Free File is now available, so you can see if your AGI qualifies you for free tax prep software and electronic filing.

Many income tax preparation software companies are part of the Free File Alliance, with some of them offering Free File in Spanish. Free File can be used to prepare the Earned Income Tax Credit Schedule (EITC) and can be used to file for an extension.

Learn More about Free File | Is Online Tax Software Safe? | What is AMT?

While a lot of people like having a variety of personal finance tools in their financial software, there is a substantial population of folks who just want to focus on budgeting their money. So, I put together eight tips for choosing dedicated budgeting software along with suggestions for budgeting software options. And, there is no reason why you could not use typical personal finance software while managing your budget with dedicated budgeting software if that combo suits you.

More Advice for Choosing Financial Software

How are your investments doing? Don't ask, you say? Yeah, me, too.

My stock portfolio has taken a major hit, but I'm not selling into a panic. I have part of my portfolio in cash, and that's not going to change for awhile. So what to do when I'm not in the investing or trading game? I play games on WeSeed!

I just finished up a couple of games of Stock Price Cage Match, and scored a reasonable 8 out of 12 both times, although I thought I would do better than that. WeSeed also hosts the Stock vs Stuff game, with Passion Poker and Up/Down Showdown coming soon.

Check out WeSeed and sign up for a free account to get virtual money to invest in stocks so you can sharpen your investing skills while the stock market is in the crapper. You can also discuss stocks in one of the discussion forums, or enjoy the diversion of a trying your hand at one of the stock market games.

I just updated Microsoft Money vs. Quicken, which compares features of the two top-selling desktop personal finance software options. Read Microsoft Money Plus vs. Quicken 2009 to get the details.

• Quicken 2009 Review
• Microsoft Money Plus Review