new user for payments

If you are going to continue to write checks then just enter them into the register prior to downloading transactions from your bank. Quicken will "match" the transaction based on check # and amount.

I don't use Quicken to pay my bills--I schedule everything online at my bank using their Bill Pay function. This does not cost me anything.

Check with your bank before you set anything up in Quicken. Some banks charge a fee to use Quicken to pay your bills but not for downloading.

Set up a Savings Goal for each item, or one goal that covers everything. Then do a recurring transaction each month or paycheck that transfer the money into the savings goal.

Savings goals are like virtual accounts. You don't actually take the money out of your real account, but the apparent balance in the Quicken account is reduced each time you create a goal transaction. That helps keep you from spending the excess funds.

When it comes time to make the real payment, you delete the goal and magically have enough money to cover the bill. I've used this technique for taxes and insurance for years and never made an escrow payment in my life.

You want to setup the various Bills I'm not sure if Q2010 is different than Q2009 for that, but the approach will be simialr and is a basic part of Quicken. Just go to the tab for Bills, or go to Tools > Manage Bills.

Then, for each bill, enter the payee, the account that you will be paying from, the due date, the LEAD TIME for how far in advance you want to be reminded, and the method of payment.

For the examples that you mentioned I set them up as annually recurring payments. I know that the actual amounts will change somewhat next year, but the current numbers give me a reasonable starting point for planning and budgeting.

I've done a couple of different test entries... One test using the BILLS tab - and setep & paid some monthly expenses... gas, electric, etc One test using the BANKING tab & the same checking account, with just a direct entry for some charity donation payments.

I'll have to see how things look as "paid" now in the register, along with the balance vs - when the checks clear, get downloaded, and posted to the same account. Wonder w hat shows up differently - if at all - after the Quicken download of the transactions ?

yeah - I was curious how that will be handled & dis played I've entered a couple of different payments, and we'll see how they look when downloaded and posted.

You will find that this is a learning process. You will, over time, figure out what works best for you.

If they are regular, reoccurring payments, I'd suggest you think about scheduled transactions. Thus, can you see the upcoming ones that you are responsible for. I use an payment method of "PRINT CHECK"" and have Quicken automatically enter it a few days into my register. Thus, I see it before I have to pay it, and when I do, I manually change the PRINT to the actual check number I use.

Quicken will also give you a action flag when you have 'PRINT' type transactions due, so you can see that you are in need of dealing with this type of transaction once you have automatically had it entered at the appropriate time. Thus, you don't forget to do it ahead, or if you receive bills in the mail that you haven't because of a post office problem, you can be reminded of that as well.

As Laura says, there are many ways of dealing with this stuff in Q, and what works for one might or might not work for you. I want Quicken to do as much automation and reminding of me as possible.

tnx for the tips - I'll add that PRINT scenario as another test example.

BTW - is there any way that Quicken shows outstanding/written/paid "checks" that have not yet come back in the transaction download for posting, but not really missing ? ie - your outstanding "float" amount ?

If I understand your question correctly, one can (at least on Q 2011) click on the RECONCILE column and see all the checks outstanding that haven't cleared or been reconciled by scrolling down to the end and looking for either nothing in that field, or the little 'c' (cleared but not reconciled as I remember it). I do that quite often in fact. Good question. Hope that answers what I think you were asking.