Since it’s the beginning of the year its that time again to start getting taxes ready and organize my financial information. I used to be a big fan of Quicken and Money but both programs have limitations and require a lot of work in my opinion. I usually would have to spend 1 to 3 hours a month to add all of the account information and figure out my financial situation. In addition, I prefer not to pay $30 to $60 for software that I didn’t think really helped me much. So, I did some research a couple weeks ago and I discovered Mint.com.
What is Mint.com?
Mint.com is a personal online financial tracking system for free! That’s right free! You create a secure account online and add your login and passwords for your individual accounts – checking, savings, investments etc. This is similar to what Quicken and Money offer, however, Mint.com automatically categories the transactions. Then it takes that information and tells you how you are doing financially with simple to understand pie charts, and bar charts. You get a quick picture of your financial health.
Does Mint.com help you budget?
Yes! This makes me very excited. The problem with Quicken and Money is neither software programs could help you “budget” because it was after the fact rather than before the fact. Mint.com does it differently. It immediately will check your accounts and tell you via alerts or when you login, if you go over your budget. You can change your budget very easily too.
Does Mint.com notify you have changes to your accounts?
Yes! This is the best part in my opinion, because you can setup alerts that can be emailed to you.
How does Mint.com make money?
They have a section on their site that offers you suggestions to save more money by applying for a different checking account or credit card for example. If you decide to take an offer then they will get referral fee from the company.
How secure is Mint.com?
Mint.com is very secure. More details about the security is on their site. I recommend you always use a strong password – at least 8 characters that include numbers and symbols.
Let me know how you budget and what your opinion is of personal software programs. Do you have a favorite? Would love to hear your opinions.
