Greatest Hits
- (L)Earning What I'm Worth
- The Save-to-Spend Budget
- Salary Negotiation Post - Retraction
- Money Types: Carrie, Samantha, Miranda or Charlotte?
- How Jenny Earned $15,000 on eBay
- The Fashionomics of Retail Begging
- Create Other Income Streams
- Rx for a Bloated Budget
- Stop Wasting Time on Things That Will Never Make You Money
- End the Superwoman Syndrome
- Challenge: Wear Just Six Things
- Your (New & Improved?) Credit Card
- The High Cost of Part-Time Work (+ working mom poll)
- Smash Student Loan Debt
- Prep for More Pay
- Personal Account: My Brain on Sales
- On Becoming a Financial Grown-up
- Pop Quiz from DailyWorth!
- Personal Account: Gabrielle's Reflection on Worth
- Bouncing Back From Bankruptcy
Mint Takes the Mess Out of Budgeting
By MP Dunleavey Monday July 26, 2010
So much to track The top concern that emerged from our latest reader survey wasn't starting a budget, but sticking to one (45% of you said so). Why?
One of the biggest budget busters is—surprise!—not how you spend, but how tough it is to track the hundreds of transactions you conduct each month: debits and transfers and charges and checks galore.
All that mess gets cleared up in five minutes flat, when you use a budget program like Mint. It downloads AND categorizes your transactions, and it’s less cumbersome to maintain than Excel or Quicken.
Signals to guide you
Both Amanda and MP like Mint because a) it's free and b) it's secure and c) it lets you set a monthly spending target in each category (groceries, car, savings, health, etc.).
Then, it channels those transactions into a color-coded bar chart (see a fullscreen example here) so you can see what your current financial picture is in real-time.
The best way to use Mint is in tandem with the save-to-spend budget that helps you set your own spending and saving goals. Then, use the power of Mint's transaction-tracker to help you automate most of the tracking process (there will always be new transactions Mint doesn’t know how to categorize).
Bottom line
 |
Try Mint. |
|
Rant or rave about Mint on DailyWorth.com. |
Comments
(28)
Subscribe to this comment's feed
Written by MP Dunleavey, July 26, 2010
As I was telling Amanda, I just got back onto Mint last month--after a hiatus of a couple of years. It's much improved, I think. It does require some effort. But there's no magic money manager out there. This, I think, comes awfully close. And I love being able to see, via the color--coded budgets--where our spending is really at.
Written by Kelsey, July 26, 2010
I really like Mint, but sometimes my charges don't go through in the right categories, and I'm not sure how to do it manually. And, I pay my fiancee for our rent, and I can't figure out how to add it manually. So that part kind of sucks.
Written by Brenda, July 26, 2010
will Mint allow one to initially track spending without the targets to be able to ck things out and see whre to make adjust ments ? that is another thing that is irritating about a budget is having to struggle with expectations and then it has to be done all over again when one realizes they set the bar too high and it is unliveable.
Written by Kelly, July 26, 2010
I love mint! Their new goal tracking feature was that last nudge I needed to get my savings account setup with sub accounts Ramit style (http://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/blog/tip-using-sub-savings-accounts-for-unexpected-expenses/).
Written by Kristina, July 26, 2010
Websites like Mint.com only work if you use your cards to begin with.
I write two checks a month, make payments using my debit card for 8 other payments (utilities, credit cards, etc.) but the rest of the month I pay cash from my weekly budget allowance for everything else and stash the receipts (in a big red envelope in my purse). I don't use my debit card enough for these type of programs to work. It is harder to let cash go out of my hands than using a debit card would be. I only get paid once a month so I need to use strict budgeting principles to make it to the end of the month with my money.
And tracking it on excel (for me) means I track an entire year at a time so I never forget that there is an expense coming up (like car renewals or other things that happens once a year.) I have the record from the year before. And I can tell you at a glance where 98% of my money went in the past seven years.
I write two checks a month, make payments using my debit card for 8 other payments (utilities, credit cards, etc.) but the rest of the month I pay cash from my weekly budget allowance for everything else and stash the receipts (in a big red envelope in my purse). I don't use my debit card enough for these type of programs to work. It is harder to let cash go out of my hands than using a debit card would be. I only get paid once a month so I need to use strict budgeting principles to make it to the end of the month with my money.
