While I love using pen/paper to track expenses/bills, I love technology to kick my butt into great and show me what my finances really look like. Right now we have two bank joint accounts, credit card accounts, and student loans. It's easy to say that I have those accounts...but reality sets in when I can see the impact that all of those accounts have on my life and "financial wellness".
And that's where
Mint.com
comes in to play. I have been using Mint for the last 3 years or so, and I
love it. I don't balance a checkbook - I rely on Mint to do that for me. Now, you
do have to trust Mint to log in to your financial accounts to draw the transactions, debt amounts and credit amounts so you can see it all in your Mint account. (Maybe I trust the internet a but too much, but I haven't had any issues so far.) This works like a dream for me though. Having all of these accounts is a pain, to say the least. I use the Mint app on my Droid Razr and Kindle Fire to view what I'm currently dealing with in
all accounts. Perhaps I'm just lazy though, and that's why I trust the internet. Even so, I love Mint and have never had a problem.
Mint will also let me set goals and budgets in my online software account. It's awesome. And the "trends" tab makes me sick to my stomach every month when I look at it and see how much we spent on eating out last month...the nauseating effect has finally taken it's toll and made us realize that we
may just need to cut down on eating out. Without this feature, I'd be clueless. I can see when bills are due in my account. It's just amazing. If you don't believe me, just visit their website,
Mint.com, and read about "how it works". Best part: it's FREE!
Another online tool that I use is
Pageonce. It's kind of like Mint, but is more geared to linking all of your bill paying accounts together - like internet, TV, phone, etc. I have the app for
Pageonce on my phone and Kindle as well. I like that they'll automatically send me reminders when I get an invoice for a bill.
And finally, I use
Credit Sesame to view my credit score for free. I'm still fairly new to this online service, but it's a totally secure website, so I trust it. They link up with Experian (one of the three major credit reporting bureaus) to get your credit score for you.
So much better than paying $7.95 (or more) for my credit score!
I would really love to hear what online/digital/app finance related programs you use! Anything to simplify my finances is something I'm interest in.
Come back tomorrow to enter a giveaway and report your progress for the February Challenge!
We started using Mint this year and I love it!!! I decided that it was finally time to set up a budget and track our spending... Boy, was it depressing to see what we waste our money on! I have the Mint app on my iPhone and I look at it regularly to see where we stand and keep our spending in check. It is nice to track all of our financial info in one place. And, they send reminders for upcoming bills now. MINT.COM is the best!!!
ReplyDeleteI also use mint.com and the iPhone app. I love it too as it helps me track everything with optimal laziness! Maybe I'm naive cuz I tend to trust the Internet too, but it must be working (maybe a little Law of Attraction at work?).
ReplyDeleteYnab (you need a budget) is the best software ever. I love it and could not live without it. Yes, it costs a little money. BUT you save at least that much the first month.
ReplyDeleteWe just started using Mint a few months ago and I love it. Unfortunately (yet fortunately at the same time) I saw how often we were eating out, so we did have to set a budget. Now we have such a better idea of where our money is going.
ReplyDeleteWe just started using Mint a few months ago and I love it. Unfortunately (yet fortunately at the same time) I saw how often we were eating out, so we did have to set a budget. Now we have such a better idea of where our money is going.
ReplyDeleteI'm twelve and still an organizational freak. I love your blog! I'm glad you posted this because i beilive it will help me control my finances in the future so i can start out in the right direction.
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