Creating a budget is something that many people don’t naturally know how to do even if there are a number of good reasons to budget. The tools available at Mint.com can help you budget for holidays, save for a car, reduce overall debt, or budget for a big purchase. Whatever your budgeting needs, Mint.com can help you.
One of the best things about Mint.com is the interface. It is very user friendly. Users can easily find the information they need because of the excellent web design. The graphics are aesthetically pleasing as well as professional. Spending and budgeting can be viewed in graph format to make it easy to see spending and saving patterns at a glance. This is important because many pieces of financial software can be intimidating, Mint.com is friendly.
Users sign up anonymously for Mint.com and then provide their usernames and passwords for their bank, credit union, and/or credit card accounts. While at first this may seem like a bad idea because of security issues, they do not store individual names and account numbers only information pertaining to income and expenses. Additionally, they have received high recommendations from top financial publications and their security systems are top notch. Further, there is no way to transfer funds with Mint.com increasing the level of safety.
Once an account has been created all you have to do is decide what you want to save money for and the website does the rest. There is no reason to enter every transaction individually from each account, the software does it all for you. After the software has determined what you are spending in individual areas and what income you are generating, you will be able to set attainable goals.
One of the biggest problems for budget novices is that they set goals that are not possible and then become discouraged with their lack of progress. Additionally, once your budget and account information is in place Mint.com automatically looks for ways to save or make money for you. Individualized recommendations on credit cards with lower interest rate and checking or savings accounts with higher interest rates are offered based on your needs.
Just because Mint.com is free, don’t think it can’t help you learn to efficiently budget your money. It is in league with most of the high priced budgeting software that is available and it is just as effective. Mint.com is one tool in my budgeting toolbox, it is one you should consider as well.
Money! Photo Credit: Tracy O. from Flickr, Creative Commons License