ÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛ³ ÛÛ³ ÛÛ³ ÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛ³ ÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛ³ ÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛ³ ÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛ³ ÛÛ³ ÛÛ³ ÛÛ³ÛÛ³ÛÛ³ ÛÛ³ ÛÛ³ ÛÛ³ÛÛ³ÛÛ³ ÛÛ³ ÛÛ³ ÛÛ³ ÛÛ³ ÛÛ³ ÛÛ³ ÛÛ³ ÛÛ³ ÛÛ³ ÛÛ³ ÛÛ³ ÛÛ³ ÛÛ³ ÛÛ³ ÛÛ³ ÛÛ³ ÛÛ³ ÛÛÛÛ³ ÛÛ³ ÛÛ³ ÛÛ³ ÛÛ³ ÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛ³ ÛÛ³ ÛÛ³ ÛÛ³ ÛÛ³ ÛÛ³ ÛÛ³ ÛÛ³ ÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛ³ ÛÛ³ ÛÛ³ ÛÛ³ ÛÛ³ ÛÛ³ ÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛ³ ÛÛ³ ÛÛ³ ÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛ³ ÛÛ³ -The Ultimate Personal Finance System- (tm) Version 3.51 MY MONEY, Copyright (c) 1988-93, J.E. Smith, All rights reserved. TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction ...................................................... 1 Features .......................................................... 2 Distribution ...................................................... 3 Initial Setup ..................................................... 4 Master Menu ....................................................... 10 Checkbook ......................................................... 13 Analysis .......................................................... 16 Other Assets ...................................................... 19 Portfolio ......................................................... 21 Printouts ......................................................... 23 Budget ............................................................ 25 Financial Calculator .............................................. 26 Amortization Schedule ............................................. 34 Update Net Worth .................................................. 39 Password Protection ............................................... 41 Help System ....................................................... 42 Field Editing ..................................................... 43 Hot-Keys .......................................................... 44 Other Information ................................................. 45 Technical Support and Upgrade Policy .............................. 46 Kudos ............................................................. 47 License Agreement and Other Legal Matters ......................... 48 INTRODUCTION MY MONEY v3.51 pg. -1- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Welcome to MY MONEY! MY MONEY is a personal finance manager designed to be intuitive and easy to use. It was written for those people who prefer not to be bothered with all the underlying accounting gibberish, but are more interested in painless personal finances with minimal user maintenance. Major features include a checkbook manager (3 accounts), net worth tracker, a credit card manager, cash payment manager, financial calculator with an integrated amortization schedule, budget section, portfolio section, depreciable asset section, a printout module, an analysis module with tables, bar charts and pie charts. An extensive, on-line, context-sensitive, hyper-text, help system is always available by pressing (F1). A lot of thought and time went into MY MONEY, I hope you find it as useful as I do. Many new features are planned for future versions of MY MONEY. However, they can only be implemented with your support. The registered version of MY MONEY does not require you to enter a 5-digit access code at start up and removes the ending screen. The cost of MY MONEY is $25 (US funds). Include $5 shipping and handling for orders outside the United States. Add $5 if you require MY MONEY on a 3-1/2" disk. A completed and signed order form MUST accompany each order. The order form is found in the file ORDER.FRM, or you can print one by pressing (ALT-O) within MY MONEY. Master Card and Visa are accepted. Orders are processed as they are received. Generally, they are shipped within 7 days. However, please allow 2-8 weeks for delivery from the time your order is mailed. A lot of thought and time went into the design of MY MONEY. I think you will find it both intuitive and easy to use. FEATURES MY MONEY v3.51 pg. -2- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Major features include: - Checkbook manager (up to 3 accounts). - Net worth tracker (15 user-defined categories). - Budget manager. - Credit card manager. - Cash payment manager. - Financial calculator. * Integrated amortization module. - Portfolio section (up to 20 securities). - Depreciable asset section. - Printout module. - Analysis module with: * Tables. * Bar charts. * Pie charts. - 28 user-defined expense categories. - 9 user-defined income categories. - Easy data backups. - Extensive, on-line, context-sensitive, hyper-text help system. - DOS shell hot-key. - Ability to swap MY MONEY out of memory when shelling to DOS. - ...and much more. DISTRIBUTION MY MONEY v3.51 pg. -3- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- MY MONEY is distributed as shareware. It is *NOT* public domain, freeware or "free software". You may evaluate MY MONEY for 45 days, after which you must either register it or stop using it. Registration is required for use in a business, government or institutional setting. Unaltered copies of MY MONEY's *original* shareware distribution archive may be freely copied and shared with others as long as no fee is charged to do so. It may be uploaded to local and national BBS's. Anyone desiring to distribute MY MONEY by charging a per disk fee (i.e. disk vendors) must obtain written permission from the author, J.E. Smith, before doing so. MY MONEY may be distributed via subscription BBS's as long as no inference is made that the subscription in any way pays for the use or evaluation of MY MONEY. INITIAL SETUP MY MONEY v3.51 pg. -4- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- The first thing you should do is backup your distribution disk and store it in a safe place. HARD DISK INSTALL If your system has a hard disk, make a separate directory for MY MONEY off the root directory. This is accomplished by placing the MY MONEY disk in drive A and entering the following at your DOS prompt: C: (ENTER) CD\ (ENTER) MD\MYMONEY (ENTER) CD\MYMONEY (ENTER) COPY A:*.* (ENTER) To execute MY MONEY enter: MM (ENTER) It is very important that MY MONEY be in its own directory, as you will see later in the UPDATE NET WORTH section. FLOPPY/MINI DISKETTE INSTALL Use a copy of MY MONEY and enter from the DOS prompt: MM (ENTER) MY MONEY - MONOCHROME MY MONEY will automatically detect the type of video card in your computer and adjust the colors accordingly. However, if you are using a color card (CGA, EGA or VGA) and a monochrome monitor, MY MONEY will attempt to display colors. This may be difficult to read. To override the autodetect and force MY MONEY into the monochrome mode, start MY MONEY by typing the following: MM MONO (ENTER) INITIAL SETUP MY MONEY v3.51 pg. -5- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- INITIAL SET UP Before using MY MONEY several key areas must be set up. To do this the following information is needed: 1. Your most recent bank statement. 2. A list of items outstanding as of your last bank statement. 3. Your current checking balance. 4. Your total credit card balance. Select SETUP from the MASTER MENU. Seven choices are available. The first three options allow you to alter or change the Net Worth, Expense and Income category descriptions. Option four displays and allows you to alter several key variables. The next two options allow you to set the net worth date and backup date to the current date. The last option is used to change MY MONEY's default colors. Refer to the end of this chapter for a complete description of each function. Select the VARIABLES option, to display several important variables. A prompt arrow will appear next to CHARGES OUTSTANDING. The cursor is moved by pressing the up and down arrows. Position the cursor next to CHARGES OUTSTANDING at the very top of the list. Press (ENTER) to select this item. Enter the correct amount for credit card charges outstanding. Note that the input is like a calculator and it is not necessary to key the decimal. If an incorrect number is entered, (BACKSPACE) or (LEFT-ARROW) will erase the last digit entered. Once the number is correct, press (ENTER) to update. Repeat this process for ENDING BALANCE FROM LAST BANK STATEMENT. For now skip CURRENT CHECKING BALANCE. As the outstanding items are entered, it will affect the CURRENT CHECKING BALANCE. We will return later and enter the correct number here. Before leaving the SETUP menu, select the EXPENSE CATEGORIES option and make any changes to the expense categories as needed. This should be done prior to entering any checks or charges. Also, you should review the other descriptions with the NET WORTH CATEGORIES option and the INCOME CATEGORIES option. INITIAL SETUP MY MONEY v3.51 pg. -6- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Return to the MASTER MENU by pressing (ESC). Select the CHECKBOOK option. To enter the outstanding items, select ENTER CHECK. Choose the appropriate expense category and press (ENTER). When asked