Hey everyone! Welcome to my Mint Manual review in which I talk about Mint.com – the personal accounting software which helps manage your money. Each year, millions of people make New Year’s resolutions that relate to financial goals.
Most want to spend less and save more, but like most resolutions, no changes are actively ever made.
Mint.com is a website that I highly recommend. If you are asking the question “Should I use Mint.com,” my answer will almost always be yes.
I will have to do an overall Mint.com review (I hope to talk about Mint.com safety, how Mint.com could help your finances, and more) one day as well to specifically go over the Mint.com personal accounting software so that you can manage your money. I’m sure most of you have heard of Mint (there are over 10 million users!). In case you haven’t, Mint.com is a website that allows you to better manage your finances.
It allows you to track your financial accounts (such as bank accounts, credit cards, loans, investments and so on), all on one safe website so that you can work towards your financial goals a little more easily.
Mint.com is awesome, and I think even more people should be using it.
I have heard that many people are a little intimidated by this home finance software, and that is where The Mint Manual (yes, that’s an affiliate link, but I do believe that it is a great product) comes in!
The Mint Manual was created by Tim Murphy, and I had the pleasure of talking to him and conducting an interview. He was super helpful in answering common questions so that more people can use the product to their advantage.
How has Mint.com helped you? What do you enjoy the most about it?
I’m just going to say it – my finances are a big, ugly, complicated mess. My wife and I share all of our accounts (401Ks, IRAs, multiple checking, brokerage accounts, mortgages [we have two], multiple income streams, and about a dozen savings accounts).
The thought of trying to manage all those accounts separately makes me a little nauseous.
With Mint, managing multiple, complicated accounts is not only easy, but it’s actually kind of enjoyable (insomuch as managing finances can be “enjoyable”). Mint was made for people who hate managing their finances, and having all of our financial accounts under one profile really simplifies things.
That’s probably what I enjoy most – the simplicity and automation. Mint does a great job auto categorizing your transactions, meaning less work for you. And when Mint gets it wrong, you can easily set up rules to automatically categorize transactions in the future (more on this below).
I also love using Mint to “Google” my past transactions. If there is ever a question about how much something cost, where I shopped (very helpful after the Target credit card breach), or when I bought, I can look it up in Transactions in about 3 seconds.
What made you want to create The Mint Manual?
Clearly, I’m a Mint fan. It’s dead simple to set up and learn the basics, and they do almost all of the work on the front end for you. All you have to do is enter your account info and they’ll sync all of your past activity. But therein lies Mint’s fatal flaw – users are conditioned to think they don’t have to do ANYTHING, so they usually just stop at the basics (pretty much just transactions and maybe budgets).
Mint is an incredibly sophisticated web and mobile app, and it’s a shame to use an advanced, highly functional tool for only the most basic tasks. The more you dig into Mint, the more you see how powerful it really is.
The idea for The Mint Manual came after I learned about a guy who wrote a detailed user guide for Evernote because he didn’t think people were getting the most out of it. So, I decided to do the same for Mint. I’d been a power user for years, and after talking to tons of people about how they were using Mint, I saw that most were grossly underutilizing it.
And because Mint doesn’t offer any guidance beyond basic tutorials, the only way to really become a Mint pro is through lots of trial and error (the way I did).
But trial and error is terribly inefficient, so I wanted to create value for my readers by offering a short-cut to becoming a Mint expert.
What’s one awesome trick you think all Mint users should be utilizing?
On the web app, when editing/reviewing transactions or budgets, right-click and “open in a new tab” to drill down on a specific transaction. That way you can set aside multiple transactions to review and not lose your place on the Transactions screen. This one “trick” will save you tons of time that would be spent navigating back and forth.
One more huge time saver is auto categorizing (though this can only be done on the web app). For example, many restaurant names don’t obviously sound like restaurants (i.e. something vague like “Posh”), so Mint might leave them as Uncategorized. Rather than having to manually categorize Posh every time you dine there, find a recent Posh transaction and click on “Edit Details” right below the Description field. In the window that opens, check the box next to Rules that says “Always rename ‘Posh’ and categorize as Restaurants.” Now Mint knows that “Posh” transactions are always Restaurant transactions and it will file them accordingly.
How do you think The Mint Manual can specifically help someone? Is it just for beginners?
It’s is definitely not just for beginners. In fact, because Mint is super easy at first, The Mint Manual is best for people who want to move beyond the basics but don’t want to spend hours poking around the site and mobile apps to find out what features exist and what they can do.
The Mint Manual is really meant for people who want to get the most out of Mint, but don’t want to spend dozens of hours learning the app. It’s a quick reference to what the Mint website and apps can and, sometimes more importantly, what they can’t do. By having an easy reference point, readers won’t waste time digging for a feature or function that doesn’t exist, or only lives on the Mint website or one of the Mint apps.
It also teaches readers to spend LESS time with their money by automating as much as possible. No matter how beautiful or slick a personal finance app is, it’s still a personal finance app :), so the idea is to spend as little time on it as possible.
Do you work for Mint.com?
Nope, though with my constant evangelization, I can see why some might think I do :). I’m just a huge fan of their web and mobile apps, and as free money management systems go, you simply can’t beat Mint.
While I don’t work with Mint currently, I’d definitely love to partner with them down the road. That’d be a great way to get The Mint Manual to more Mint users and to really ensure that people are fully leveraging this amazing app.
What are you waiting for? Go get your copy of The Mint Manual today!
Do you use Mint.com? How has it helped you?
Do you use a personal accounting software?
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Charles@gettingarichlife says
Since all my finance are automated especially my investments my 2014 top goal is travel hacking. So jealous of all those free tickets from other bloggers so I want some of those.
