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'''— JK'''
==Home Budget==
<big>'''This will exercise your printer'''</big>
| requirements = console, monitor or television, 32K memory expansion, RS232 interface, disk drive and controller, printer.
}}
Home Budget by DCH Software is a sophisticated, home finance program that can provide the user with more detail about the state of his financial affairs than he may be prepared to accept. This menu-driven program provides a variety of printouts that allow the user to analyze his financial situation from many angles.
===Performance===
Home Budget is entirely menu driven. There are several menus to work through, depending on what functions you want to perform. Trying to describe in detail how each works would take more space than is available, since some of the menus have as many as 11 options to choose from. Instead, I will capsulize the function of each to give you an idea of how the program is organized.
'''Income Journal:''' This program allows the user to enter income data. It requires not only how much money is deposited in the user's checking account but how much he took back in cash. It totals the amounts and, based on expense entries elsewhere in the program, keeps track of the balance in the user's checking account as well as how much more income the user is expected to receive before the month is out.
'''Budget Program:''' This program, using the user's checkbook register as the primary source of data, calls for entering each check. The user gives each category an account number, enters the date and amount of the transaction and the payee. It allows
the user to change any data item and to print a check register. The user may reorder the data file on the basis of check numbers or account numbers. Entries may be listed to the screen. A submenu allows the user to print several reports, including an income table and year-to-date data.
'''Budget Set-up Program:''' This program is used to create the budget. The user may create as many categories as he likes. Files for year-to-date totals and amounts spent to date are also created during the budget set-up phase. Accounts may be listed to the screen.
Home Budget will provide seven printouts for the user, including a chart of accounts, monthly budget, check list by check number, check list by account number, budget table with monthly, year-to-date and over /short information, a table of average amounts spent and an annualized projection of those amounts. It also prints an income journal, which provides the user with the balance in his checking account as well as how much the month's income is over or under budget.
All calculations for totals, averages and other data are done automatically by the program.
This program uses several screen
colors to differentiate between menus
md input screens. I wish it would have
nad a few more screen prompts to
remind the user of the type of information
he is entering. After becoming
thoroughly familiar with the program
the user would probably not need it,
but the neophyte has to guess on occasion
whether to enter dollar amounts
or category numbers. Because the
program comes unprotected, this can
be corrected by the user. Although the
program is designed to operate out of
one disk drive, the user can modify it
to operate with two drives.
The program is well-organized despite
its complexity. Because the
menus feature many options, the firsttime
user may well be nonplussed by
it. However, after an hour or so, one
can move quickly from one function to
the next. The manual is written in a
tutorial style, and I recommend that
the user read it thoroughly as it takes
him step-by-step through the program.
It also has some excellent
advice about budgeting in general
which could benefit anyone. 1he program
itself seems to be foolproof and
bug-proof. It's possible to overwrite a
file by accident but only if you ignore
the warnings about saving data before
moving on to another program
segment.
Ease of Use: This is not a simple
program to use. You must come to
grips with a number of issues bAfore
seriously getting down to the business
of budgeting. You must decide how to
organize budget categories so that
they make sense to you, and then you
must be scrupulous in entering all
your income and expenses (at least
those having to do with your checking
account) so that an accurate picture of
your financial condition can emerge.
In short, you must be thoughtful in
using this program.
Documentation: Home Budget
comes with a lengthy manual printed
on a dot matrix printer on 8½- x 11-inch
paper. It is single-spaced. There is
neither an index nor a table of contents.
However, it is not organized to
be a reference document. It is
designed as a tutorial to take the new
user through the program, from
beginning to end. While I would fault
the format, it is apparent from reading
it that the writer has a genuine interest
in conveying his thoughts about how to
use Home Budget to the reader. It does
the job, too.
Value: This program is for those
who are serious about developing a
home budget and record of expenses.
It generates an array of printouts that
the conscientious user can study to his
heart's content in an effort to gain control
over his finances.
'''— JK'''
