Balancing your checkbook should be easy. And with this spreadsheet, it IS.

I was a big fan of quicken in the early days, because the program was so simple and easy to use.  Over time, it grew more sophisticated and complicated, and offered a lot of new features I didn't want or need.  It also required upgrades to work with newer operating systems.  Eventually, I longed for the simple programe I once knew and happily used.

Have I found a solution?  Perhaps!  Spreadsheets, can be set up as checkbook registers.  There are some free checkbook templates for open source business suites like OpenOffice.org and Libre Office.  I've tried several, and this one, seems to come closeset to my original Quicken experience, with ease of use and functionality:



It's called Simple Checkbook by Joe Barta.  It's a spreadsheet template, that is available to download for free, from some websites.  Here is a good review about it:

https://cervete.wordpress.com/2010/01/10/working-checkbook-spreadsheet-a-rare-bird/

There is a warning, about transatctions that have not cleared yet, and ways to deal with it, with out corrupting the file; this is a spreadsheet, not a computer program.  But if your checking account is simple like mine, this could work very nicely.  It can be dowloaded here:

https://templates.openoffice.org/en/template/checkbook-register-and-balancer-joe

The original website by the creator is gone, but there is a copy of it on the webarchive site:

https://web.archive.org/web/20210619153249/https://www.htmliseasy.com/checkbook/index.html

The page offers some tips and hints for using it, and talks about it's limitations and advantages.

It seems there can be a false error report involving Macros when using it with Microsoft Excel.  Version 2.1 had a fix for it, but that version is no longer available.  But on this page, he has a link to instruction on how to fix it yourself, if it's an issue for you:

https://web.archive.org/web/20190408221414/https://www.contextures.com/xlfaqMac.html#NoMacros