mint (.) com advice

[mizv]

Hi,

I am thinking about using mint dot com. Anyone currently using it? Thoughts? Is it safe? Is it helpful?

I would appreciate any help with this!

Thanks!

 

[Tink-aholic]

I use it every day! I helps keep me on a budget. It also has alerted me more than once when I was overcharged (once by my bank and once by a hotel). I LOVE Mint!

 

[windycitymom]

Is there a charge to use mint.com or is it free?

 

[mom2d&b]

I use it every day. It is so helpful to "prove" to DH what our actual expenses were. It is free

 

[Sagginit]

i just signed up last week. i think its a good concept but i had a few issues with the way it categorizes things. like on my credit card statement it picked up a TRU outlet purchase as charity. i mean yeah i think of my stepbrothers kid as our family charity case these days but its not actually tax deductable. i think i need to learn to navigate it more. i also cant find out how to categorize cash expenses. some things i just dont like to use credit on (like a soda at lunch). i also though the bills part was a bit generic. again i could be wrong but i want to be able to break up cell phone, car insurance, rent. right now its all lumped in my budget.

 

[sophie832]

i just signed up last week. i think its a good concept but i had a few issues with the way it categorizes things. like on my credit card statement it picked up a TRU outlet purchase as charity. i mean yeah i think of my stepbrothers kid as our family charity case these days but its not actually tax deductable. i think i need to learn to navigate it more. i also cant find out how to categorize cash expenses. some things i just dont like to use credit on (like a soda at lunch). i also though the bills part was a bit generic. again i could be wrong but i want to be able to break up cell phone, car insurance, rent. right now its all lumped in my budget.

I've been using it for well over a year now, and I love it! Yes, it does categorize things incorrectly (probably half the time), but I go through once a week and re-categorize. Also, for cash transactions (or any transaction) you can edit the details and split it into whatever categories you want. I think it's a much better website for those who use debit or credit cards most of the time, though, since I have trouble keeping track of where my cash goes.

 

[mom2d&b]

As far as the catagories, I too go in every few days to tweak my spending.

Remember, you can add any categories you want. For example, under gifts/donations I added categories for Christmas for others, Christmas for my family, birthday's for others, birthdays for family. This is so I can easily track where my gift budget is being spent. Under income I added categories for my pay as well as DH pay. In food I broke up fast food and resturaunts since I am trying to get our dinnuing out expenses under control. I also added a category for my lunch expenses during the work week. Once I did this I quickly made the decision to bring my lunch as much as possible. There are many more categories I added but you get the idea as to how you can set it up to work for you.

 

[starwood]

DH loves it. It helped us catch that our Disney Visa was being used fraudulently (when a $1019 charge showed up for Best Buy in Maryland when we live in NJ).

 

[JB2K]

Hi,

I am thinking about using mint dot com. Anyone currently using it? Thoughts? Is it safe? Is it helpful?

I would appreciate any help with this!

Thanks!

It's an "account aggregator" -- these have been around for about 10 years (under different names).

Users like the ease of seeing everything on a single page, which can be helpful if you don't have a lot of time, or hate fumbling-through your passwords.

 

[kellia]

Sub! I've wondered (and worried) the same questions!

 

[tzolkin]

This thread inspired me to try it.

I signed up a year ago, but they only had my Disney Visa so I never wound up using it. I just went on today (what better use for a snow day ) and found that they have since added my banks so I was able to see all my accounts.

It looks like it will be a good tool to track spending/budgeting. I've used quicken and making my own excel spreadsheets to this point.


Not to totally hijack the thread, but I have a question for the mint users... Is there a way to create goals for your mortgage or car loan? When I go to the goal section and click on the "Get out of debt" icon, the only things that come up are credit cards. It seems like the rest of the goals are all for saving. I'd like to see the debt tools of how long it will take you to pay it off and how much interest you will save for my loans like the credit card section. Any way to do this? Am I just missing something?

 

[bonoriffic]

Mint is a reactionary tool. It is best for people who aren't really interested in managing their money, just being aware of when to pay bills and what you are spending your money on.

It lacks the ability to see your cash flow in the future. You can't add items in advance, like say paying a bill. You paid the bill today, but it won't clear for a week. You have to wait a week for that money to be deducted from your account, so you lack a real picture of your current financial situation. Going on vacation and want to add in your paycheck next week plus the 3 bills you have set to autopay during vacation? Can't do it.

It is best suited for those who aren't willing to add your items in as you do it or in advance, and would rather someone else reconcile your checkbook. Basically that is all it is. The website is nice and colorful and easy to use, but since they are owned by the people that make Quicken they won't add the "missing" features to a free offering.

