How to Make a Debt Reduction Plan in Quicken H & B 2008

You can utilize Quicken Home & Business to create a plan to get out of debt. It gives you an opportunity to view all of your finances and use this information to make a plan designed for reducing your debt. This is derived from your particular circumstances and Quicken's Debt Reduction Planner. It contains a succession of questions about your debt. These details and other previously entered figures for your accounts are drawn on to make your plan. It requires at least 30 minutes.

Things You'll Need

• Quicken Home & Business CD (optional)

Instructions

1. Access your debt reduction planner. Launch Quicken Home & Business 2008. Click on "Debt Reduction" under the "Planning" menu on the toolbar. This opens the planner. Click on the "Next" button. You will be informed to insert the Quicken CD to view a short introduction about the planner. This is optional and only appears the first time you make a debt reduction plan. This will happen for each new tab opened. Click on "Next" to continue.

2. List all of your debts. The first tab in the Debt Planner is Debts. Quicken will automatically put any debts you already have in your accounts into the planner. This will save you the trouble of adding them twice. Look over the information about the debts. If you need to add any additional debts, click on the "Add" button. Fill in the necessary details about it and then click "OK." Use the "Edit" button to make any changes to them or the "Delete" to remove them from the list. Do this for each one and then click "Next." You will see a quick view of your debt prior to creating the plan. It shows a monthly amount, a date you will be debt free and how much interest you will have paid. This will alter as you make the plan (it is shown at the bottom left of each tab). Click "Next."

3. Decide the arrangement of your debts. The Order tab shows your debts in the order you should pay them off. It lists the most costly ones first. You can put a check in the "Change Payment Order" box to modify the order shown. Select the debt and then use the "Move Up" or "Move Down" buttons to move them when you are finished click "Next."

4. Apply money to your debts. The Savings tab will show any savings and investments amounts you have listed in Quicken. You can apply part of this amount to your debt to see how much it changes your results. Fill in an amount and then click "Next."

5. Cut your monthly expenses. The Budget tab shows the amounts you pay out for discretionary categories. Quicken uses your previous financial transactions and comes up with the four categories you spend the most on. You can change the selections by using the drop-down box, if you need to. The space on the right is for an amount you would like to reduce your spending. Fill in a sum for any of the categories you desire and click "Recalculate" to see how much this will decrease your expenses. Click "Next" when you are finished.

6. View and print your debt reduction plan. The final tab "Plan" is an "Action Plan" produced by Quicken. This is an overview of your plan and contains an amount of interest you will save and how much earlier you can be out of debt, if you pursue this plan. Select "Print this Action Plan" to get a copy of it. Click "Next."

7. Track your debt reduction progress. The final option in making your plan is about tracking your steps forward. Place check marks in the boxes "Alert me if I fall behind" and "Add scheduled bills for my monthly payments" to keep an eye on your plan. Click on "Next" and then "Done." You will see a graph of your plan with helpful information. You can access you debt reduction plan in the future from the Planning menu on the toolbar or from the Financial Overview tab when you open Quicken Home & Business.