Tracking Your Personal Finances
I know that if I’m going to get out debt and stay out debt then I need to be mindful of my budget. Being the avid gadget junky that I am, I wanted an application to keep track of everything for me. Luckily, there are no shortage of applications out there that make this possible. But let’s face it, not all are created equally.
Spreadsheets are old school. There are far too many better alternatives out there to consider. Intuit makes a program that’s been around forever, but there’s nothing intuitive about Quickbooks interface. Despite being a Mac addict, there’s no denying the fact that Microsoft Money is a great application. I used to use it religiously when I was a PC user, but it only runs on Windows and as we’ve already established: I’m a Mac Addict.
Minty, Fresh Finances
In September 2007, Mint.com a FREE online money management application broke onto the scenes. The creator, Aaron Patze, developed the site to create a more effortless way to manage money after finding the marketplace’s current offerings to be a tad stale. Just 18 months after Mint’s initial release, over 1 million people have signed up making it the fastest-growing personal finance software ever. Aaron hit the mark.
The Internet? My Finances? That’s Scary.
The Internet is a scary place, and a fool and their money are frequently parted by one scam or another when it comes to the online world. It’s fair for people to be a little timid about seeing all of their assets in front of them online, but I’ve been an advocate of Mint for quite some time now and trust their security. Here’s why:
- Mint uses bank-level security encryption,
- You’re anonymous,
- You can’t transfer money; just view it, and
- Mint.com quickly alerts you of suspicious activity on your account(s).
- The list goes on and on. You can read more about it here.
Proud Member Since 2007
I’ve been a minty member almost since the beginning and have loved it since. Who wants to spend several hours a week inputting and categorizing their purchases and income. BAH! That’s for the birds. Mint makes short work of all of this. I pay for everything with my debit card and it all gets categorized intelligently. At the beginning of every month I setup my budget and at the end I make sure I’m in check: painless.
Wait! It gets better: Mint also evaluates your financial habits and recommends ways for you to save. The icing on the cake is that they’re constantly evolving. In 2008, the site went under the knife and came out looking great and working even better. That same year they also unveiled their FREE iPhone app.
2009 looks to be chalk full of minty-goodness as well. The company just launched a beta of their first advice feature, called Financial Fitness. It uses money-saving principles to help it’s user-base make wiser financial decisions. I can’t wait to try it out. Hello…can you hear me Mint? ;)
How Do You Track Your Budget?
So there you have it. Give Mint.com a try. It’s the answer my budgeting woes, and if you’re looking for a solution there’s more than one reason why this might just be yours too. Did I mention that it’s FREE? If it isn’t a good fit for you, I’d love to hear why? Also, what are you using and how?