to choose an expense category, pressing (ENTER) without any category will cause the program to save any checks entered and return to the CHECKBOOK menu. As prompted, enter the check number and amount. A specific description may be entered, or press (ENTER) to select the standard description, which is shown above and next to the category number. You may change the date when prompted or press (ENTER) for the default date. Once all outstanding checks are entered, select the ENTER DEPOSIT option from the CHECKBOOK menu and enter outstanding deposits. You will be prompted to enter an amount, date and description. Again, you may select the default date and/or description by pressing (ENTER) when prompted. Next enter your current checking balance. To do so, select SETUP from the MASTER MENU. Select the VARIABLES option to display the variables. Position the arrow next to CURRENT CHECKING BALANCE. Change the amount by pressing (ENTER) and typing in the correct amount. If for some reason an item was missed while entering the outstanding items, it may later be added. You will probably discover this while reconciling the account. To correct the problem make a note of the correct current checking balance, enter the missing item(s) and correct the CURRENT CHECKING BALANCE as you did above. For those with more than one checking account, the above should be repeated for each active account. To toggle between the accounts use CHANGE ACCOUNT option in the CHECKBOOK menu. Notice that the active account is shown as the title of the Variable List and on the bottom border of the CHECKBOOK menu. INITIAL SETUP MY MONEY v3.51 pg. -7- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Once MY MONEY is setup and functioning, you may want to change the Net Worth, Expense or Income category descriptions. Please note, care should be exercised when changing any description. Changing the description will not alter any numeric data previously entered. It is wise to only change categories in which there has been no activity for the past year. Don't forget to backup your original disk. To use the DOS SHELL (ALT-S), COMMAND.COM must be accessible via the COMSPEC in your DOS environment. Presented below are descriptions for each of the options found in the SETUP menu. (1) NET WORTH CATEGORIES This option will let you change the description or delete any of the user defined net worth categories (5-19). To delete a description enter an asterisk (*) as the description and press enter. (2) EXPENSE CATEGORIES This option will let you change the description of any of the user defined expense categories (1-28). (3) INCOME CATEGORIES This option will let you change the description or delete any of the user defined income categories (1-9). To delete a description enter an asterisk (*) as the description and press enter. INITIAL SETUP MY MONEY v3.51 pg. -8- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- (4) VARIABLES This option allows you to change several key variables. To change a variable use the up and down arrow keys, to move the cursor next to the item you want to change. Press (ENTER) to select the item and key in the new data. Most items will not need to be altered after the initial setup. CHECKING BALANCE, ENDING BALANCE FROM LAST BANK STATEMENT and NEXT CHECK REGISTER PAGE TO BE PRINTED relate to the active checking account, as shown at the top center of this window. To change the active checking account use the CHANGE ACCOUNT option in the CHECKBOOK section. Presented below is a short description of each item shown: CHARGES OUTSTANDING The total amount of all credit card balances outstanding. CHECKING BALANCE The current balance of the active checking account. ENDING BALANCE FROM LAST BANK STATEMENT The balance shown on your last bank statement for the active account. This is used in conjunction with the RECONCILE ACCOUNT option in the CHECKBOOK menu. NEXT CHECK REGISTER PAGE TO BE PRINTED The next page number to be printed for the active account. LAST MONTH USED Number of last month used (1-12). Used to determine when net worth should be updated. COUNT OF OUTSTANDING ITEMS The number of items, plus one, outstanding between you and the bank. COUNT OF UNPRINTED ITEMS The number of unprinted items, plus one. BACKUP TO DISK DRIVE The disk drive (A:\ or B:\) where the data files are written during a backup, the BACKUP option in the MASTER MENU. On the bottom right side of the MASTER MENU is an indicator that displays the number of days since the data files were last backed up. PASSWORD Optional password protection. If anything other than PASSWORD is entered in this field you are required to enter the password before using MY MONEY. SWAP When this option is on, MY MONEY is moved out of conventional memory before external programs are run. INITIAL SETUP MY MONEY v3.51 pg. -9- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- (5) RESET NET WORTH DATE Each time MY MONEY is started it compares the current date to the last used date. If the current date is after the last used date and is in a different month, the update net worth module is executed. (6) RESET BACKUP DATE The BACKUP indicator on the MASTER MENU displays the number of days since the data files were last backed up. This option resets that number to zero without backing up the data files. (7) SET COLORS MY MONEY's colors are set from the Setup Menu (Set Color option) or by running MM-CFG.EXE. Use the up and down arrows to select which item to change. Use the left and right arrows to change the color of the highlighted item. Sample screens are provided to let you view your selections. See below for other valid commands. (D) - Toggle through various default settings. (F2) - Save the displayed colors as the active colors. (ESC) - Exit program, prompted to save. The changes do not take effect until after MY MONEY is exited then restarted. MASTER MENU MY MONEY v3.51 pg. -10- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- MASTER MENU is the gateway by which you access the many features of MY MONEY. It is the first menu seen after the opening screen. As with all the other menus, to select an item press the number, letter or key next to the desired option. Also you can use the cursor keys to highlight the desired option, and then press (ENTER) to select it. (1) CHECKBOOK This option allows you to enter checks, enter deposits, list unprinted items, list outstanding items, list or print checks by expense categories and reconcile the account. See the CHECKBOOK section. (2) CREDIT CARDS The CREDIT CARD option is used to enter credit card transactions. To use, enter the category number and amount when prompted. If a credit (i.e. refund) needs to be entered, key the number in and press the minus (-) key. Brackets will appear around the number to indicate it is negative. Pressing the plus (+) key will make it positive. (3) CASH PAYMENTS To have a true and complete representation of expenses, all expense items must be included, regardless of payment method. The use of the CASH PAYMENTS option is identical to the CREDIT CARD option, except the amount is not added to your credit card balance. (4) ANALYSIS The ANALYSIS option displays various reports. For a detailed description of each report, see the ANALYSIS section. (5) OTHER ASSETS To avoid wide swings in net worth, purchases of high value items should be set up as OTHER ASSETS and depreciated. The item should be a durable good, that is, something with a useful life of at least one year. Examples of durable goods are a washer and dryer, refrigerator, stereo system, television set and an automobile. See the OTHER ASSETS section. MASTER MENU MY MONEY v3.51 pg. -11- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- (6) PORTFOLIO The PORTFOLIO section is used to keep track of owned securities such as stocks or shares in a mutual fund. Information may be kept on twenty different securities. See the PORTFOLIO section. (7) RECORD INCOME This option is used to record income from salaries, investments, etc. To use, enter the category number and amount when prompted. NOTE: Interest recorded in the checkbook reconciliation module does NOT automatically carry over to this section. (A) SUMMARY SUMMARY provides a quick reference to certain key numbers such as, your total checking balance (all checking accounts added together), charge balance, most recent net worth, portfolio balance and current month's total expenses. (B) BACKUP DATA This option allows you to backup your data files (.DTA and .DTD) to a floppy/mini disk. The source drive is automatically the active drive and directory. You may select A:\ or B:\ as your destination drive with the SETUP option. If the source and destination drive are the same, you will be prompted to swap disks. The bottom right side of the MASTER MENU displays how many days since the last time this option was used. (C) SETUP This option allows you to change the net worth categories, expense categories, income categories, edit several key variables, reset the net worth date and reset the backup date. Refer to the INITIAL SETUP section for specific details. MASTER MENU MY MONEY v3.51 pg. -12- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- (D) CHANGE DATE This function changes the date used by MY