Mint.com is a secure site that allows you to track all of your money market accounts, CD accounts, checking accounts, credit card accounts, and investment accounts in the same place for free.
No strings attached.
I've used Mint for years to track my spending because it automatically downloads all the transactions from my financial accounts and intelligently categorizes them.
When you sign up for Mint, you simply provide the login details for your accounts on a secure page.
Mint will then verify the details and start tracking your spending and your investments.
After analyzing your accounts and spending, Mint creates a personalized budget for you and provides recommendations on how you can find savings, reduce debt, and achieve your financial goals.
How does Mint make money if it's Free?
Mint makes what they claim to be "unbiased recommendations" – they use formulas to calculate which product, credit card, money market account, loan, or IRA will be best for your current financial situation.
Mint gets a commission on some of the products they recommend.
Mint has a host of features we'll review in the future.
For now, here is a list of benefits:
- It's free
- Safe and secure
- Get Email & Text Alerts (avoid overdrafts, late fees, & bounced checks)
- Free Personalized Budgeting
- Make & Achieve Financial Goals
- At-a-glance Financial Graphs
- Track spending (auto categorized)
- Find ways to save more
- Reduce debt
- Track Investments
- Mobile Phone Apps
- Add Your Mint Profile to your Yahoo Homepage
While Mint supports most financial institutions, there are some they still don't support (like Mountain America Credit Union's Business Accounts).
Also, sometimes you'll find that when your bank changes their login procedure, it will prevent Mint from logging in and you may need to contact Mint to fix it.
When it comes to simplifying your finances, Mint is king. There are others like Mint, but none come close.
