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[ Go to May 1997 Table of Contents ]
WinLab Reviews
-- by Deborah K. Wong
Where do those dollars go? Debt Analyzer 97 can help you find out. It takes the guesswork out of paying bills and helps you better plan for future savings. After you install the program's 16-bit or 32-bit version, Debt Analyzer asks you to enter debt information, including name and type of loan, interest rate, remaining balance, minimum monthly payment and your actual monthly payment. The program's report function consolidates your view of up to 50 debts for a quick review of your monthly payments and tallies the total amount of interest you pay over the life of each loan. The program generates schedules for retiring your debt early, and its Debt-Reduction plan shows how to most effectively reduce your debt while paying the least amount of interest. You can play "what-if" games by creating a Debt-Consolidation plan to transform debt obligation into a single loan. The Timed-Debt Elimination Schedule will recommend solutions for eliminating debt within a given time period. A budget option provides a complete analysis of income and expenditures. It also demonstrates the effects of planning ahead by including variable extra payments, made by applying tax refunds, bonuses and additional funds toward debt repayment. Daily and calendar reports show the dates when bills are due, and bar graphs, reports and summaries can be viewed or printed. The application assumes you won't incur any future debt and makes no provision for emergency expenditures; however, it is convenient, straightforward and easy to use. For anyone with nagging debts to pay, Debt Analyzer will give you a sharper look into your overall financial situation.
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