MONEY. Since the most recent 11 months of data are stored on disk, you can safely back-date into any of them. However, if you back-date past 11 months you will overlap into current data. If you change the date to a different month in the future, the net worth module will execute. Changing dates into future months could cause undesirable results. Never move into a future month unless you are ready to close out the current month, and then only move into the next month. The left and right arrows moves one day back and forward respectively. To enter a specific date press (F10), and enter the desired date in a 'mo-da-year' format. (E) PRINTOUTS The PRINTOUTS option provides a printed hardcopy of various reports. For a detailed description of each report, see the PRINTOUTS section. (F) FINANCIAL CALCULATOR This option selects the financial calculator and integrated amortization schedule. See the FINANCIAL CALCULATOR and AMORTIZATION SCHEDULE section for a complete description of this option. (G) BUDGET BUDGET allows you to enter month by month budget amounts for each of the expense categories. It will also display the full year's budget. For a complete description of this option see the BUDGET section. (ALT-A) MY TIME If you purchased MY TIME, it can be directly accessed from MY MONEY's MASTER MENU by pressing (ALT-A). This will take you directly into the program, bypassing the opening screen. For this option to work MY TIME must reside in a directory specified within the PATH statement. (ESC) EXIT Exit or quit program. CHECKBOOK MY MONEY v3.51 pg. -13- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- The CHECKBOOK section provides all the options needed to maintain three separate checking accounts. To toggle between the three accounts use the CHANGE ACCOUNT option (see below). Do NOT enter interest earned or service charges incurred as deposits and checks. This is handled when your account is reconciled. See the RECONCILE ACCOUNT option. (1) ENTER CHECK After selecting the ENTER CHECK option, the expense categories are displayed and you are asked to choose one. Do so, and press (ENTER). Answer each of the prompts by entering the requested data and pressing (ENTER). If you do not enter a description, the default description is used. The default description is the category description shown above. Also, pressing (ENTER) when prompted for the date will select the default date. If you make a mistake, answer the "Is the information correct (Y/N)?" prompt with a "N" for no, and you will be allowed to reenter the data. (2) ENTER DEPOSIT This option is used to record deposits. To use, key in the amount of the deposit, enter a description and enter the date. To select the default description or date press (ENTER) when prompted. (3) TRANSFER CHECK A TRANSFER CHECK is exactly like a regular check except it is not charged to an expense category. For example, you write a check to your broker to purchase some stock. The stock is not really an expense. What you have actually done is transfer the asset from your checking account to your PORTFOLIO. The same is true for items purchased and set up under OTHER ASSETS. To use select the TRANSFER CHECK option and answer the prompts. (4) UNPRINTED This option lists unprinted checking account transactions. When entries are made to the checking account they are saved here. Once 50 items are accumulated, they are printed out, this section is cleared and the process begins again. CHECKBOOK MY MONEY v3.51 pg. -14- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- (5) OUTSTANDING This option lists items outstanding between you and the bank. That is, items that you have recorded but the bank has not. Items get on this list when you enter a checking transaction and exit the list when the account is reconciled (see the RECONCILE ACCOUNT option below). The maximum number of items this list will hold is 99. (6) CHANGE ACCOUNT This option allows you to make another checking account the active account. The current active account is shown on the left-bottom of the menu border. To use select Change Account and choose which account you want to activate (1 through 3). All the other options such as recording a transaction and reconciling your account only affect the active account. (A) LIST BY CATEGORY LIST BY CATEGORY displays a list of checks charged to the selected category from the beginning of the year. The output is displayed on the screen. Choosing category 30, ALL CATEGORIES, will cause all checks for the year to be listed. This listing excludes checks entered with the Transfer Check option above. (B) PRINT BY CATEGORY Same as LIST BY CATEGORY, except the output is directed to the printer. (C) CORRECTIONS The CORRECTIONS section is used to alter checkbook transactions. After selecting the CORRECTIONS option from the CHECKBOOK menu, you are prompted to chose whether the item is a check or a deposit. You are then asked to enter two parts of the transaction in question. For checks you are asked to enter the check number and the amount. If the entry was a deposit, you are asked to enter the date and amount of the deposit. This is used to locate the incorrect entry. All related files are searched for the keys specified above. If a match is found you are asked to enter the correct data. The correct data replaces the previous entry. All amounts are adjusted to reflect the change (i.e. checking balance, expense balance, credit card balance etc.). CHECKBOOK MY MONEY v3.51 pg. -15- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- (D) RECONCILE ACCOUNT Reconciles the checking account with your bank statement. When the RECONCILE ACCOUNT option is chosen you are asked to enter any interest earned and/or service charge incurred. Do NOT enter these as checks and deposits using the ENTER CHECK or ENTER DEPOSIT options above. It is important that you reconcile your account on a timely basis. You are allowed 99 outstanding items. Once that limit is reached you will not be allowed to enter any more transactions until the account is reconciled. Also, if you get a "To Many Unprinted Items" error, you must use option (F5) below before you will be allowed to reconcile. You can only reconcile if the number of unprinted items is less than 98. This leaves room for the reconciling section to make entries to record interest earned and service charge incurred, if needed. (E) PRINT UNPRINTED Normally, the Check Register is not printed until 50 items are accumulated. However, sometimes you may want or need to print the Check Register before its normal cycle. This option allows you to do so. If you get the "Too Many Unprinted Items" error while trying to reconcile your account (see RECONCILE ACCOUNT above), this option must be used before you will be allowed to reconcile. (ESC) EXIT Returns you to the MASTER MENU. ANALYSIS MY MONEY v3.51 pg. -16- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- This section displays various reports, graphs and charts on the screen. For similar reports directed to a printer see the PRINTOUTS section. Information stored is on the running 12 month system. That means at any time there will be 11 full months of data and 12th, or current month, is the one you are working in. For example, on March 1 when you update your net worth for February, all the transactions for March are set to zero leaving 11 months untouched (April of last year through February of this year). All transactions entered will go into March of the current year. Therefore, at any time you may access data for the most recent 11 months. (1) LIST BY CATEGORY After selecting the LIST BY CATEGORY option, you are prompted to select either an expense or income category. LIST BY CATEGORY then displays a month by month listing of the chosen category. Included in the list are the date (month and year), amount, change from last month and the percent of the change. In the upper right hand corner is the total year-to-date amount for the selected category. (2) GRAPH BY CATEGORY This option displays a bar chart depicting the selected category's expenses or income by month. On a color monitor, the current years' bars are shown in red while the previous years' are in blue. (3) EXPENSE COMPARISON This option displays the 30 expense categories, current month's expense, prior month's expense, year-to-date average expense and the past 11 months' average expense. The year-to-date average expense is the sum of prior months' expenses, excluding the current month, divided by the number of months involved. On a color monitor, favorable items are shown in green while unfavorable items are shown in red. An item is favorable when the current month amount is lower than the other amounts shown. It is unfavorable when the current month is the highest shown. ANALYSIS MY MONEY v3.51 pg. -17- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- (4) SORT EXPENSES After selecting this option, a prompt will appear asking whether you want to sort current month expenses or year-to-date expenses. Select the desired report. The expenses will be sorted in descending order and displayed next to the category description. (5) NET WORTH STATEMENT This option displays your net worth statement for the last two months, the change in net worth and an