Money provides many standard categories and subcategories to get you startedùpossibly all youÆll ever need. When you enter a transaction, you just scroll through the list of categories available and choose the most appropriate one.

Let Money help you categorize. Money recognizes the names of many common payees, such as your utility company or long-distance carrier, and will often automatically fill in the category when you enter a transaction. Also, when you type the name of a payee youÆve used before, Money fills in the details of your last transaction with that payee. You can check those details and make any changes before you finish entering it.

Avoid duplicate categories. Although itÆs easy to create a new category, first check and make sure you really need it. By using the categories that are already created, you can be sure you donÆt end up with duplicates, such as a category for Clothes when you already have one for Clothing. Such duplicates will distort or unnecessarily split summary calculations used in your reports, budget, and taxes.

Use only the categories you need. Categorizing offers so much interesting information about your spending patterns that one can get carried away. Be sure to use only as many categories as you really need to get the information you want. Subcategories within Clothing called Shirts, Pants, and Socks will surely be more work than theyÆre worth.

Check for consistent category use. Create a Spending by Category report to see where youÆre spending your money as well as how youÆre using your categories.