Mint – Free Resource to Track Your Spending
by Brandon Eley ~ July 27th, 2008. Filed under: Resources.
Mint is a free online financial management application that lets you track your different financial accounts such as checking, savings, credit card, mortgage and investment accounts.
Mint allows you to see your current financial snapshot, your “net worth” at a glance. Mint automatically categorizes purchases, and remembers your changes. If you re-categorize a particular store, it will give you the option to also change past transactions and set a new default.
Mint is totally free – they make money by selling advertising. They have all your financial data, so they sell advertising to credit card companies, banks, and other complimentary services. They don’t reveal any of your personal financial information, but do match up certain offers with your finances. For instance, if you’re currently paying 10% interest on a credit card, Mint might suggest a 4.9% offer from another credit card company. Or if you’ve got a standard saving’s account at your bank, Mint may suggest a high-interest savings account such as ING.
I have been using Mint as more or less a reporting tool for several months. It keeps getting better and better at categorizing our expenses, and it’s really amazing to look at where we’re spending our money each month.
Mint is free, so give it a try and see what you think.