estimate of your current net worth. (6) NET WORTH GRAPH NET WORTH GRAPH displays a bar chart similar to the one created using the GRAPH BY CATEGORY option, except, it is based on the past 12 months' net worth totals. (A) NET WORTH CHANGE The NET WORTH CHANGE option displays a month by month list of net worth totals. Included in this list are the date (month and year), net worth for the month, change from previous month and the percent change. (B) NET WORTH PIE Depending on your hardware, this option will display a pie chart reflecting the relative percentages of your net worth distribution. Only the CGA, EGA and VGA cards are supported. (C) BUDGET COMPARISON After selecting BUDGET COMPARISON, you are given the choice between a current month or a year-to-date budget comparison. Both of the options will display the category name, budgeted amount actual expenditure and the difference. Positive differences are favorable while negative differences are unfavorable. ANALYSIS MY MONEY v3.51 pg. -18- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- (D) INCOME COMPARISON INCOME COMPARISON displays a table showing current month's income and year-to-date income for each of the income categories. (E) INCOME STATEMENT After selecting this option, you are prompted to select the desired period, current month or year-to-date. INCOME STATEMENT is broken down into three sections, Income, Expenses and Net Income. To the right of each section title is the total amount associated it. Below each section title are the components making up the above total. Under Net Income, depreciation is included as an expense. Depreciation is the amount OTHER ASSETS are written down over the selected period. (ESC) EXIT Returns you to the MASTER MENU. OTHER ASSETS MY MONEY v3.51 pg. -19- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- The OTHER ASSETS section allows you to avoid large swings in net worth when expensive durable goods are purchased. For our purposes, a durable good is a high cost item whose expected useful life is at least one year. The asset is depreciated over the life you choose. This life can range from one to five years. Each month when you update your net worth, the assets are automatically depreciated, and the sum of all the assets net value is automatically carried to the Other Assets category and depreciation is carried to the Income Statement. AN EXAMPLE: You purchase a stereo system for $1,200. From the OTHER ASSETS menu, the ENTER ASSET option is used to set up the stereo. You are asked to enter the asset's description, its cost basis (what you paid for it) and the number of years it will be depreciated. For simplicity, let's say you depreciate the stereo over one year and this is the only asset entered. Next month when you update net worth, the amount shown under Other Assets will be $1,100. That is the $1,200 less one month's depreciation of $100. The $100 is the $1,200 divide by 12 months, as you selected when the stereo was setup. It will continue to depreciate for 11 more months until its net value reaches zero. At that point, it will disappear from the list. If you write a check when purchasing an OTHER ASSET you will want to record it using the TRANSFER CHECK option in the CHECKBOOK menu. By doing this none of the expense categories are charged, therefore, it will not show up as a current month expense. However, the depreciation shows up as a reduction to net income. In the above example, you avoid having a $1,200 expense in the current month. It instead is spread over 12 months at a rate of $100 per month. When the the item is charged, you will want to record it as a charge (using the CREDIT CARDS option in the MASTER MENU) so that your charge balance is updated. Then, enter it as a negative CASH PAYMENT to remove the expense from the current month. You may enter up to 50 different assets. OTHER ASSETS MY MONEY v3.51 pg. -20- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- (1) ENTER ASSET This option allows you to setup a new asset. You will be prompted to enter the assets description, its cost basis (what you paid for it) and the number of years it will be depreciated (1-5). (2) DELETE ASSET DELETE ASSET removes an asset from the listing before it is completely depreciated. To use, select this option and enter the asset's description. You only need to enter enough of the description to make it unique. The search is not case sensitive. You will be prompted before the asset is deleted. (3) LIST ASSETS This option displays a detailed listing of all active assets. The listing includes the asset's description, months remaining before it is fully depreciated, original cost basis, depreciation taken to date and the assets net value. Net value is the original cost, less total depreciation. (4) PRINT ASSETS PRINT ASSETS is the same as the LIST ASSETS option except the output is directed to a printer. (ESC) EXIT Returns you to the MASTER MENU. PORTFOLIO MY MONEY v3.51 pg. -21- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- PORTFOLIO keeps track of up to 20 different securities. You will notice the appearance of this section differs from the others. It has more of a spreadsheet look and feel. The cursor is moved by using the following keys: (UP-ARROW) or (8) - Moves one space up. (DOWN-ARROW) or (2) - Moves one space down. (LEFT-ARROW) or (4) - Moves one space left. (RIGHT-ARROW) or (6) - Moves one space right. Notice that you do not have to turn the NUM LOCK off to use the arrow keys on the numeric keypad. Each of the 20 securities has six columns of related information. They are: COLUMNS YOU ENTER: Security The name of the security. Price The current price/share of the security. Shares The number of shares owned. Cost The amount you paid for the security. COLUMNS CALCULATED: Value This is Price times Shares. Change This is Value less Cost. PORTFOLIO MY MONEY v3.51 pg. -22- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- (ENTER) SELECT A CELL When (ENTER) is pressed, a prompt will appear at the bottom of the screen requesting new data for the cell the cursor is on. Key in the information and press (ENTER) to update the cell. When entering a description, the text editing commands described in Appendix B are available for your use. (F2) SAVE Saves the data as shown on the screen. If you leave MY MONEY without saving, all changes since the last save will be lost. (F4) RELOAD RELOAD retrieves the last saved data from the disk and displays it on the screen. This could be used to retrieve the "real" data after some "what if" entries. (F5) PRINT This option prints a report similar to what is shown on the screen. (F8) GRAPH Depending on your hardware, this option will display a pie chart reflecting the relative percentages of each security's value. Only the CGA, EGA and VGA cards are supported. (ESC) EXIT Returns you to the MASTER MENU. PRINTOUTS MY MONEY v3.51 pg. -23- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- This section prints various reports on a line printer. For similar reports displayed on the screen see the ANALYSIS section. (1) EXPENSE BY CATEGORY EXPENSE BY CATEGORY prints a month by month listing of a chosen expense category. Included in the list are the date (month and year), amount of the expense, change from last month and the percent change. In the upper right hand corner is the total year-to-date expense for the selected category. (2) EXPENSE COMPARISON EXPENSE COMPARISON prints the 30 expense categories, current month's expense, prior month's expense, year-to-date average expense and the past 11 months' average expense. The year-to-date average expense is the sum of prior months' expenses, excluding the current month, divided by the number of months involved. (3) NET WORTH STATEMENT This option prints your net worth statement for the last two months, the change in net worth and an estimate of your current net worth. (4) NET WORTH CHANGE This option prints a month by month list of net worth totals. Included in this list are the date (month and year), net worth for the month, change from previous month and the percent of change. (5) SORT EXPENSE After selecting this option, a prompt will appear asking whether you want to sort current month expenses or year-to-date expenses. Select the option you want printed. The expenses will be sorted in descending order and printed next to the category description. PRINTOUTS MY MONEY v3.51 pg. -24- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- (A) BUDGET COMPARISON This option gives you the choice of printing a comparison of current month expenditures to budget or year-to-date expenditures to budget. Positive differences are favorable while negative ones are unfavorable. (B) INCOME COMPARISON This option prints a table showing current month's income and year-to-date income for each of the income categories. (C) INCOME BY CATEGORY INCOME BY CATEGORY prints a month by month listing of a chosen income category. Included in the list are the date (month and year), income amount, change from last month and the percent of the change. In the upper right hand corner is the total year-to date amount for the selected category. (D) INCOME STATEMENT After selecting this option, you are prompted to select the desired period, current month