Budgeting with Mint.com
To get into financial shape, I began looking into some solutions to organize my finances. My goals were to pay off my credit card debt, put *something* into my savings account, and just know where my money went, instead of being surprised all the time.
For a while I tried the super basics of creating a spreadsheet for budgeting all my transactions and categorizing them each week. It did work, but only if I manually entered each individual transaction... the system only lasted a month or so. Also not being able to connect to my online bank and credit card accounts was kind of a downer.
Then for a while I used a cash-only method that I'd read about online-- this hearkens back to when you're a teen and your parents gave you an allowance. I gave myself an "allowance" every week in cash, and limited myself to what was in my wallet. This actually worked really well: the cash only plan gave me some semblance of control over my money, although it would fall through a bit when I would whip out my credit card when I ran out and needed/wanted to buy stuff. But it was better than before! (I still use this method)
Turns out it's pretty good-- Mint will let you add as many online accounts as you have, create budgets, even goals to save money, and has reminders to pay bills on time. There is a premium version, but the average Joe should be quite content with the free version, and the ads aren't overly annoying.
Just for prosperity's sake, here's what I use:
Each month you can set a budget for your categories. I had to sort of estimate what I'd be spending, but after a few months I think I'm getting closer to a realistic budget for everything. I have had some un-budgeted expenses, primarily fees from my credit card for not having everything paid off; also I had to travel for a wedding. That put me over and I'm catching up in the luxury category, so in some ways I need to think ahead if I know there is something big coming up.
For a while I tried the super basics of creating a spreadsheet for budgeting all my transactions and categorizing them each week. It did work, but only if I manually entered each individual transaction... the system only lasted a month or so. Also not being able to connect to my online bank and credit card accounts was kind of a downer.
Then for a while I used a cash-only method that I'd read about online-- this hearkens back to when you're a teen and your parents gave you an allowance. I gave myself an "allowance" every week in cash, and limited myself to what was in my wallet. This actually worked really well: the cash only plan gave me some semblance of control over my money, although it would fall through a bit when I would whip out my credit card when I ran out and needed/wanted to buy stuff. But it was better than before! (I still use this method)
Enter Mint.com
What I wanted was a system that would help me budget, link to my existing accounts, and ideally be online. I heard about Mint from a co-worker, heard that it was free and run by Intuit, giving it some street cred, so I figured I'd give it a shot.Turns out it's pretty good-- Mint will let you add as many online accounts as you have, create budgets, even goals to save money, and has reminders to pay bills on time. There is a premium version, but the average Joe should be quite content with the free version, and the ads aren't overly annoying.
Categorizing My Mint
Mint comes with a gazillion categories and will helpfully auto-categorize transactions as they come in. After doing a bit of reading about how others used Mint, I decided to trash the categories and created my own small set of categories based on the little spreadsheets I'd been using before. No sense in getting bogged down by a system I'd signed up for to simplify my life, right?Just for prosperity's sake, here's what I use:
- rent/util
- food: groceries and eating out
- luxury: any spending not food
- travel/trips: airfare, taxis, subway/bus passes
- phone
- tithing
- giving
- savings
Budgeting and Goals in Mint
Each month you can set a budget for your categories. I had to sort of estimate what I'd be spending, but after a few months I think I'm getting closer to a realistic budget for everything. I have had some un-budgeted expenses, primarily fees from my credit card for not having everything paid off; also I had to travel for a wedding. That put me over and I'm catching up in the luxury category, so in some ways I need to think ahead if I know there is something big coming up.
General Tips for Using Mint
After using Mint.com for a few months, here is my shortlist of suggestions on how to get the best use out of it:- Be simple; use a small number of categories.
- Auto-categorize frequent transactions.
- Budget less than the amount of money you have available, to have a cushion.
- Don't link Paypal accounts: a bug in Mint (as of this writing) subtracts transactions twice and will mess up your totals. You will still see PP in your bank acct.
