You may not know this about me but I am also a certified credit and budget counselor with a non-profit agency. I teach people how to better manage their money, budget and save to reach their goals. I wanted to tell you about a site that I use and recommend.
There is no other way to say it…I love Mint.com. I’ve seen people who have never been able to stick to a budget completely change when using this site. It makes budgeting fun and it really helps you see just where your money is going. When you see it in black in white it can really motivate you to make some changes! It’s FREE to use and most importantly it’s EASY. That’s why it works! Just click on “Get Started here” to check it out. After you’ve used it a while, come back and let us know how it’s going! 🙂
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Christie- I have a mint account and have used it some- still figuring it out. Our paycheck month runs the 15th to the 15th getting paid once. Having to budget on mint for a calendar month is hard. Is there a way to customize that?
Stacy- I would try looking under the planning tab. My guess is that if you can do it, it would be there. You could try contacting customer support, they should be able to help you with that. It’s like you have to think of your months as starting on the 15th instead of the 1st and I can see how that would be challenging!
I signed up for an account awhile ago but then as I learned more about it they want you to link your bank accounts to it at least from what I understand and I just wasn’t sure if that is safe. Any thoughts? Thanks.
Kd – I totally understand your concerns. It is my understanding that they are a very secure site and that they use sophisticated encryption software just like a bank does. They have been around for years and millions of people use their service. However, if you don’t feel comfortable with that you could just tell them you don’t have any bank accounts or credit cards and use the budgeting software manually. So, you just go around that part basically. 🙂
Thanks Christie for the information I will give it a try manually and see how that goes.