or year-to-date. INCOME STATEMENT is broken down into three sections, Income, Expenses and Net Income. To the right of each section title is the total amount associated it. Below each section title are the components making up the above total. Under Net Income, depreciation is included as an expense. Depreciation is the amount OTHER ASSETS are written down over the selected period. (ESC) EXIT Returns you to the MASTER MENU. BUDGET MY MONEY v3.51 pg. -25- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- After selecting the BUDGET option from the MASTER MENU, the current month's budget will appear on the screen. The total budgeted amount for the 28 categories is displayed in the upper right hand corner. Notice that two categories, "Credit Cards" and "All Categories", have been omitted. The "Credit Cards" category is a clearing account for when your bill is paid, and like "All Categories", is not a true expense category. Below are the valid keys while in this section. (4) Prev. Mo. -- PREVIOUS MONTH Pressing (4) will display the previous month's budget. Hold the key down to scan backwards through the months. (6) Next Mo. -- NEXT MONTH Option (6) will display next month's budget. Hold the key down to scan forward through the months. (8) Change -- CHANGE DISPLAYED DATA To alter a displayed budget number, select (8), choose the appropriate category and enter the new amount. You will be given the option to change all months. Answering "Y" will set each month's budgeted amount, in the chosen category, to that which was just entered. To alter amounts in another month use options (4) and (6) to display the desired month. (+) Full Year -- DISPLAY BUDGET FOR FULL YEAR This option displays the full year's budget. It is merely a sum of each of the twelve months for each category. (2) Clear -- CLEAR BUDGET AMOUNTS After selecting (2), you are given the choice of clearing (resetting to zero) either the displayed month or the entire year. (ESC) EXIT Saves any changes made and returns you to the MASTER MENU. FINANCIAL CALCULATOR MY MONEY v3.51 pg. -26- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- INTRODUCTION We have all heard the statement "time is money", but have we ever stopped to consider exactly what this means. Money not only has a current purchasing value, but also, a time value. Excluding risk and inflation, a dollar received today is worth more than a dollar received a year from now since it can be invested and earn a return during the year. What is presented in this chapter and the next should in no way be construed as a complete and exhaustive discussion of the time value of money. Entire books have been written on the time value of money and its related theory. It is my goal here to give you enough understanding so you can intelligently operate the financial calculator and amortization schedule. Upon entering the financial calculator the following is displayed: Periods: > 0.00 Interest Rate: 0.00 % Payment: 0.00 Present Value: 0.00 Future Value: 0.00 Equity: 0.00 Each is defined as follows: PERIODS: The number of time periods that interest is calculated. (i.e. for a 30 year mortgage with monthly payments this would be 360. 30 years x 12 payments per year.) INTEREST RATE: The annual interest rate stated in the same terms as the PERIOD. (i.e. if your annual interest rate is 10% and you are making monthly payments then then this would be .83333%. 10% divided by 12 months.) PAYMENT: The amount paid or received each PERIOD. FINANCIAL CALCULATOR MY MONEY v3.51 pg. -27- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- PRESENT VALUE: In the case of a loan, this is what is borrowed. For an investment, this is the money put up front in hopes of future earnings. FUTURE VALUE: This is the amount of money that is to be withdrawn after PERIODS of time has elapsed. EQUITY: For a fixed rate loan, equity is the down payment. In the case of a variable rate loan, it is the last number shown in the Equity column of the amortization schedule prior to the loan's reevaluation. The financial calculator accepts the following commands: (8) Move cursor up one row. (2) Move cursor down one row. (C) Clear and reset all items to zero. (*) Calculate item. Same as (TAB). (F1) Save data. (F4) Load data. (F10) Display amortization schedule. (ENTER) Select item to be changed. (TAB) Calculate item next to cursor. Same as (*). (ESC) Returns you to the MASTER MENU. You may choose to use the Up Arrow and Down Arrow instead of the (8) and (2) keys. Since monthly transactions are very common, the financial calculator provides an easy method of converting annual numbers for periods and interest rate to the appropriate monthly number. To use this function simply key a "m" or an "*" (no quotes, of course) directly after the last digit in the number. FINANCIAL CALCULATOR MY MONEY v3.51 pg. -28- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- For example: You purchase a home by taking a 30 year mortgage at 11.125% annual percentage rate (APR) in which you will make monthly payments. You may enter Periods and Interest Rate as such: Periods: 30m Interest Rate: 11.125* As soon as you press (ENTER) it will be converted to the following: Periods: 360.00 Interest Rate: 0.93 % The 360.00 periods is the total number of payments you are scheduled to make (30 years x 12 payments per year). The 0.93% is the interest rate per payment per year (11.125%/12 payments a year). Remember the "m" and the "*" are equivalent and interchangeable. It is important to note that the .93% is only rounded when displayed. Internally, the number of decimal places is carried on out for Periods and Interest Rate. This assures accurate calculations. Therefore, you should never enter a number such as .93 when a more accurate number is available. The remainder of this chapter consists of examples showing different uses of the financial calculator. They are broken down by variable to be calculated, which is shown between two lines. Variables with an "*" next to them indicates a number must be entered for this calculation. To use, enter the numbers next to the "*" and then place cursor next to the variable to be calculated and press (TAB) or (*). Listed below are abbreviations used in the following examples: P Periods I Interest rate PY Payment PV Present value FV Future value EQ Equity FINANCIAL CALCULATOR MY MONEY v3.51 pg. -29- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- PERIOD Interest Rate must be entered for all period calculations. EXAMPLE 1: P > 9.01 This calculates how long I * 8.00 % it takes for PV to grow PY to FV at interest rate I. PV * 500.00 FV * 1,000.00 EQ If you deposit $500 into an account earning 8% interest, at the end of 9.01 years it will grow to $1,000. EXAMPLE 2: P > 4.78 This calculates how long it takes I * 8.00 % for PV to grow to FV at interest PY * 50.00 rate I, when payment of PY is PV * 500.00 deposited at the end of each FV * 1,000.00 period. As a variation PV can be EQ zero. If you open an account with $500 that earns 8% interest and at the end of each subsequent year you deposit $50, in 4.78 years you will have accumulated $1,000. EXAMPLE 3: P > 20.91 If PV is deposited where it will earn I * 8.00 % interest rate I, this will calculate how PY * 50.00 many periods a payment of PY can be PV * 500.00 withdrawn before PV is depleted. FV EQ If you deposit $500 in an account earning 8% interest and you withdraw $50 dollars at the end of each subsequent year, it will take 20.91 years until the account is totally depleted. FINANCIAL CALCULATOR MY MONEY v3.51 pg. -30- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- INTEREST Period must be entered for all interest calculations. EXAMPLE 1: P * 10.00 This calculates the periodic I > 7.18 % interest rate needed for PV to PY grow to FV in P periods. PV * 500.00 FV * 1,000.00 EQ In order for $500 to grow to $1,000 in 10 years, you must earn 7.18% interest a year. EXAMPLE 2: P * 10.00 This calculates the periodic I > 6.43 % interest rate needed for PV to PY * 5.00 grow to FV in P periods, when PY PV * 500.00 is added at the end of each FV * 1,000.00 period. EQ If you deposit $500 now and $5 each year thereafter for 10 years, an interest rate of 6.43% would be needed for you to have $1,000 in 10 years. EXAMPLE 3: P * 360.00 This calculates the periodic I > 1.00 % interest rate needed repay PV in PY * 874.32 P equal payments of PY. PV * 85,000.00 FV EQ If you want to borrow $85,000 for 30 years (360 months) with monthly payments of $874.32, you will need to secure a loan at 12% interest (1% per month). FINANCIAL CALCULATOR MY MONEY v3.51 pg. -31- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- PAYMENT Period and interest rate must be entered for all payment calculations. EXAMPLE 1: P * 360.00 If PV is borrowed for P periods I * 1.00 % at I interest rate, this will PY > 874.32 calculate the payment. PV * 85,000.00 FV EQ If you purchase a house by borrowing $85,000 for 30 years (360 months) at 12% interest (1% per month), your monthly payment would be $874.32. NOTE: Pressing (F10) after calculating PY, will display the amortization schedule for this loan. To calculate an accurate amortization schedule, you should enter the down-payment as equity. See the AMORTIZATION SCHEDULE