Quicken Online Trends

Quicken Online is a separate product from the desktop versions like Quicken Deluxe, but it does have some similarities. One of my favorites features of Quicken in general is it’s ability to automatically categorize your spending based on where you made a purchase.  Quicken Online learns from all the data its users upload, so the more people that use the tool, the better it gets at recognizing and categorizing transactions.

One suggestion I had during the Quicken Online review was for the Intuit team to add in the ability to aggregate user data for comparisons.  If you’ve ever used TurboTax you’ll remember the section towards the end where the software shows how you compare to other tax filers.  I think it would be interesting and useful to see how you compare to other Quicken Online users in terms of where you’re spending your money.

The Trends feature of Quicken Online already offers some insightful data you can use for comparisons but nothing that compares your spending behavior to other people.  Of course you can get a good snapshot of your income and expenses with the current Trends section.  The charts make it easy to see where you’re spending most of your money for the current month and trending over time as well.  Another cool feature is that Quicken Online looks at your highest spending categories and makes savings suggestions on how much you could save a year by cutting a certain percentage of that spending.

One last thing about Quicken Online and Intuit products in general that I think helps add to their usefulness is a program they call their Inner Circle.  It’s a user feedback program that anyone can join.  You have to sign a non disclosure agreement but you get early access to new features in some of their products and can offer your feedback so they can incorporate user preferences into their products. That wraps up the Quicken Online overview, if it sounds like a useful tool for your money then give it a try, it’s free – Quicken Online Signup

Ben Edwards, the founder of Money Smart Life, saved up enough to buy a Nintendo back when he was 12 years old. When he used the money to buy shares of Wal-Mart stock instead, he knew he wasn't like the other kids... His addiction to personal finance has paid off for his family and now he's helping you to afford the life that you want. Check him out on the web at Google Plus, Twitter and Facebook.

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