Or…maybe I am a nerd, because I love to budget. And I’m okay with that.
(But really. Budgeting is cool. I promise.)
Ask anyone who knows me well. I love to open up my various accounts, track my spending and savings, and keep tabs of it all in an Excel spreadsheet.
I first learned to track money when I did AmeriCorps right after college.
Since I was only earning $10,000 for the year, it was key to keep under budget for my needs. As for anything extra I wanted? Well, that’s what my babysitting, holiday job, and tutoring money was used for.
Over the years my income has changed, of course, and I certainly don’t want to preach to anyone to spend less to save money. (Cause while that works for me, it definitely doesn’t work for everyone. Most people, when making more money, want to spend more money. It’s natural.)
(source)
But something I do like to do, and thought I’d share here, is share my favorite iPhone apps. Right now, my favorite is Mint.com.
I had heard about Mint on lots of forums and blogs, but was always kind of skeptical of the program:
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Is it safe?
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Does it really track my spending and savings?
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How will I remember to use it?
For years I have been using a spreadsheet to keep track of my checking account, but opening the spreadsheet to track every item I spend is pretty laborious. And boring.
So, why not have it automated, and at my fingertips?
I’m quite happy with the results so far, after using it since December 1, 2011. And those skeptical questions I had have pretty much been answered.
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Is it safe?
Yes. It’s been recommended by The New York Times, Money Magazine, and ABC News, and as trusted sources, I knew it would be fine. Plus, it’s an https, meaning that it’s a secure site.
I entered my accounts into Mint, (and if for some horrible reason your phone gets stolen and has the Mint.com app open, immediately contact Mint online to close your account). Plus, it’s not like people can get access to your passwords and money, they’d just see how much you have. Or don’t have.
Once everything is entered, you can see your cash flow, how much money you have in your accounts, and how much you owe on your credit cards, if you have any.
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Does it really track my spending and savings?
Yup! Every time you open the app or website, it syncs with your banks and credit card accounts, and I like to check on it a few times a week to make sure everything is in line. (Who am I kidding? I check it a few times a day! I’m a little obsessed.) To me, that still means holding onto credit and debit card receipts to double check that all of my credit card transactions and deposits get included.
I also check the app or the website to make sure none of my purchases are duplicated (it’s happened a few times – you just mark them as ‘duplicates’).
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How will I remember to use it?
As with lots of things, it’s all about making Mint a habit. I used to track cash purchases on bits of paper to later write them up in my spreadsheet. Now I just record as I go, and I don’t have to remember to enter anything later. So easy.
And that’s it. The trick is actually using it, and being consistent.
There are lot of other features with Mint, too. If you want to create a budget on Mint, you can. If you want to create a savings goal, you can do that too. It even sends you reminder alerts when your credit card bills are nearly due.
I love Mint.com. And mint tea. Ha.
If you have any questions about using Mint, please let me know in the comments, and if you’d like to see more in-depth posts about using this program, I can put some together.
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{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
Budgeting is WAY cool!
Oh, yeah. Budgeters unite!
That sounds pretty cool! I’ll have to check it out! Like you, I have several accounts open for various things. I used another app once and it was horrible! I couldn’t synch it between iphones (mine and honey bunnys). For now, I’m using my excel spreadsheet, too!
Oh, that’s too bad about that other app. I loved using my spreadsheet too, but I love how much time I save with Mint. It’s great to find something automated (that works!).
I may have to check it out. I’m a big saver, so tracking and making sure my savings are working for me is pretty important.
Oh, yeah. If you love to save, it’s fun to watch the graphs and things to actually see your savings grow. I find it has more of an impact on me than a spreadsheet. Let me know what you think if you use it!
I absolutely LOVE budgeting too. My husband and I sat down on January 1 to lay out our new budget for this year and we are kind of obsessed with it now.
I actually had an epiphany this am about budgeting related to how I feel about food. Last year, through the Abs Diet I learned to focus on what foods I can eat as opposed to what foods to avoid. This was a very powerful concept for me and I can say that it truly changed the way I think about food. Budgeting is the same way: it’s not about what you can’t spend or deprivation, it’s about what you CAN spend. If you think about it dieting and budgeting this way, YOU are in control of what you eat and what you spend, not tempting treats or money. And that is so freeing.
I’ve used Mint.com for a while now and it works surprisingly well. I would use it more often if I was more active and had a smartphone or ipad, or if I had need to access my data from any computer. I primarily use Microsoft Money, the last version they sold some years ago. Even though I can no longer get the automatic data downloads from my bank and creditors, I can still do manual downloads. I would have switched to Quicken when Microsoft stopped supporting Microsoft Money but my credit union does not support Quicken downloads (Quicken charges banks a fee to use their download software; Microsoft doesn’t).
Anyway, Mint.com is able to get data from just about all credit unions, banks, creditors, etc. And if they don’t, you can ask that they add your financial institution. I had to do that with my credit union when I first started to use Mint.com. It wasn’t long before my credit union was in their list. Unlike Microsoft Money and Quicken, Mint.com’s service is offered online so your account data can be accessed by any computer, smartphone or ipad type devices that have the app installed. Too, Mint.com is absolutely FREE to use. So, this makes Mint.com an excellent place to keep track of your money,… or lack thereof. I would certainly recommend it for those who do not already use software such as MS Money or Quicken.
You and I were cut from the same cloth (but I’ve already realized that
Ryan and I are trying to be more conscious of our budget this new year. Thank you for sharing about Mint. I wish I had an iphone!
How secure is Mint when a mistyped email gives a stranger access to your bank transaction history?
I raised this issue with them on October 3rd 2011 and 3 months later they have done nothing
http://satisfaction.mint.com/mint/topics/security_hole-bq00a
Oh no. I’m not sure. I would think that it’s pretty secure, since it’s been reviewed so well in various magazines and newspapers and things.
Have you tried writing to them again? I find that someone responds to their Twitter account fairly quickly too, so if you have Twitter, maybe go with that route. Good luck! (And I’d like to hear the results of this…how frustrating.)
And I’m the stranger.
I wanted to try once more to get the word out – especially since Mint didn’t even comprehend what I was talking about
It should be a lot harder to set up an account with the wrong email address
I will soon just deactivate the account, but it is a serious problem that I can view the balance and other details of this person which could be enough to pass the banks ID check
It is also an invasion of their privacy for me to be able to see their salary, bills, debt etc
Oh, I see. So you can see someone else’s account? Got it. Hmm…yeah, it should be hard to do that, and I would say that you should deactivate the account. But yeah, it’s definitely a problem if that is able to happen. So strange.
I’m hoping to get more posts on Mint up here on the blog – and maybe we can do a Q&A session, including this topic. Mint noticed this post, so maybe by spreading the word, they’ll notice our concerns. Thanks so much for your comments.
Last night I emailed one of the charities that she pays money to
They know her by name and will make her aware of the issue (you see I have her name and bank details, but not her contact details)
Once I have her email address I will change it on her account so it is private
I deliberately kept the username from Mint so that they couldn’t just sweep it under the rug and other users might know about it (including the person whose account it is