section for more details. EXAMPLE 2: P * 10.00 This calculates the payment I * 8.00 % needed at the end of each period PY > 541.27 for PV to grow to FV in P periods PV * 1,000.00 when the interest rate is I. As FV * 10,000.00 a variation PV can be zero. EQ If you deposit $1,000 into an account earning 8% interest for ten years, you would need to deposit $541.27 at the end of each year in order for it to grow to $10,000 in ten years. FINANCIAL CALCULATOR MY MONEY v3.51 pg. -32- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- PRESENT VALUE Period and interest rate must be entered for all present value calculations. EXAMPLE 1: P * 10.00 This calculates what FV is worth I * 8.00 % today if it is to be paid P PY periods in the future at a known PV > 463.19 interest rate of I. FV * 1,000.00 EQ If you want to withdraw $1,000 ten years from now from an account earning 8% interest, you would need to deposit $463.19 today. EXAMPLE 2: P * 10.00 This calculates the present value I * 8.00 % PV of receiving payments of PY for PY * 50.00 P periods at an interest rate of PV > 335.50 I. FV EQ If you wanted to withdraw $50 a year for the next 10 years from an account earning 8% interest, you would need to deposit $335.50 today. EXAMPLE 3: P * 10.00 If you want to withdraw FV at the I * 8.00 % end of P periods from an account PY * 50.00 earning I interest, you must PV > 127.69 deposit PV today and PY at the FV * 1,000.00 end of each period. EQ If you wanted to withdraw $1,000 in 10 years from an account earning 8% interest, you would need to deposit $127.69 today and $50 at the end of each of the next 10 years. FINANCIAL CALCULATOR MY MONEY v3.51 pg. -33- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- FUTURE VALUE Period and interest rate must be entered for all future value calculations. EXAMPLE 1: P * 10.00 This will calculate what PV will I * 8.00 % grow to in P periods at an PY * interest rate of I. PV > 500.00 FV * 1,079.46 EQ If you deposit $500 into an account earning 8% interest, in 10 years it will grow to $1,079.46. EXAMPLE 2: P * 10.00 This calculates what PV will I * 8.00 % grow to if payments of PY are PY * 50.00 added at the end of each P periods PV > 500.00 to an account earning an interest FV * 1,803.79 rate of I. As a variation PV can EQ be zero. If you deposit $500 into an account earning 8% interest and $50 at the end of each year, in 10 years it will grow to $1,803.79. It should be noted that each of the variables has an upper limit. Interest rate can not exceed 1,000.00%. The upper limit for each of the other variables is 9,999,999.99. If any number exceeds the upper limit all variables are reset to zero, and an error message is displayed. Some problems are inherently unsolvable, such as calculating Periods with an Interest Rate of 8.00%, a Payment of $100.00 and a Present Value of $5,000.00. Needless to say, removing $100.00 a year for from an account earning $400.00 a year, would never deplete the account in any amount of Periods. AMORTIZATION SCHEDULE MY MONEY v3.51 pg. -34- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- INTRODUCTION: All loan payments consist of a principal and an interest component. The interest portion is determined by the amount of your outstanding balance. Your outstanding balance is also the loan "Payoff". Most payments are a regular amount each period. As the balance is reduced, a smaller portion of your payment goes to paying interest on the loan. Let us say you are making monthly payments on a fixed rate home loan. By paying next month's principal with this month's payment, you will save the interest on next month's payment and reduce the duration of the loan by an extra month. Doubling up payments on a variable rate loan provides a different benefit. In most instances, the term of a variable rate loan is set by contract. Therefore, doubling up payments on a variable rate loan does not shorten the life of the loan, but instead lowers the payment when the loan is reevaluated. Nearly all loans allow for the early payment of principal without the borrower incurring a penalty. Check with your lender or read your loan agreement to determine if prepayments are allowed on your loan. For our purposes here escrow payments should be ignored. Escrow accounts are commonly set up to pay third-party obligations, such as taxes and insurance. The lender adds an additional amount to your regular payment, places that money into the escrow account and then pays the obligation when it is due. It in no way affects your loan balance. The amortization schedule is integrated in with the financial calculator. To use select the FIN. CALC. option from the MASTER MENU. This will display the financial calculator. (F10) will display the amortization schedule. However, you can not invoke the amortization schedule unless the proper data has been entered into the financial calculator. Before entering the amortization schedule, the following items must be non-zero: 1. Periods 2. Interest Rate 3. Payment 4. Present Value AMORTIZATION SCHEDULE MY MONEY v3.51 pg. -35- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Also, you should enter an applicable equity amount. In the case of a fixed rate loan this will be your down payment. For a variable rate loan it will be your ending equity from the prior year. After you have entered a number for each item above, press (F10) to display the amortization schedule. NOTE: The periods variable has an upper limit of 600 for the amortization schedule. This will accommodate a 50 year loan with 600 monthly payments (50 x 12). The following keys are valid while using the amortization schedule: (HOME) or (7) Home. Displays page 1. (END) or (1) End. Displays the last page. (PgUp) or (9) PgUp. Displays previous page. (PgDn) or (3) PgDn. Displays the next page. (P) Prints the amortization schedule. (ESC) Returns you to the financial calculator. EXAMPLE: An example should answer most of your questions. You purchase a house for $80,000 by putting down $10,000 and financing the remainder. The loan is for 30 years with a variable interest rate beginning at 7.5%. Enter the data as follows into the financial calculator: Periods: 30* (Let these calculate Interest Rate: 7.5* for you.) Payment: 489.45 Present Value: 70,000.00 (Amount financed.) Future Value: 0.00 Equity: 10,000.00 (Down payment) Now press (F10) to invoke the amortization schedule. AMORTIZATION SCHEDULE MY MONEY v3.51 pg. -36- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- The screen will resemble this: Period Payment Interest Principal Balance Equity 70,000.00 10,000.00 1 489.45 437.50 51.95 69,948.05 10,051.95 2 489.45 437.18 52.27 69,895.78 10,104.22 3 489.45 436.85 52.60 69,843.18 10,156.82 4 489.45 436.52 52.93 69,790.25 10,209.75 5 489.45 436.19 53.26 69,736.99 10,263.01 6 489.45 435.86 53.59 69,683.40 10,316.60 7 489.45 435.52 53.93 69,629.47 10,370.53 8 489.45 435.18 54.27 69,575.20 10,424.80 9 489.45 434.85 54.60 69,520.60 10,479.40 10 489.45 434.50 54.95 69,465.65 10,534.35 11 489.45 434.16 55.29 69,410.36 10,589.64 12 489.45 433.81 55.64 69,354.72 10,645.28 5,873.40 5,228.12 645.28 Page: 1 Assuming you want to double up on the payments, your first month's payment will be for $541.72. That is the $489.45 regular payment plus $52.27 next month's principal. The extra $52.27 mailed in early saved you $437.18 in interest. For next month skip down to period 3, since period 2 was taken care of with the first payment. The second payment will be for $542.38. That is $489.45 for month 3 and the principal of $52.93 for month 4. Continue making payments like this for the next four months, at which time you will need another sheet for the final 6 months of the first year. Press (3) or (PGDN) to display the next sheet. The screen will resemble this: Period Payment Interest Principal Balance Equity 69,354.72 10,645.28 13 489.45 433.47 55.98 69,298.74 10,701.26 14 489.45 433.12 56.33 69,242.41 10,757.59 15 489.45 432.77 56.68 69,185.73 10,814.27 16 489.45 432.41 57.04 69,128.69 10,871.31 17 489.45 432.05 57.40 69,071.29 10,928.71 18 489.45 431.70 57.75 69,013.54 10,986.46 19 489.45 431.33 58.12 68,955.42 11,044.58 20 489.45 430.97 58.48 68,896.94 11,103.06 21 489.45 430.61 58.84 68,838.10 11,161.90 22 489.45 430.24 59.21 68,778.89 11,221.11 23 489.45 429.87 59.58 68,719.31 11,280.69 24 489.45 429.50 59.95 68,659.36 11,340.64 5,873.40 5,178.04 695.36 Page: 2 AMORTIZATION SCHEDULE MY MONEY v3.51 pg. -37- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Continue through this sheet in the same manner as the first. However, when you reach period 21, I recommend paying two additional months principal and the next month (period 24) pay only the regular payment. I do this because during the 24th period the bank reevaluates the loan for changes in the variable interest rate. At this time they have not received your 12th payment (period 24), and they will only figure on you paying the principal due in their reevaluation. So in period 21 above pay $608.24. Which is $489.45 the regular payment, $59.21 principal for period 22 and 59.58 principal for period 23. Then in period 24 send only 489.45, the amount the bank is expecting. Let us say the bank raises the interest rate to 9.5% for the second