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When it comes to saving money, a lot of schemes are more trouble than they're worth.
2011-03-15
Mint, however, is a low-hassle way to keep an eye on your bank accounts and budgets, with no fees or real ads of any kind.
We love Mint's personable and clean interface, as well as the way it gets just as involved as you want it to.
You can monitor what you spend money on, set alerts for big purchases, and create goals such as paying off a loan or credit card.
Mint's strength is in helping you create and maintain budgets, as well as helping you see exactly where you're spending the most money.
Sign up at Mint.com
Mint
Enter in your email address and other critical information for your account
Mint
Search for your bank in the box provided
Mint
Enter your bank credentials and watch as Mint pulls in all of your accounts
Mint
Click an account to help keep track of details like APR, annual fee, and rewards points
Mint
Click tabs on the top bar or left panel to create a well-rounded image of your assets. If you don't have something (like an investment account), just click "I don't have one" to move on.
Mint
Click the "Email & Alerts" tab up top to customize notifications about bill reminders, low balances, and more. You can even set up SMS notifications.
Mint
Once you're done editing your profile, click "Close" at the bottom of the window. Here is your Overview screen, your home for transactions, budgets, accounts, and alerts.
Mint
Check the bottom of the screen for "Ways to Save." We found several of the offers (from Mint's partners) to be pretty appealing. After all, they are based on your spending habits.
Mint
Click "Credit Cards" or another category to view money-saving opportunities. Update your profile and accounts frequently to keep these offers relevant, and use the slider and drop-downs to customize these results. For example, if you spend a lot on restaurants, Mint will show cards that give you cash back for eating out.
Mint
Click the "Transactions" tab up top to get a bird's eye view at where you've been spending money. Type in various tags such as "food" or "Amazon" to see how much you've spent in these categories
Mint
Click the "Goals" tab up top to start planning for college, buying a car, or saving for a trip. Mint offers a huge variety of options to help cater to your financial goals
Mint
Click "Trends" up top to check out your spending by category. All of the charts are beautiful and interactive, and there are several ways to change each statistical view. Click the big orange pie piece ("Uncategorized") to tag individual transactions with something like "Entertainment" or "Groceries"
Mint
Click the "Budgets" tab up top to create budgets for everything from gas to clothing to keep you on track. Click and drag the timeline to expand your parameters, or hover your mouse over a budget and click "Edit" to modify it.
Mint
So you've got your account set up---head to the App Store or Android Market to pick up the app.
Open the app, log in, and you'll be met with a home screen displaying an overview of your accounts, budgets, and cash flow
Tap "Cash Flow" to check out categories you've been spending the most in. Tap "Uncategorized" if you would like to categorize or tag any transactions for future reference.
Tap a transaction to view details and input notes and tags.
Now that you've learned how to organize your finances online using Mint...
