clueless beginner needs basic advice

[Beth Leonard]

On Wed, Apr 04, 2007 at 12:08:10AM -0400, john wrote:
> What I want is a program 
> similar to quicken where I have a long list of checks going out and 
> deposits coming in arranged by the date on the left with a running 
> balance on the right all on the same very long page.

If you set things up using "basic checkbook" like you said you did,
then what you want will be under "Assets:Current Assets: Checking
Account"

Double click that and it will open up the account file.  Put one entry
at the top for your starting balance (if you didn't enter it when you
set up the program).  For the "Transfer" column for your starting balance
choose "Equity:Opening Balances" from the drop-down menu.  If your
bank account is positive, the dollar amount goes in the "deposit"
column.

Now when you make a deposit to your bank account, enter the date on the
left, write down what it was in the description, and under the transfer
column select "Income" and enter the dollar amount in the "deposit"
column.  Your balance will be correctly updated.  In the future if
you make the same or a similar deposit in future months, you'll just
enter the date and the first few letters of the description.  When it
auto-completes, just hit "tab" and the rest of your transaction will
be auto-entered for you.  If the amount is correct, hit "enter" and
you're done and ready to enter the next transaction.

For checks you write, do the same thing, except in the transfer column
select "Expense" instead, and put the dollar amount in the "withdrawal"
column.

This should do what you want, although of course there is much much
more you could do to classify what types of expenses items are (for
example) so that you could figure out how much you spent on rent vs.
how much on car insurance.

--Beth 
Beth Leonard
http://www.LeonardFamilyVideos.com