year. That's the price you pay for a variable rate loan. Return to the financial calculator and enter the following data: Periods: 29* (Let these calculate Interest Rate: 9.5* for you.) Payment: 580.91 Present Value: 68,659.36 (Remaining balance) Future Value: 0.00 Equity: 11,340.64 Notice that Periods is 29 years instead of 28. The term for most variable rate loans is set by contract. Therefore, since you are spreading a smaller loan balance over the same time-frame, your normal payments will be lower each year, when interest rates are stable. This is the exact opposite of a fixed rate loan. When you double-up payments on a fixed rate loan, the normal payment stays the same. However, the number of periods until the loan is paid off is reduced by 2 for each double payment made. This is not to say a variable rate loan can not be paid off early. Once interest rates stabilize (often when you hit the maximum allowed by the contract), your payments will be lower each year. As your payments are reduced, there will be more money available to pay on your loan. At this point you could start making two, three or four extra principal payments a month instead of just one. Of course this will reduce your payments even more each year when your loan is reevaluated. At some point in the life of the loan, the balance outstanding will be so low that you will be able to pay it off. AMORTIZATION SCHEDULE MY MONEY v3.51 pg. -38- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Enter the above data and press (F10). The screen will resemble this: Period Payment Interest Principal Balance Equity 68,659.36 11,340.64 1 580.91 543.55 37.36 68,622.00 11,378.00 2 580.91 543.26 37.65 68,584.35 11,415.65 3 580.91 542.96 37.95 68,546.40 11,453.60 4 580.91 542.66 38.25 68,508.15 11,491.85 5 580.91 542.36 38.55 68,469.60 11,530.40 6 580.91 542.05 38.86 68,430.74 11,569.26 7 580.91 541.74 39.17 68,391.57 11,608.43 8 580.91 541.43 39.48 68,352.09 11,647.91 9 580.91 541.12 39.79 68,312.30 11,687.70 10 580.91 540.81 40.10 68,272.20 11,727.80 11 580.91 540.49 40.42 68,231.78 11,768.22 12 580.91 540.17 40.74 68,191.04 11,808.96 6,970.92 6,502.60 468.32 Page: 1 From this point on the procedures are identical to those above. Your first payment will be $618.56, $580.91 the regular payment and $37.65 next month's principal. As you did above, repeat this process until you need another sheet. At that point enter the new data, print the next sheet and make the payments as you have in the past. Don't forget to include an extra months principal in month nine and only send a "regular" payment the next month. HINTS: * Make sure your loan allows prepayments. * For a fixed rate loan, there is no need to send in two additional months of principal in month 9 since your loan is not being reevaluated. * Don't confuse the lender. Write on the face of your check "APPLY THE ADDITIONAL $###.## TOWARD THE PRINCIPAL". * Remember the payments mentioned above do not include any escrow amounts (i.e. taxes, insurance etc.). These are fixed amounts and should be added to the amounts paid to your lender, if your loan has them. Do not include them in any of your calculations. * A good test to make sure your on the right track is to see if the program calculates the payment close (within a few cents) to the number calculated by your lender. If not, did you remember to subtract your escrow? UPDATE NET WORTH MY MONEY v3.51 pg. -39- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Each time MY MONEY is started it compares the system date with the last used date, and if the date is in a new month, the UPDATE NET WORTH module is automatically executed. If your computer does not have a real time clock installed, you should set the date before running MY MONEY. See the DATE command in your DOS manual. Since the net worth update is initiated by the changing into a new month, it is good idea to use MY MONEY as close as possible to the first of the month. When the month changes, your net worth is updated and stored as the prior month's net worth. For example, on May 1st when MY MONEY is run for the first time, you will update your net worth and the information will be stored as April's net worth data. After you enter cash on hand, the user-defined net worth categories are updated. This is accomplished by asking if last month's amount is still correct. If it is, you move on to the next category, else, you are asked to enter the correct amount. Several of the categories, such as checking, charges outstanding, portfolio and other assets are updated for you automatically. Once all the information is entered, category descriptions and amounts are displayed, and you are asked if the information is correct. If it is, the month-end reports are printed. Answering no will start the process over again. Each month a net worth summary along with the current month's income statement is printed. At year-end an additional report showing a year-to-date income statement is printed. Since updating your net worth changes so many items, it is a good idea to backup your data at the end of each month prior to the update. If you are not prepared to update your net worth, the opening screen gives you the option to exit the program or change the date. You can back-date into the prior month and control will return to the MASTER MENU. Please note that back-dating into a prior month will cause all transactions entered to be recorded in that month. UPDATE NET WORTH MY MONEY v3.51 pg. -40- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- YEAR-END NET WORTH UPDATE The year-end net worth update is slightly different than other months. In addition to your regular update, an archive of last year's records is created. When the month changes from December to January, a message will be displayed stating you should have two EXACT copies of your MY MONEY disk. If you do not, stop here by pressing (ESC) and make an additional copy (or two, an extra copy as a backup never hurt). One disk will serve as last year's record and the other as the new year's working disk. DOS's DISKCOPY or COPY command should be used to create the copies. The BACKUP option in the MASTER MENU is not sufficient since it only copies the data files. SPECIAL YEAR-END INSTRUCTIONS FOR HARD DISK USERS Each year-end when you update net worth for the last time, you should do it using floppies instead of your hard disk. When the month changes from December to January, a message will be displayed letting you know you should have two EXACT copies of your MY MONEY disk. At this point press (ESC) to exit MY MONEY. Make two EXACT copies of your \MYMONEY directory. One copy will serve as last year's archive, while the other will be next year's working copy. The following commands from your DOS prompt will do it: CD\MYMONEY (ENTER) COPY *.* A: (ENTER) Insert the second disk and type the following: COPY *.* A: (ENTER) A: (ENTER) MM (ENTER) You are now ready to update your net worth. After doing so you will want to copy the new year's working disk into your \MYMONEY directory. To do so insert the new year's working disk into drive A and type the following from your DOS prompt: C: (ENTER) CD\MYMONEY (ENTER) COPY A:*.* (ENTER) MY MONEY may now be run from your hard disk. PASSWORD PROTECTION MY MONEY v3.51 pg. -41- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- MY MONEY offers optional password protection. If you choose to use this feature, each time the program is executed you are prompted to enter your password. You are given three opportunities to enter the correct password. The default password is PASSWORD. If the password is set to the default, then you are NOT prompted to enter a password, instead you are requested to press (ENTER) to continue. To change the password, select (F3) SETUP from the MASTER MENU. Choose the VARIABLES option from the SETUP menu. Move the cursor next the the PASSWORD line. To move the cursor use the down arrow. Press (ENTER) to edit the password. You may type in a new password or edit the existing one. As mentioned above, if the password is PASSWORD the password protection is disabled. The password can be made up of any sequence of letters, numbers or a combination of both. Note that a space is not a valid character. Also the password is NOT case sensitive. Once the new password is entered, you should write it down and store it is a secure place. As a safety precaution, it is a good idea to backup your MY MONEY disk or directory before tampering with the password. That way if the password you entered was not quite what you intended (i.e. 644336 instead of 644366), you can restore the backup, use the old password and start over. MY MONEY's password system is intended as a deterrent for basically honest people. It should keep people such as your kids, their friends or maybe a computer repair man from 'wandering' into your finances. However, no protection scheme will keep out the serious hacker intent on breaking in. With this in mind, I have intentionally left a backdoor for you to use in case your password is ever lost or forgotten. The method is not published, therefore, if the need arises you can call or write me and get the specific details on its use. HELP SYSTEM MY MONEY v3.51 pg. -42- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- HELP