These programs are pre-formatted so you just fill in the blanks. It can get time consuming entering in all your recipes, but if you stick to entering in 1 or 2 recipes a day, you'll make some progress. With the computer program there's a number of benefits. One being that you can easily find recipes and print them out. The program will figure the nutrition information for your recipes so if you are health conscious you can easily get this information.
Some programs offer a menu maker and a shopping list.
The menu maker allows you to plan a menu for a specified amount of time then it will figure an editable shopping list for that menu. You can also get a shopping list for an individual recipe. Another reason I like this method is because it's easy to locate certain recipes with certain ingredients. I use Key Gourmet and Master Cook II and I highly recommend both of them. Master Cook II has a better menu planner.