Today I want to share my 5 favorite finance / bill management websites. Last month I shared my finances binder. I used it all through July and love it. But I do still use a few online resources to help me manage by finances and bills. They keep me reminded at times like these when my mind is fried by 3 p.m. {On a side note - I seriously used to have the best memory. I don't know what's happened. I don't want to say "aging". I'm only 25, after all. But I think it's the hypothyroidism. I noticed the memory-decline around the time I was diagnosed. I don't even know if that's possible - but I have major "brain farts" all of the time.}
Perhaps you've heard of Mint? I have been using it for quite a few years now and absolutely love it. Here's my financial confession: we don't balance a checkbook. *gasp* I keep receipts, but I'm far too lazy to take the time to add/subtract from a check register. Everything is online, after all. I monitor our bank accounts closely, so I don't see the big deal. Mint helps me with this by nicely managing all of my bank, credit card, and student loan accounts in one place. I can see transactions and balances. I can categorize so I can see our spending "trends" each month. {A little to heavy on the dining out "trend" last month. Oops!} Besides all of the cool stuff I've already mentioned, Mint has a smartphone app. I absolutely LOVE this. I can easily log in to the app and see our current cash balance {as well as that lovely negative debt balance - which actually has, at times, caused me to rethink purchases}. Our bank accounts would be a mess if it weren't for Mint - seriously.
#2 {Capital One 360}
Hear me out. I'm not trying to "sell you" on a bank - I just really love Capital One 360 {formerly ING Direct}. We've had an account with them for 3 years now. We also have an account with a local bank, but I love CO360 more. The whole reason for opening this account was so we could save money. Save in a place with a decent interest rate. Save in a place that's "out of sight, out of mind" - CO360 is an online bank. They have a super cool smartphone app as well. The app lets me take pictures of checks to deposit them. They currently have a promo where you get $20 for signing up. It was seriously one of the best decisions we've made to open an account with CO360. I have 3 savings accounts and one checking - all with zero fees. Why have 2 accounts? We use our local bank for spending cash {Chris' paycheck is automatically deposited in this account} and the CO360 account for savings and bill pay {my paycheck is automatically deposited in this account}.
Manilla and Pageonce are bill management made easy. I linked up all of my bill accounts - credit cards, utilities, insurance, rewards accounts, and even magazine subscriptions. I like that I can log in and view all of my accounts in one place. I seriously can't choose between the two. I like them both equally, even though they pretty much do the same thing. Both have smartphone apps that are great. I really love that both sites will send me bill reminders automatically {right now I only have the Pageonce alerts turned on}. If I haven't paid the bill at the time of the email, I'll star it in my Gmail account so I get to it ASAP. Since I check my email all of the time, I see that reminder constantly.
Credit Sesame is the ultimate tool for viewing all of my debts and my credit score in one place - for free! They analyze my creditworthiness and current debt, and then give me advice on ways to lower payments and save money when looking for a new loan or credit card. I mostly use this website for keeping up with my credit score. I want to make sure I'm keeping things in excellent standing so that when we're finally ready to buy a house, we can get the best rate possible.
I hope you enjoyed reading about my favorite finance & bill management websites. I'd love to hear what your favorite financial websites are as well!
CreditKarma.com is another good (and free) credit management website, and it now has an iPhone app, as well. It does all the things you mention that Credit Sesame does, and also gives you your insurance score as well. I also like that I get notifications when something changes...hard credit inquiries drop off, new accounts opened, change of address reported, etc. I've read reviews that indicate it tends to report your score a little on the low side -- nothing drastic. It's probably a good thing, in the end. Like setting the clock a little fast so you aren't late for all your appointments... ;-)
ReplyDeleteI'll have to check that out. It sounds like a great resource. Thanks for sharing!
DeleteAwesome, thanks for the links!
ReplyDeleteMy new husband and I just signed up for ING accounts 2 weeks ago and are in the middle of merging all our finances and laying out a "plan of attack" for debt pay-off, etc. So far, we both love ING and can't wait to finalize the process so that is the majority of our banking. (We're keeping an account at my credit union, which his "spending account" attached to that one.)
I've been nervous to try Mint, but I'll have to look into all of these. I especially love having matching apps, so that everything is accessible from my phone instead of having to pull up all my spreadsheets on my flash drive. =)
I'm a new blog reader and this is my first comment, but I love the blog! Great post.
I understand the nerves of trying financial websites when you have to link your bank accounts. Perhaps I have too much trust in the internet at times, but I haven't had any issues so far. I only use financial websites I've looked into and that have well-known awards or "recommended by ___" {well-known companies}. I've been using Mint for a long time and have never had issues. I also feel like I'm financially lazy, so something like Mint is worth signing up for because it does all of the work for me. It definitely is a personal choice though, so you need to do what you feel safe doing!
DeleteDo you like ING's bill pay? We have some accounts with ING but our main bank is Wells Fargo. I hate hate hate their bill pay. I had never thought about seperating our checking into two- spending money vs bills/savings/etc. I am really going to look into this option for us. I'd love to know how you feel about their bill pay service.
ReplyDeleteOur local bank is Wells Fargo as well. I feel that ING's bill pay has dramatically improved over the last few months, and now I prefer ING to WF completely. {I previously used WF's bill pay just for our electric bill because I didn't like ING's setup for it.} I want to get rid of the WF account completely, but my husband doesn't want to. He wants to have a local, physical bank as well - which I suppose is understandable. I haven't had any issues with ING in the 3 years we've been together in financial-bliss. =]
DeleteMy favorite budgeting software is YNAB (You Need a Budget). http://ynab.refr.cc/898TWRL is my referral link!
ReplyDeleteWe have used ING for years and have LOVED it!
ReplyDeletethank you so much for this post, you dont understand how much this has helped me!!
ReplyDeleteI've gone back and read your entire blog and I have to say I am such a fan! My husband and I have been married for almost 3 years (this October) and are wanting to start a family, but have had a lot of upheaval in our marriage (serious job issues, the loss of my mom, and a miscarriage) and I feel like our lives are so disorganized. I just wanted to say that your blog has been a real motivator to me to get my life in order before we think about babies.
ReplyDeleteI started a Home Management binder and a Finance binder, but both need some major overhauling, and I love your latest Finance printables. I will be working on both this month and also checking out these sites you've mentioned.
Thank you for keeping up such an awesome blog. You've made me want to start one!
Hi Tiffany!
ReplyDeleteThis is perfect! I need to check some of these sites out ASAP! I've been a bit curious about sites like Mint and I think it's time we had a better idea of how we are spending our money each month.
I want you to know that I've nominated you as a recipient of the Sisterhood of the World Bloggers Award. I've been able to use so many of your organizing tips and think your blog is great!
Here is my post so you can see how to share the love! http://simplysweetsunday.blogspot.com/2012/08/blog-love.html
xo,
Katherine
Thanks for the suggestion! My husband and I bank with PNC and their Virtual Wallet is very similar to Mint.Com. It's great!
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