If you have been considering upgrading to Intuit’s Quicken 2007, don’t. More than a month ago, I upgraded from Quicken Home & Business 2006 to Quicken Home & Business 2007, and many things have not gone smoothly since the transition. Many of the new features that the company claims to have been added to the software do not work properly.

The interface looks nicer, and some of the default repors are designed better, but the software performs as if it has not been fully tested. Here are a few things I’ve discovered that don’t work properly.

Downloading transactions through Direct Connect for my 401(k) no longer works. After completing a Direct Connect session in which Quicken identifies that 401(k) transactions have been downloaded, every second Saturday, switching to view the 401(k) account creates two problems. First, the downloaded transactions are not there, although the software says they had been downloaded (by displaying a flag icon next to the account’s title in the sidebar). Second, the transaction screen continually refreshes, making it almost impossible to do anything else, such as add an entry manually or even switch to view a different account.

The 401(k) account does not offer downloads from the website, only Direct Connect. Therefore, I can no longer automatically update this account, and I’ll have to enter all 401(k) transactions manually. This is the only account I normally do not enter transactions manually.

For other banks that only offer Web Connect (customers visit the bank’s website to download a file contraining transaction details to will be imported), Quicken 2007 introduced a new feature called “Express Web Connect.” Theoretically, Quicken will visit the website for you and download the transactions. For the Quicken user, this should be very handy. In effect, it makes banks that only offer Web Connect function like those that offer Direct Connect.

Forget it, it only works for me about half of the time. It’s not due to the bank’s website being unavailable, as I can easily log on myself to download the file. This is what I will normally do, bypassing the Express Web Connect feature.

Supposedly, transaction downloads (Direct Connect and Web Express Connect) now take place in the “background,” which means you should be able to continue using the program while Quicken retrieves updates from the banks. In older version of the software, a status window stays open during the updates blocking access to the program.

In 2007, during “background” updates, dialog boxes continue to pop up and disappear during the connection, stealing the focus, and making it impossible to work in the program at the same time.

Strangely, every so often, Quicken creates a new empty “Checking” account, on its own, without any input from me.

Hopefully Intuit will have bug fixes available sometime soon. Until then, working with Quicken 2007 will be a pain. Don’t upgrade until you hear that the software has improved. Unfortunately, it’s too late for me to go back to Quicken 2006.

Here are some discussions about Quicken 2007:

• FatWallet: Quicken 2007… To buy or not to buy?
• FatWallet: Things That Make Quicken 2007 Go Boom

• Quicken Support Forums: Stick With 2006, 2007 is a Mess

  Update: Intuit has updated Quicken 2007 to fix some of these errors.
  Additional update: After living with Quicken 2007 R2 for a while, I’ve reviewed the improvements.

I just found this in my inbox (for an email address that wouldn’t be used for anything official):

Subject: IRS Notification – Please Read This .
From: Internal Revenue Service

After the last annual calculations of your fiscal activity we have determined that you are eligible to receive a tax refund of $63.80. Please submit the tax refund request and allow us 6-9 days in order to process it.

A refund can be delayed for a variety of reasons. For example submitting invalid records or applying after the deadline.

To access the form for your tax refund, please click here

Regards,
Internal Revenue Service

Needless to say, I didn’t click there. If I had, I would have been taken to a website on a server named arcdoors.com. The whole thing sounds pretty phishy too me.

You would be surprised, intelligent people fall for these things all the time. Out of curiosity, I clicked on the link they sent. As you can see if you click on the thumbnail below, the site looks legitimate. Don’t fall for this scam.

By the way, you know this can’t be legitimate because the scam email promises to process the request in 6-9 days. The real IRS is not nearly as efficient as the scammers and wouldn’t be able to make any such guarantee.

I have some prizes to give away to faithful readers during the month of October. The first is a simple contest.

