www.thatsmyhome.com/cheesecake/ - take off the cheesecake and that should take you to the website’s home page.  If that doesn’t quite do it, then remember that all websites’ main page are titled  index.htm  or  index.html.  So you could try entering it as   www.thatsmyhome.com/index.htm

3.      If you think the web site has moved or been discontinued, you may use a search engine to try to locate it.  Remember that a search engine uses it’s own self-compiled, mechanized index.  A search engine will use three areas to compile their index – the title of the web page (this is the text that is seen in the blue title bar at the top of your browser) – the invisible keyword text that a web page author may embed in his web page known as Meta-tags – and the text that appears anywhere in the body of the web page.