(MONEY Magazine) – When homemaker Sue Muff of suburban Seattle pays the monthly bills, she doesn't waste time laboriously writing out checks by hand while pecking at a calculator to figure her balance. These and other annoyances are just memories, now that Sue, 46, and her physician husband Nicholas, 47, handle their finances by computer. Using a simple $29 program named Quicken, Sue prints out checks and envelopes in which to mail them, keeps track of expenditures by category and, at tax time, produces a list of deductible ones with the press of a button. "Our accountant loves it," she says, "and he charges us about $400 less as a result." The Muffs are among a rapidly growing number of Americans who are using personal-finance software to make their lives easier. Sales of such programs - nearly doubled to 2.4 million units last year. In fact, software in the personal-finance category now ties data-base managers -- essentially electronic filing cabinets -- for fourth place in overall sales, after word processors, spreadsheets and games. And no wonder. Not only has computer hardware evolved at warp speed, but also today's money-management programs are gigabytes ahead of the clunky ones that gathered dust on dealers' shelves back in the industry's Jurassic period -- the early 1980s. Now, for little more than the cost of four tickets to a blockbuster summer movie, you can find nifty packages that will keep your balances, pay your bills electronically, plan your budget, help you select the right mix of stocks, bonds and mutual funds and then buy or sell them for you. But with more than two dozen programs to choose from, some of them capable of handling all your finances and others specializing in such areas as investing, which one (or ones) do you really need? The answer depends in part on what computer you own or plan to buy. If your machine is an older IBM or compatible with 640 kilobytes of random access memory (RAM), you're probably limited to software that runs on Microsoft's venerable MS-DOS (or DOS) operating system. Don't complain, though: Most programs are available in DOS versions.

If you own a newer machine, however, or are shopping for one, you can choose the more user-friendly software designed for Microsoft's Windows 3.1 (for IBMs and compatibles) or Apple's Macintosh. Windows programs generally need a machine with at least an 80386 microprocessor, four megabytes of RAM and an 80-megabyte hard disk (typical cost: $1,000 to $2,000). You can operate DOS programs on a computer running Windows, by the way, although not vice versa. With the Mac, you'll get optimal performance with something like the Centris 610 4/80 with four megabytes of RAM and an 80-megabyte hard disk (cost: $2,000). Whether you choose an IBM or a Mac, you'll want an ink-jet or laser printer ($500 to $1,000) to print checks, tax forms or other documents. And you'll need a modem ($100 and up) if you want your computer to phone up the bank to verify your balance or call a data base to check on stock prices. Total outlay for the works: about $1,500 to $3,000. Once your hardware is set, you can turn to the question of which program to buy. To help you decide, we review 14 of the best-selling packages in four categories -- banking and record keeping, financial planning, investing and home buying. (We omitted tax software because it was covered in MONEY's March issue.) Unless otherwise indicated, all programs come in versions for DOS, Windows and Macintosh. Prices are those you would pay at a discounter or software chain, such as Egghead or CompUSA. Finally, while two of the entries (WealthBuilder and Smart Investor) were created with MONEY's help, the reviewers have striven to treat all programs impartially.

BANKING AND RECORD KEEPING If you only want help with basic financial chores like bill paying and budgeting, then any of these three programs will do the job. All keep a running record of spending by category, letting you see at a glance what you are shelling out each month for food, gas, entertainment or any other purpose. All can share this information with popular tax programs. All can track a simple mutual fund or stock portfolio, though only Quicken and MoneyCounts can obtain price quotes electronically from data services like America Online, CompuServe and Prodigy (fee: $10 to $15 a month). And all either print checks and envelopes for you or offer access to services that pay your bills by transferring funds electronically from your bank account (cost: $10 for 20 checks a month). Quicken ($29, published by Intuit). The granddaddy of personal-finance software with more than 3 million copies sold, Quicken has been updated continually since its 1984 release and remains this category's all-around best buy. The latest version, for example, offers a special Quicken Gold Visa card (no fee, 14.75% interest rate) that lets you retrieve by modem your list of charges each month, separated by expenditure type. That saves you from having to enter each transaction manually to maintain a complete detailed record of your spending for, say, tax or budget purposes. Microsoft Money ($29, Microsoft; Windows only). This two-year-old program, which resembles a stripped-down Quicken, lacks the ability to get on-line market updates. Thanks to clear instructions and attractive graphics, however, it remains a good choice for beginners who don't need to track investments. MoneyCounts ($19, Parsons Technology; DOS only). Though it doesn't have snazzy graphics, this inexpensive DOS program does some things the others don't. It lets you create one-key commands, for example, that accomplish what would otherwise take a series of keystrokes. And you can maintain large mailing lists and automatically address envelopes or labels -- useful if you run a small business, for example, or raise funds for a church or civic group.

