Mint.com Personal Finance

Oh wow, I can't believe that I've never written about this App.  I've been using Mint since 2007.  Although the Android App was not initially available (Android was released in Oct 2008), when it came it was great. Mint is the best way to manage all your accounts in one, simply, easily, and for free.

Whether the concept of Mint.com was to make a refreshing impression on money management, or to say that you could feel like you were minting new money, the idea is as simple as the name.  Connect all your accounts, banks, investment firms, credit cards, loans, mortgages and Mint will track it all in one column.

From what I've read, Mint was started by a frustrated user of Intuit's Quicken product, Aaron Patzer.  He formed Mint.com and did what Quicken had not been able to accomplish with paid software.  It was barely two years before Intuit came calling to buy Mint.com after its success was proven.  Sometimes it just takes some serious action to prove a point, thankfully he did.

I have spoken about Mint.com to many people, but I've found that not everyone is confident in giving up all their banking information to a single company.  This I can understand and will assure you dear reader that Mint.com understands this.  It would be the death knell to Mint if any of your information were to escape.  To reassure your confidence in their ability to maintain your information, Mint uses 128-bit SSL encryption which is validation by VeriSign and TRUSTe.  This level of security is the very same that is used by your bank.  Additionally Mint is a "read-only" service, no money can or will be moved by Mint.com at any time.

If you've yet to use Mint.com, then I hope that this review of the app leads you to appreciate the idea.  Where quicken offered the ability for users to maintain their own finances, Mint practically does it all for you.  Sure, it would be advisable to manage you budget and enter all your finances manually, but in the ages of computer conveniences, why would you?

Mint wants the App interface to be as simple as the website interface, so when you connect for the first time through your mobile device, they will request some basic settings for security. You'll be asked to setup a PIN for access if you use the widget on Android, but not if you just use the icon.

In the main screen of the app you will find that the interface is quite simple.  There are six major sections of the main screen: Accounts, Budgets, Cash Flow, Alerts, Advice, and Investments.

Your account list will include every account that you have connected to Mint.  As soon as you access this page, if you have an internet connection, the app will attempt to update all your accounts. You will be able to drill down into each account through this interface to find each account and see the transactions of each.

Any Budgets that you have created will appear here and the extent to which you have used them will appear as a yellow bar.  Below Budgets is the Cash Flow.  Although the image shows that they user has spent far more than the income received this is only representative of the current month.  I've found that because my mortgage is due at the beginning of the month and I do not always receive a paycheck immediately, that this number is usually more in the red for a bit.

Within the cash flow listing there are two columns that can be further investigated.  All expenditures and Income can be sorted either by Category or by Merchant.

Further down are the Alerts and Advice.  Alerts will have a number in yellow that indicates what activities have occurred recently that you may be interested in.  Examples of alerts could be large amount of money spent or received, that are greater than the usual numbers. You may have a bill coming up in a few days and Mint will give you notice of that.  Advice however is the core to how Mint makes money while offering these services at no cost to you.  If you happen to spend a lot on fuel for your vehicle(s), Mint will most likely have a credit card that has a discount.  Or if your credit is poor, Mint will offer ways to consolidate debts.

Lastly, Investments are kept separate from the accounts section.  Again you can drill down into this listing for the accounts associated with your investments.  I've noticed that depending on the type of investment that you have, you may or may not see the the dividends.

Finally, I would like to note that occasionally there may be issues with connections to certain banks and institutions.   At least one of my credit unions and on of my credit cards has regular issues with connectivity.  Fortunately, it is not a problem with Mint, as it is often just a lag in update time with that particular financial institution.  I highly recommend Mint and the app for both Android and iOS.  It's made keeping track of my finances a snap.

Check out Mint on Android and iOS.