Mo' Money Tips

It's tax season, and many people choose this time of year to start managing their finances with their PC. Here are a few pointers for customizing and securing Microsoft Money.

Start It Up

Each time you load the Money program, your Financial Home Page automatically appears. If you'd rather use another screen as your starting point--say you want to get right down to business entering transactions in your checking account--you can configure Money to display your Accounts screen, or any other area, when you start the program.

To change your start-up area, select Tools, Options. In the Options dialog box, click the General tab, then in the Display area of the General tab, click the down arrow to review your display choices. Select the area you would like to use as the starting point for your session. For instance, select Accounts to display the Accounts screen at startup. If you want Money to display the area that was in use when you last exited the program, select Last Place Used, and click OK.

The next time you start Money, the area you selected will display.

Keep Out the Snoops

Just as you wouldn't leave your checkbook or financial statements lying around for anybody to see, you should also protect your Money file from prying eyes. To do so, assign a password to it so that only those individuals who know the password can access the file.

To assign a password, select File, Password from the menu bar. In the New Password dialog box, type the password you want to use and click OK. In the resulting Confirm New Password dialog box, reenter the password for verification and click OK.

Your file is now protected. The next time you open the file, you will be prompted to enter the correct password. Type the password and click OK to open the file.

Open Sesame

To change a password, select File, Password from the menu bar. Type the current password and click OK. In the New Password dialog box, type the new password you want to use and click OK. In the Confirm New Password dialog box, reenter the new password for verification and click OK.

To remove a password from a file, select File, Password from the menu bar. Type the current password and click OK. In the New Password dialog box, leave the New Password field blank and click OK. In the Confirm New Password dialog box, leave the Re-Enter Password field blank and click OK.