 

[fac]

Mint is a reactionary tool. It is best for people who aren't really interested in managing their money, just being aware of when to pay bills and what you are spending your money on.

.

I have never used these tools before, but the concept sounds interesting, any suggestion on what a better alternative may be. I am not interested to use anything that is free to manage my accounts. LOL
Quicken ?? I haven't used it before ..hence not sure whether it allows me to manage all my accounts.

 

[bonoriffic]

I have never used these tools before, but the concept sounds interesting, any suggestion on what a better alternative may be. I am not interested to use anything that is free to manage my accounts. LOL
Quicken ?? I haven't used it before ..hence not sure whether it allows me to manage all my accounts.

Quicken is the standard. Ever since Microsoft Money was discontinued, sadly, this is the best option in the average consumer space. My wife is an accountant, actually a controller, and uses super expensive corporate accounting packages at work. She uses Quicken at home. It has a few quirks we hate, but is the best of the bunch out there. Yes Quicken will manage all your accounts, stocks, 401k, etc.

 

[Tink-aholic]

Mint is a reactionary tool. It is best for people who aren't really interested in managing their money, just being aware of when to pay bills and what you are spending your money on.

It lacks the ability to see your cash flow in the future. You can't add items in advance, like say paying a bill. You paid the bill today, but it won't clear for a week. You have to wait a week for that money to be deducted from your account, so you lack a real picture of your current financial situation. Going on vacation and want to add in your paycheck next week plus the 3 bills you have set to autopay during vacation? Can't do it.

It is best suited for those who aren't willing to add your items in as you do it or in advance, and would rather someone else reconcile your checkbook. Basically that is all it is. The website is nice and colorful and easy to use, but since they are owned by the people that make Quicken they won't add the "missing" features to a free offering.

This is a bit misleading. I use Mint in conjunction with another spreadsheet that I created (though there are dozens available for free download at llnoe ((livinglikenooneelse.com)). I am VERY interested in managing my money and I am on an eight-year plan to pay off my house as a single parent. I just don't want to pay someone else to use their software when I can do it myself for free.

 

[bridget]

Mint is a reactionary tool. It is best for people who aren't really interested in managing their money, just being aware of when to pay bills and what you are spending your money on.

It lacks the ability to see your cash flow in the future. You can't add items in advance, like say paying a bill. You paid the bill today, but it won't clear for a week. You have to wait a week for that money to be deducted from your account, so you lack a real picture of your current financial situation. Going on vacation and want to add in your paycheck next week plus the 3 bills you have set to autopay during vacation? Can't do it.

It is best suited for those who aren't willing to add your items in as you do it or in advance, and would rather someone else reconcile your checkbook. Basically that is all it is. The website is nice and colorful and easy to use, but since they are owned by the people that make Quicken they won't add the "missing" features to a free offering.

I pay almost nothing by check. Almost all my bills are tied to my credit card. Technically, I haven't paid any of the bills out of my checking account, but they show up in mint.com. I can track things very easily.

To address the issue of things that are in the future, I keep an excel spreadsheet with both income & expenses.

***New users
If you set up your budget, you can easily see how much money you are saving (or not) in a month. Make sure to include EVERYTHING!

My system works really well for me. It works great if both partners are on board. It also works best if all your checking/credit card accounts are available. If all your accounts are not available, I don't think it would be worth it.

 

[Sagginit]

i have a budget for bills, savings, and debt (student loans). im hoping this will help me track my other money. i guess my food, gas, etc when i plan my budget but i have never actually tracked my spending so im hoping it gives me a realistic picture.

 

[bridget]

This thread inspired me to try it.

I signed up a year ago, but they only had my Disney Visa so I never wound up using it. I just went on today (what better use for a snow day ) and found that they have since added my banks so I was able to see all my accounts.

It looks like it will be a good tool to track spending/budgeting. I've used quicken and making my own excel spreadsheets to this point.


Not to totally hijack the thread, but I have a question for the mint users... Is there a way to create goals for your mortgage or car loan? When I go to the goal section and click on the "Get out of debt" icon, the only things that come up are credit cards. It seems like the rest of the goals are all for saving. I'd like to see the debt tools of how long it will take you to pay it off and how much interest you will save for my loans like the credit card section. Any way to do this? Am I just missing something?

Have you tried this...
http://www.bankrate.com/calculators/mortgages/loan-calculator.aspx

It isn't related to mint.com, but it lets you add extra payments, etc.