When I enter negative values into my budget, why does Quicken turn them into positive values?

Possible Cause: The categories assigned with the negative values are of the type "Expense". Because expense categories are assumed to be negative cash flow, entering negative values for expense items in a budget results in double negative (or positive) values.

Solution

To avoid this situation, do not use negative signs when entering budget amounts for expense items, as Quicken is designed to enter values for expense items as negative numbers.