And tracking it on excel (for me) means I track an entire year at a time so I never forget that there is an expense coming up (like car renewals or other things that happens once a year.) I have the record from the year before. And I can tell you at a glance where 98% of my money went in the past seven years.
Written by Amanda (DailyWorth Founder), July 26, 2010
Hey Brenda - 100%. I find that tweaking my budget targets in Mint is a *constantly evolving process.* It means you'd start on the "transactions tab" and not make use of the "budget tab" until after you spend a few weeks or months figuring out how you want to cut and carve. There's nothing fixed about Mint, which is why I love it. It can easily change as life changes.
Written by Amanda (DailyWorth Founder), July 26, 2010
@Kristina - if that works for you - AWESOME! This post is geared to the group of us (myself included) that lives too much in transaction overload to really make use of Excel.
Written by Mary B, July 26, 2010
would love to access what you have links to...how about postal code access for those of us North of the border :)
Written by Mara, July 26, 2010
@Mary - it works in Canada too... just stick in a US postal code (90210 worked for me :) ). My only rant about it is that the iPhone app isn't in the Canadian app store yet. Otherwise.. it's pretty good!
Written by Rachel, July 26, 2010
Has anyone done a detailed comparison of Mint and Thrive (justthrive.com)? I've been using Thrive since it first started in beta (October 2008)and am very happy with it, but I keep hearing rave reviews for Mint. Although the two sites seem really similar (and I'm happy with the one I'm using), I would love to know if anyone has done a thorough analysis of the pros and cons or different features offered by each.
Written by GC, July 26, 2010
We tried Mint, but greatly prefer FinanceWorks at our credit union (Associated Credit Union). It was created by Quicken and is very powerful. Check it out.
Written by k, July 26, 2010
I use excel for my budgeting with each year on its own tab so I can forecast my known expenses months out (all the way through 2012 right now). I don't really feel like I use categories in my budget. Do you have to when you use Mint?
Written by Elizabeth Eriksen, July 26, 2010
I love Mint.com. Even if everything isn't perfect, it really helps to make you aware of your spending, when you go over your budget and if you take the time in the beginning to make some changes you can set it up to move transactions to a set category of your choice whenever they come through. I love this software! Sure there is some room for improvement but I do love being able to see a general ball park range of my financial picture.
Written by Michiko N, July 26, 2010
I love Mint! It's helped me stick to a budget and have a realistic picture of my finances. I've recommended it to friends.
Written by Rosalind dale, July 26, 2010
I love Mint.com is it the greatest thing since buy one get on free!!!
Written by Sarah, July 26, 2010
I use Microsoft Money and have it projected for about 6 months. It does all the graphs and stuff too, and I can sync it with my bank accounts. I have used it for years and love it.
Written by Jennifer, July 26, 2010
Mint is solid gold! I use a lot of cash as well - but I track that too via my withdrawals. I make one big withdrawal, than use the 'edit' button (underneath the transaction when you hover over it/click on it) Then I use the split command to divid up my cash withdrawal into the necessary amounts for groceries etc...
Written by Brittany, July 26, 2010
How secure is this website with my personal information? It seems too good to be true to leave a website in control of my personal banking info!
Written by Steph, July 27, 2010
I never got into Mint. Like some other folks who've commented, I just use Excel. I designed an awesome workbook (if I do say so myself!) where I track my income and my husband's income, and all of our expenses and savings by category. There's a tab for each month, and a year-end tab with formulas that give year-to-date totals for each category. In each tab, I also have a column that automatically carries over the checking account balance from the end of the previous month, then totals our income, expenses, and savings. It makes it really easy to see if we're spending too much in a particular category and whether we're meeting our savings goals each month.
It doesn't take a whole lot of extra effort, because I just plug in each transaction to the spreadsheet each time I balance my checkbook (which is usually every day or every other day - I'm a bit obsessive about it!), then the formulas do the rest of the work for me.
I've actually sent a shell of the workbook to some friends, and it's worked really well for them too. :-)
It doesn't take a whole lot of extra effort, because I just plug in each transaction to the spreadsheet each time I balance my checkbook (which is usually every day or every other day - I'm a bit obsessive about it!), then the formulas do the rest of the work for me.
