The Undeniable Power of Financial Graphs (Yes, We Said Graphs)

Forget the idea that the world is divided into visual, kinesthetic, and aural learners. Nearly everyone learns with visual aids, so says Forbes. The more complicated the concept, the more a visual representation of it can help. The details of your monthly budget can be complex; good thing Mint.com has you covered with charts and graphs!

Illinois State University says there are three standards that apply to visual aids: They should display meaningful and unambiguous data, and they should do that efficiently. Your income, expenses, goals, and other facets of your budget are meaningful, and Mint.com presents them in an unambiguous and efficient manner.

Here’s how:

What’s Meaningful?

There aren’t any unimportant parts of your budget. Even how much you spend on a candy bar carries at least some weight. But relevance can change a bit, depending on what you want to know.

You can manage your budget by keeping track of earnings and expenses generally, or get more involved by breaking those down. As an example, utility expenses are meaningful. The difference between what you spent this month and last is also important. If you’re trying to detect a pattern, comparing this year’s utility expenses with last year’s gives you even more information.

Mint.com lets you decide what’s meaningful. It’s all there, recorded automatically with every payday you receive and expense that you pay out. You get to pick and choose what you want to examine. Charts and graphs paint a picture of what you want to see.

How Does Mint Make it Unambiguous?

With Mint.com, you can see an overview of your total earnings and expenses in graphs and charts, or you can drill down to see more detailed information of monthly or weekly earnings and individual expenses. If you want to go further, each expense fits into a category, and yes, each category can have its own graph or chart.

Mint.com visuals are customizable. They show what you want to know, and it’s all clear as a bell. With a graph labeled for budget goals, each bar shows exactly where your progress sits for each goal. With a pie chart, you can see how your money is distributed among expenses, goals, or investments.

The simple part is that the information is already there. You don’t have to read through statements, write down facts and figures, and then compare them. Mint is smart — it does that for you.

Just how Efficient is Efficient?

There’s efficient, and then there’s Mint.com’s software, which takes simple and easy-to-use budgeting to a whole new level. Using your home computer, smartphone or tablet, everything you want to know about your personal finances is available at the click or touch of a button. It even lets you know when a bill is coming due with handy text alerts.

As for how information gets to Mint software in the first place, all it takes is a one-time setup. After that, Mint automatically imports every transaction and readies that data for the next chart or graph that you want to see.

Visual aids are nothing new, but Mint incorporates them into budget software to make your life easier.

Using graphs and charts, you’ll know at a glance how much money is coming in, how much goes out, and how much is saved. But more than that, you’ll have easy access to the smallest details of your personal finances any time you want it.

Mint.com budget software is hailed by the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal, as well as financial counselors across the country. Why not sign up for your free account today and take advantage of one of the most efficient budgeting software packages available?