FINANCIAL PLANNING With the exception of WealthBuilder, this category's packages handle the same basic record-keeping chores as those above. But these programs go further, allowing you to define a goal -- like saving for retirement -- and then figure out how much you need to save to meet it, all with the guidance of on-screen advice similar to what you might get from a financial planner. You can select a portfolio of stocks or funds and follow its performance. And you can handle such miscellaneous tasks as analyzing your life insurance needs or calculating payments on a mortgage. Managing Your Money ($49, Meca). Like Quicken, this nine-year-old pioneering program -- which features helpful advice from personal-finance guru Andrew Tobias -- is updated every year or so. The new Windows version, due out in September, includes spiffy graphics that make it easy to use; to see your checking or savings account balance, for example, you simply click on a picture of a bank. Unfortunately, the Windows program isn't able to summon stock prices by modem, as the DOS and Mac versions do. If that matters to you, stick to those programs, or choose another product, or wait for the modem- capable Windows edition late next year. CA-Simply Money ($49, Computer Associates; Windows only). With state-of-the- art graphics and full modem powers, this newcomer is probably the best buy for people using Windows. In fact, thanks to a promotion by the publisher, early birds didn't have to buy it at all. When Simply Money appeared in June, Computer Associates was giving away copies free to the first million people who called 800-373-3666 -- well, almost free; you had to pay $6.95 shipping and handling. (As we went to press in July, a spokesman said there were still plenty of copies left but wouldn't disclose the number.) The commentary, by Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine, covers roughly the same topics as that of Managing Your Money but is frequently clearer and more lively. WealthBuilder ($70, Reality Technologies; developed with MONEY; DOS and Mac only). WealthBuilder doesn't include a check-writing or household-accounts function; for that, you'll need to buy something like Quicken. But it does enable you to construct a more thorough financial plan than other programs in this category do. WealthBuilder begins by asking for such basic info as your age, income and number of dependents. Next it assesses your investment risk tolerance by asking for answers to questions like, "What would you do if you won $500 on a bet?" (If you choose "go for double or nothing," you're a risk- taker.) Then it recommends strategies for saving and allocating investments to achieve goals like buying a house, paying college bills or retiring comfortably. To select specific stocks or funds, you'll need the companion program, Smart Investor, which is included with WealthBuilder's DOS version but unfortunately does not exist for the Mac. (Smart Investor can also be bought separately; see below.)

INVESTING Unlike packages in the category above, which offer only the most basic tools for choosing investments, these programs permit you to screen stocks, bonds or mutual funds based on criteria you define and then to manage your portfolio once it's chosen. But caution: You need to know something about investing to use this software. "These programs are not designed for novices and offer relatively little on-screen advice," warns John Bajkowski, editor of Computerized Investing ($60 a year; 800-428-2244), a bimonthly newsletter of the American Association of Individual Investors. All packages listed here enable you to obtain the latest prices and research reports by modem (typical cost: $5 to $20 a month), either through the publisher's own service or public ones like CompuServe. All can produce reports, graphs or both showing your investments' performance. And all permit you to trade securities by modem through discount brokerage houses (cost: a firm's usual commissions). Smart Investor (included with WealthBuilder or $50 separately, Reality Technologies; DOS only). The best choice for fund watchers, this program lets you sort through Reality's data base of more than 17,000 stocks, bonds, funds, and certificates of deposit. For instance, you can search for stock funds with average price/earnings ratios below 19 or bond funds with yields above 6%. You get your first data-base disk free; updates are available monthly by modem for $215 a year (or $119 for everything but individual stocks and bonds). Smart Investor also helps you at tax time. For example, the program can figure out the cost basis of shares of a fund in which you have periodically reinvested dividends -- essential for calculating gains or losses when you sell. One caveat: Smart Investor's on-line brokerage hookup is not scheduled to begin operation until sometime this month, though the publisher says the launch is on schedule. Captool ($99, Techserve; DOS only). The best choice for serious investors who are primarily interested in individual stocks, Captool provides comprehensive tax help analogous to that of Smart Investor but offers a wider range of analytical tools. For example, it is the only program reviewed here that lets you screen for stocks with high price/cash-flow ratios -- although you do have to enter some of the data manually -- which may help you spot companies that are about to raise dividends. It's also the only program that can calculate your stock portfolio's internal rate of return, the best measure of how your investments are doing overall. Unfortunately, the program does not do the same sophisticated analysis of funds, though it can track fund prices. Pulse ($179, Equis International; DOS only). This package lacks some of the tax and analytical tools that Smart Investor and Captool provide. Partly as a result, it is simpler to use -- something many investors find appealing. Moreover, Pulse lets you break down your holdings by asset class or any other category you designate. "I use it to separate my more speculative investments from the plug-along ones," says clinical psychologist Leslie Weiser, 45, of Wellesley, Mass., "so I get a clearer overall picture of how my portfolio is performing." Equalizer ($69, Charles Schwab; DOS only) and On-Line Xpress ($90, Fidelity Investments; DOS only). These programs' main virtue is that each chops 10% off already discounted commissions from the Schwab and Fidelity brokerage services, respectively, for trades made by modem. Neither program provides significant help in selecting stocks, though, or calculating taxes.

HOME BUYING These programs can help figure out how expensive a house you can afford -- and how big a mortgage you can get on it. Buying Your Home ($40, Home Equity Software; DOS only). The best choice for home purchasers, this package asks you to record your current monthly cash flows and then shows how they would be affected by various mortgage options, taking into account property taxes and the lower income tax bill you'd pay each year as a result of the mortgage interest deduction. A companion program, Mastering Your Mortgage (also $40), does the same for homeowners considering whether to refinance existing loans. The Mortgage Analyzer ($25, Software Solutions; DOS only). A satisfactory choice for those who want a cheaper and simpler program than Buying Your Home, this one excels at analyzing your finances to determine whether you can qualify for a loan.