Michelle S. says
Yes, travel hacking is amazing!
DC @ Young Adult Money says
I do not use Mint.com but instead use an “old-fashioned” excel database. I have heard that some banks/credit cards are not able to import into Mint for one reason or another, but again I haven’t actually gotten around to checking it out. My top financial goal this year is to increase my online income.
Michelle S. says
Good luck DC 🙂
Daveq says
Mint and Mint Bills are great. The big banks do give you access and many of you billers allow you to set them up so they update how much you owe and allow you click to pay. The best part of mint for me is I don’t need paper bills and I always have quick access to see what bills areally due and when. I use the bill calendar all the time.
Dave @ The New York Budget says
I use a combination of an excel spreadsheet and Personal Capital actually. That has worked out well for me. Perhaps your next guide can be about Personal Capital?
Michelle S. says
I’ll have to check that out! Just added this to my list of things to review 🙂
John S @ Frugal Rules says
Great overview! I’m an Excel person myself. Boring, but it works for me. 🙂 That said, I think something like Mint is a great tool to help people manage their finances if they’re looking to have it all consolidated for them. One of my top financial goals for the year is to continue to grow online income – original I know. 😉
Michelle S. says
So original John! 😛
Lisette says
I’ve forgotten about Mint.com. It was so useful when I was single. Now that I’m married finances are a little different. My husband has a lot of business expenses that we pay off on a credit card and then get reimbursed. I wonder how to deal with this in Mint?
Michelle S. says
Hey! You should be able to edit those transactions (exclude them) so that they don’t get mixed in with your personal expenses.
Mike Collins says
I haven’t used Mint yet but it does have a great reputation. Once of my resolutions for this year is to be more organized, so this may be a good opportunity to put everything under one umbrella.
Michelle S. says
Do it! 🙂
Lauren says
Been using Mint for about 6 months now, and I love it! It’s the perfect tool for tracking our accounts and staying on top of our budget. I recommend it to everyone. Might have to check out the manual- auto categorizing would definitely save me some time, thanks for the tip! 🙂
Michelle S. says
Thank you Lauren!
Michael says
I’ve been using Mint for several years and I love the site. Especially where you can have a visual of where your money is going. When my food slice is bigger than the bills slice, that’s a problem and I can nip it in the bud. We forget that those $5 coffe runs add up quickly.
Michelle S. says
Yes, those coffee runs add up!
Tanya says
I’m trying out a couple of different ones to see what I like better. I have narrowed it down to mint and ynab. Not sure which I like better yet. Mint is a lot simpler thats for sure though.
Michelle S. says
I’ll have to check out ynab!
Liz says
I haven’t used Mint before simply because I’ve always used Quicken. If they’re anything alike, I would say that having some sort of software or app to help you manage your finances is incredibly valuable. I know that having Quicken has really helped me see the big picture of my finances. As far as a goal for 2014, I would say it’s to be debt free as soon as possible!
Michelle S. says
Yes, I agree. A budgeting software has so many positives.
Romona@monasez says
I kind of gave up on mint and started using personal capital because it seemed like some of my information wasn’t accurate but ill definitely check out the manual and give it another try.
Michelle S. says
I’ll have to check out Personal Capital, thanks!
Elroy says
I used Mint for about 2 months and it was too clunky for me. That was about 5-6 years ago and I moved to a spreadsheet [….] and haven’t looked back.
Michelle S. says
Try again! 🙂
Leslie Beslie says
Pro tip: Another way to open a link in a new tab is to click it with the wheel button on your mouse
Michelle S. says
Yup!
Holly@ClubThrifty says
I have never used mint for a few reasons. First, I haven’t found the time to get started. Second, I’ve been hesitant to hook up all of my accounts at once place.
Michelle S. says
I have found that it doesn’t take long to get started 🙂
Little House says
I used Mint a while back, but I think I never really got all that I could out of it. Of course, I also manage my finances with Quickbooks and at the time I thought I was over-doing it using Mint in conjunction. I’ll have to think about going back to Mint.
Michelle S. says
Haha yeah, it sounds like you are already doing well.
John@MoneyPrinciple says
In the UK Mint doesn’t work. We do have lovemoney.com which does a similar thing although as most of our accounts are with one bank, we can see them with their online system anyway. However it is a good idea to have a neutral platform – it can promote competition between banks so that the consumer gets a better deal.
Michelle S. says
Looking forward to your review Nell 🙂
Michelle S. says
Do it! 🙂
Leigh says
I know I am late to the party, but the link to The Mint Manual isn’t working. 🙁 Can I still view it or get a copy?! Please let me know! Thank you!
Michelle Schroeder-Gardner says
Can you try this link? https://welcome.investorjunkie.com/mint-manual/?ref=30
Leigh says
It worked! Thank you! I assume this goes without asking – you think it is absolutely worth the $29, right?!
Michelle Schroeder-Gardner says
Mint is a GREAT service. This manual is very valuable so that you can understand the service better, so yes 🙂
Nancy Shields says
That doesn’t work for me, I get an error 404.
Mary Carpenter says
I paid for the Mint Manual and was very disappointed. The free excerpt had what appeared to be practical step-by-step instructions for the beginner, but what followed (paid for) was all focused on using other devices (ipad, phone, etc.), not the computer. I did not need that and wouldn’t have bought the manual if I had know that’s what it was about. I will only use my computer and need instructions for that, which I cannot find. I wasted my money on the Mint Manual. It should have an outline or “chapter” subjects so you know what you are paying for. Very misleading IMHO. How To Use Mint.com has no instructions; it’s just a marketing tool for the Mint Manual sold by InvestorJunkie.com.
DNN says
Mint.comhas an affiliate program now.