I've actually sent a shell of the workbook to some friends, and it's worked really well for them too. :-)
Written by Kat Bretcher, July 27, 2010
Well, I looked into Mint and it just won't work for me. I'm one of those people who get excited about playing with tech stuff for budgeting, but fall off the wagon.
I use a spreadsheet as well, however I only use it to print out blanks. I find sitting down with my DH and physically writing out our budget makes us that much more likely to stick to it, since we're both aware of where we want our money to go.
I use a spreadsheet as well, however I only use it to print out blanks. I find sitting down with my DH and physically writing out our budget makes us that much more likely to stick to it, since we're both aware of where we want our money to go.
Written by Fi, July 27, 2010
I LOVE LOVE LOVE this application. I recommend it to everyone - my sister, my colleagues, my friends. While it's still important to keep a ledger at home if you want to keep permanent records, Mint is good for organizing at least 6 months of information at a time, and it's nearly effortless. It categorizes well, and I know more about my finances now than I did before. Also, it relieves the anxiety about when things clear (because every now and then, you want to know). You find out immediately. Great free app (and I use it on my iPhone now, too). I also set reminders for when oddly timed bills are due and if a checking balance falls below a certain amount. Fab (and nice to look at, too).
Written by Janet, July 27, 2010
Love Mint! I use it all the time, the interface is very user friendly and it's very easy to organize your transactions into categories that makes since to you. Really like the new feature they added for goals and I have used the "ways to save" section when changing an account for a better long term deal.
Written by Petunia, July 28, 2010
Steph, I would love to see your spreadsheet. Are you willing to share it? (Minus your personal numbers, of course).
Written by Steph, July 28, 2010
Petunia - Sure! If you give me your email address, I can send it to you as an attachment. If you don't want to post your email here, swing by my blog, my email address is in my profile. :-)
Written by Mel, July 29, 2010
Is there a program like Mint that works in countries outside the US? I live in Australia, and a lot of the US-centric financial prorams just dont hook into our banks and other financial institutions ...
Written by Stephanie, August 24, 2010
I absolutely LOVE Mint but to be honest, I have not done any comparison shopping. I simply landed here, found what I needed and never left. My top JOYS from using MINT.
1. Alerts - I think they only come via email now. Texts may not be an option. But you can decide what triggers an email.
2. Emailed weekly summary of my spending - Each week, Mint sends you a purty email showing you how you're doing money wise. This is great.
3. Transacation round-up - For some reason, I have managed to open an inane # of banking accounts. Mint allows me to reign them all in at one place. You can define rules to automatically assign certain ones to certain categories.
4. Trend Analysis - Mint creates handy-dandy charts & graphs detailing my spending by category and over time with drill-down features. Same for Net Worth. LOVES it!
Pains:
Goals - they recently added the goal feature...i'm stil sorting that out. For instance, I am not sure that I can or have correctly tied my emergency saving goal to my emergency saving account.
Budget - I haven't quite sorted out how to manipulate my budget estimates, rolling budgets, and over budget spending. I wish it could provide a budgeting guideline: common categories and common percentages. It'd be easier to manipulate that way.
But I LOVE it all the same.
1. Alerts - I think they only come via email now. Texts may not be an option. But you can decide what triggers an email.
2. Emailed weekly summary of my spending - Each week, Mint sends you a purty email showing you how you're doing money wise. This is great.
3. Transacation round-up - For some reason, I have managed to open an inane # of banking accounts. Mint allows me to reign them all in at one place. You can define rules to automatically assign certain ones to certain categories.
4. Trend Analysis - Mint creates handy-dandy charts & graphs detailing my spending by category and over time with drill-down features. Same for Net Worth. LOVES it!
Pains:
Goals - they recently added the goal feature...i'm stil sorting that out. For instance, I am not sure that I can or have correctly tied my emergency saving goal to my emergency saving account.
Budget - I haven't quite sorted out how to manipulate my budget estimates, rolling budgets, and over budget spending. I wish it could provide a budgeting guideline: common categories and common percentages. It'd be easier to manipulate that way.
But I LOVE it all the same.
