I have a Quicken accounting question:

We had an old Windows 98 laptop here, and instead of trying to sell it I donated it to a local nonprofit organization that provides computers to people in developing countries. They sent me a receipt that I can use for tax purposes.

But I'm not sure how best to account for this donation in Quicken. It's not like a regular donation where I'm withdrawing money from one of my accounts and giving it to charity. It's more like a donation of an asset, but I don't keep track of my assets like that, certainly not computers. Any suggestions?

Interesting question. I've never thought of accounting for donations in Quicken. That would sure make my life simpler. Right now, I keep all charity-related paperwork in a cubbyhold at my desk. But somehow I can never find everything at the end of the year. And the whole "donating an asset" thing makes it even more difficult.

You might consider creating some sort of dummy account. This isn't as neat as some other method might be (because then you'll have some random account floating around with a -$100 (or whatever) balance), but it should work.

I just keep track of this stuff in Excel and then deduct it at the end of the year from taxes. Tracking it in Quicken really only makes sense to me if you track the value of all your belongings there (somehow). In that case, I guess you would just deduct the value of this item from the value of all your stuff.