New to Mint.com? Here’s the Budget Software Info You Need to Know

When you arrive at the day you’re finally ready to take steps toward improving your financial situation, it’s a big deal, and the last thing you want to do is start using budget software that doesn’t fit your needs or your lifestyle. Mint is designed with maximum flexibility so that whatever your spending, saving, or investing style, you can make use of financial tools that will improve your financial situation.

Mint does the work of organizing and categorizing your spending, so you can see where every dime goes and make the best possible financial decisions. Signing up for Mint takes only seconds, and securely connects to your accounts, including bank accounts, credit cards, investment accounts, and retirement accounts. But rest assured that Mint only reads your information, and neither you nor anyone else can move money in Mint. Mint is designed to help you make better money decisions and to track them once they’re made. Here’s what you should know about Mint.

Easy Budgeting and Tracking of Spending

As soon as you’re signed up for Mint and link your accounts, Mint starts tracking your spending – a much easier technique than writing down everything by hand. Mint also categorizes your spending so you can see at a glance how much you’re spending on groceries, fast food, hotel stays, and any number of other categories. Mint tracks and categorizes spending because you’re more likely to stick to a budget designed especially for you. Not all spending categories work for all people, so Mint tailors your budget for you, keeping you on track with bill alerts, mobile reminders, and many other terrific features.

Next step: Sign up for Mint and learn how powerful and easy budget software can be.

Setting Goals and Tracking Progress Toward Them

Everyone’s goals are different. You may be saving toward replacing your old car while your sister or best friend is determined to eliminate credit card debt. Mint lets you set goals that matter to you and tracks your progress toward those goals. Whether you’re saving up a down payment on a home or putting away money for a fantastic vacation, Mint can keep you on track and maximize your potential for reaching your financial goals.

Personalized Recommendations on Saving Money

One of the great advantages of having Mint track your spending is that by doing so, Mint can make specific suggestions that can save you money. Mint analyzes thousands of savings, checking, brokerage, credit card, and investment offers, and can then recommend ones that will save you the most money based on your spending habits, lifestyle, and goals. You can even filter these offers based on the features you’re most interested in, like bank accounts that refund ATM fees, or credit cards with cash back offers.

Tracking Investments

Wherever you are on your investment journey, Mint can help you see your progress. Mint’s investment tracking lets you compare your portfolio to market benchmarks, or instantly see your asset allocations across all your investments. You can track your 401K, mutual fund account, brokerage account, or IRA so that you don’t have to wait for monthly or quarterly statements to get a snapshot of your investments and how they’re performing.

Take Mint With You

When your budget stays home on your personal computer, it isn’t much use to you if you’re shopping and want to know if your bank account balance is sufficient for a purchase. That’s why Mint offers free apps for Android, iOS, and Windows 8 mobile devices. These apps link to your Mint account, so wherever you go, you take your budget with you. When you can see instantly how close you are to reaching a financial goal you’re much less likely to give in to temptation and make a purchase you’ll regret.

Extras That Take Your Experience to Another Level

If visual information is your thing, you’ll find Mint’s graphs and charts to be super helpful in tracking your spending, income, account balances, and net worth. You can get graphs and charts that compare spending month-over-month, or year-over year, or visual representations of your progress toward financial goals. Another great extra is bill reminders. Have your PC or mobile device alert you before bills are due and avoid late fees and other hassles of paying bills late.

Nodiv spends, saves, and invests precisely like you do, and your budget software shouldn’t force you into a budget that isn’t suitable for your life. Mint is designed to be flexible enough to personalize just for you, and powerful enough to keep your motivation high and show you your progress. Best of all, you can get started right now.

Next step: Sign up for Mint and learn how powerful and easy budget software can be.