I’ve said many times that I’ve gained so much by the insightful comments left by readers. Whenever I receive comments and feedback, I earn more knowledge. I may not always agree with everyone, but I like that people can visit this blog randomly and have a say as much as readers who stop by every day.

I have a prize set aside for the participant who writes the most comments during October. I’ll try to do my job by writing articles and blog entries worthy of your adding your voices.

There will be more contests being announced as well, so visit frequently!

Update: Apparently Financial Freedumb is running the same contest in October (kind of strange how that happened, but it’s not right…), so I’m changing things up a bit. Stay tuned for more information.

Here’s what I’ve been reading within the MoneyBlogNetwork and beyond this week.

• Free Money Finance admits there are good reasons to use credit cards.
• MightyBargainHunter just received his 2005 tax refund.
• Blueprint for Financial Prosperity warns student loans should be used for school only.
• FiveCentNickel is beginning a series on saving money on medical care.
• AllFinancialMatters shares his opinion on why it’s tough getting “Generation Y” to save for retirement.
• Raising4Boys might buy his kids a Nintendo Wii.
• Get Rich Slowly praises the debt snowball and shares some old songs about money.

• Pfblogs.org will be raising membership prices only for new Friends on November 1 (and for “commercial” members on October 1).

I just got work that Emigrant Direct has lowered the interest rate offered on the bank’s savings account from an APY of 5.15% to 5.05%. This trend might continue, so those who want to lock in high rates may want to start transferring any cash they won’t need for some time into CDs or other investments.

Remember when Dustin Diamond (Screech from Saved by the Bell) was having problems making payments on his house? He went on Howard Stern’s radio show to try to sell t-shirts to fundraise for his cause. He failed miserably with that attempt, and many say it was a scam, but it looks like he’s turning things around.

Screech—it’s too odd to refer to him by his real name—pulled a Paris Hilton and managed to have a sex tape leaked to the public. He says it was unintentional, but—and this is the only reason I’d write about this here—Roger Paul, Screech’s agent, says, “Dustin has been trying to escape the Screech typecast. So this may help me get more bookings.”

Dustin Diamond fashions himself as a stand-up comedian, or at least that’s what he’s been trying to accomplish over the last several years. Real talent wouldn’t require such well-endowed gimmicks for attracting attention.

It was time for me to renew one of my domain names, and I found these coupon codes for GoDaddy. Feel free to use them and share.

Coupon code: CHRIS1 for 10% off any order (added 9/29/2006)
Coupon code: CHRIS2 for $5 off any order $30 or more (added 9/29/2006)
Coupon code: CHRIS3 for $6.95 .com domain names (added 9/29/2006)

If you know of any others currently working, leave them in the comments, and if I find any more I’ll add them here. Working codes seem to come and go, and ones I’ve seen posted on forums expire quickly.

I’ve been using GoDaddy for a long time, and I’ve never had any problems. (Also, I’m not an affiliate.)

I do a little random work on the side in order to bring in a few extra dollars in addition to my day job. Luckilly, most of this “extra” income is over and above my expenses for the month. I generally use the income to pay for business-related expenses, but even afterwards I have some left over. The money sits in an ING Direct account, which is less of a hassle to deal with than other, higher-interest savings accounts.

So what should I do with the money?

• Pay off my student loans faster. This is the most likely candidate. Some of these funds are being paid back at very low rates of interest, but not all of it.
• Pay off my car loan faster. I am paying 2% APR on my loan, so this is not the best choice. However, the money was borrowed from a family member (who insisted I borrow). He also insists there’s no need to pay back any faster than our agreement stipulates.

• Save up for a down payment on a house. I don’t know where I want to live yet, or many of the other details that should be necessary to know before making this commitment. I do know that I’ll need money—much more money than I have. I already have a savings account earmarked for “Relocation,” to which I add $55 from every paycheck.

  No matter what I do, a good portion of the side business income should be saved for taxes, just in case I find myself with a large bill in April. I should also set aside a portion to invest in my SEP IRA.