SYSTEM MY MONEY contains an on-line, context-sensitive, hyper-text help system. At any time, you can view a help screen relating to your specific position in MY MONEY by pressing (F1). The importance of using (F1) throughout the program cannot be over-emphasized. MY MONEY 's help system is rich with specific and detailed information on all aspects of the program. Nearly as much time went into the help screens as the actual program. Much of this manual was compiled using information from the help screens. Presented below is a summary of the valid commands while in the help system. (ARROW KEYS) Select a topic by moving the highlight bar with any of the arrow keys. (ENTER) View the help screen relating to the highlighted topic. (ANY LETTER) Jump to the next selection beginning with that letter. (HOME) Move the highlight bar to the first selection. (END) Move the highlight bar to the last selection. (PGUP) Move the highlight bar 1/10 back in the list. (PGDN) Move the highlight bar 1/10 forward in the list. (ESC) or (-) Leave the help system and return to program. FIELD EDITING COMMANDS MY MONEY v3.51 pg. -43- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- When entering certain text information, such as the description for a check, you may use the following field editing commands: (HOME) Move the cursor to the beginning of the line. (END) Move the cursor to the end of the line. (LEFT) Move the cursor one space to the left. (RIGHT) Move the cursor one space to the right. (CTRL-LEFT) Move the cursor one word to the left. (CTRL-RIGHT) Move the cursor one word to the right. (DEL) Delete one character at the cursor. (BACKSPACE) Move the cursor one space to the left and delete one character. (INS) Toggle between the insert and over-type mode. While in the insert mode the cursor's height will increase and new characters are inserted by shifting all remaining text one position to the right of the cursor. Toggling back to the over-type mode will restore the cursor to its normal size and characters entered will replace those at the cursor. (F5) Convert all the text to upper case. (F6) Convert all the text to lower case. (F7) Make the first letter of each word upper case. (F8) Reverse the character's case at the cursor. (PGUP) Enter control character (i.e. ALT-027, ALT-007, etc.) (PGDN) Reverse all changes and continue editing. (ESC) Reverse all changes and quit. (ENTER) Accept all changes and quit. In some instances, the input line will appear with text already in it. This is either the default or the last entered text. Pressing any character will erase the line and allow you to enter new text. You may choose to edit the text by first pressing a control key. A control key is any valid non-alphanumeric key such as (INS) or (LEFT). HOT-KEYS MY MONEY v3.51 pg. -44- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hot-Keys are key combinations that are available to you anytime MY MONEY is waiting on a key to be pressed. Valid Hot-Keys include: (F1) Context-sensitive help. (see HELP SYSTEM) (ALT-M) Available memory and other key information. (ALT-S) Shell to DOS, return to MY MONEY by typing EXIT. Presented below is detailed information on selected Hot-Keys: (ALT-M) SYSTEM INFORMATION Key system information is available to you anytime by pressing (ALT-M). The following information is displayed. NEAR FREE Amount of free memory on the near heap. This number is really not useful to you, since you cannot control it. FAR FREE Amount of free memory that MY MONEY and other programs can use. When you shell to DOS or MY MONEY runs other programs, this is the memory that is used. NEAR/FAR HEAP Test to check the near/far heap. (ALT-S) DOS SHELL Pressing (ALT-S) will allow you to shell to DOS without exiting MY MONEY. This allows you to perform DOS related functions such as formatting disks, copying files or any other needed activity. When you are finished just type EXIT and you will immediately return to MY MONEY exactly where you were when you shelled to DOS. If Swapping is turned Off, MY MONEY is left in conventional memory. This will limit the amount of free memory while in DOS. If you get errors such as 'Program too big to fit in memory' or 'Out of memory' try turning Swapping on before shelling to DOS. OTHER INFORMATION MY MONEY v3.51 pg. -45- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- LFOFF Some printers automatically add a line-feed to the end of each printed line. MY MONEY? also sends a line-feed to the printer. Therefore, if the printer is sending a line feed in addition to the one MY MONEY? is sending, then all text printed will be double spaced. To eliminate this problem start MY MONEY? with the command line option LFOFF, as such: MM LFOFF (ENTER) (ESC) / (-) In most instances where the (ESC) key is valid, the minus (-) key can be substituted. This feature was added to allow you to quickly move around in MY MONEY?. TECHNICAL SUPPORT MY MONEY v3.51 pg. -46- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Questions or comments about this product should be directed to: Jim E. Smith Channel 8250 344 Observatory Drive or Conference #42 Birmingham, AL 35206 205-744-8546 Internet: jim.smith@the-matrix.com I also monitor several national networks such as ILink, U'NI Net, etc. You may leave me mail, addressed to JIM SMITH, in the Shareware Conference of any of these networks. In addition to the above, registered users are provided with my home phone number for immediate technical support. UPGRADE POLICY - Open-ended promises are easy to make, but difficult to keep. In the end, the user usually feels cheated. - I want to offer free updates as long as it is economically feasible and other circumstances do not preclude it. - By "economically feasible", I mean, for example, as long as enough new orders are coming in to cover the cost of continued development. - By "other circumstances do not preclude it", I mean, for example, if someone hacks and distributes the key file scheme, it will have to be changed and new key files mailed out on a subsequent upgrade. In this example, the registered user would have to pay a small upgrade fee to cover the postage and handling. - In addition, all registered users are eligible to beta test the latest version. This will give the loyal supporters first crack at anything new, and provide me with an experienced pool of MY MONEY users. Betas versions can be downloaded from: Channel 8250 (205)-744-8546 conference #25 The Matrix (205)-323-2016, 300-2400, 13 nodes, conference #372 (205)-323-6016 9600+ HST Dual, 7 nodes On Channel 8250, leave a comment to the Sysop and request access to the SPEED beta conference. You may access the SPEED conference on your first call to the other BBS's. I reserve the right to withdraw this at any time, with no forewarning. KUDOS MY MONEY v3.51 pg. -47- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- No successful program is the result of only one person's labor. This program is no exception. I would like to thank all the people who have registered MY MONEY. If you had not done so, MY MONEY would have ceased to exist. I would like to give a special thanks to the registered users who chose to help beta test the latest version of MY MONEY. This product uses the SPAWNO routines by Ralf Brown to minimize memory use while shelling to DOS and running other programs. LEGAL MY MONEY v3.51 pg. -48- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- MY MONEY LICENSE AGREEMENT MY MONEY (the software) is licensed to you. The author, J.E. Smith, retains sole ownership of the software. The software may only be used by the individual named on the opening screen (the licensee), with the exception of the licensee's legal spouse. At no time should more than one set of records be kept with the same licensed program. One household record per licensed copy. You, as licensee, are permitted to make a backup copy of the software for your own use in case the original disk becomes defective. Also, you are permitted to make copies, as needed, to archive past years. All other copies are prohibited. You may, and are encouraged, to routinely backup your data files. Data files end with the extensions .DTA and .DTD. You may NOT alter, decompile or disassemble the software or any of the supporting files other than what occurs during the natural use of the program. You may NOT assign, sublicense, or transfer the software or any rights under this License to anyone else. This License Agreement is NOT transferable and can only be revoked, by the user, if he or she destroys ALL copies of the program. DISCLAIMER OF ALL WARRANTIES AND LIABILITY MY MONEY IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED. YOU ASSUME THE ENTIRE RISK OF USING THE PRODUCT. THE AUTHOR WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES RESULTING FROM ANY DEFECT IN, OR USE OF, THE SOFTWARE. OTHER Throughout this document mention is made of other companies' products and trademarks. This is for reference purposes only. In no way does the author of MY MONEY imply any relationship to these companies or trademarks. The trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners. MY MONEY is a trademark of J.E. Smith. Copyright 1988-1993, J.E. Smith, All rights reserved.