Help a Reader: Opinion on Mint and Other Freebies

Here's an email I recently received:

I'm new at budgeting, and I've just learned about a free online software from mint.com, which is supposed to help its users gain a complete picture of their finances. I'm wondering if you've heard anything about this website/service? Or do you have other websites you might recommend? At the moment, I can't afford to buy any software, so I'm looking for the best free alternative to something like Quicken. My main concern with an online software is security, but mint.com supposedly doesn't gather any personal information. That said, I wonder what they can learn about their users based on the information we do provide.

Personally, I don't use online software -- I use Quicken and have for over a decade now, so I'm not planning to switch (too much data already accumulated there and I know how to use it.) Besides, I don't really like the idea of all my information online. I know, it's "supposed" to be secure. But how many stories have we all heard of "secure" information being leaked, compromised, stolen, etc. Somehow, data that's supposed to be guarded seems to regularly make it's way into the wrong hands.

Anyway, I told the reader that I'd ask you all for thoughts on Mint and other free software solutions. Which ones do you like/recommend?

Comments

[Sallie's Niece]

I like Mint - just started using them recently - but only for a general financial overview. It spares me from having to log in to multiple accounts at once. I find it frequently needs me to reenter some of my account information so I am only using it to track a few of my accounts now.

[SeanOC]

If you have Bank of America account, they offer a free tool in their online banking system which is very similar to Mint.

Once you login to your BoA account you can click on "My Portfolio" and it'll walk you through setting up all of your other online accounts just like mint does.

I personally like it a bit better and I trust BoA with my data a bit more than some random startup.

[Richard]

Mint has trouble with some banks like ING and my local credit union, as such I can't really try it out.

For free software it depends on if you're going to be doing budgeting (deciding beforehand then keeping track) or accounting (just tracking).

GnuCash is very good for accounting type work. It's a double entry system, so not for the faint of heart, but very thourough.

I find that a simple spreadsheet is enough for my needs. If you don't have one, you can get download OpenOffice.org for free.

[Lolita]

I don't like Mint much. I ordered checks through my bank once and one day I'm sitting at my computer with someone else trying to show them something, and my email pops up with this message from Mint that said something to the effect of: Your bank has slapped you with a bank fee. We hate to see that happen! How embarrassing when it was only an order for checks!!!! Just doesn't seem like a completely smart system to me.

[D]

Mint is pretty good at allowing you to understand easily how you are spending your money. It does require some work though to set it up appropriately. You might also want to check out a site called Pageonce.com that allows you to set up all kinds of accounts (cell phone, etc.) so you can see things lke how many minutes you have left or if you have a bill due soon.

These services won't necessarily help you budget better but they will give you more insight into how you are spending your money.

[WiseMoneyMatters]

I've used Mint and Quicken Online. Personally, I choose to pay for Quicken Online. It's so much easier to use. Mint just frustrated me for the month or so I tried to use it. Quicken Online is just simple and straight forward. It's a great place to start, and it's free to try for a couple months. I would seriously try it out.

[PartialExponent]

I haven't used Mint before, but I've been using Yodlee for account aggregation for about a year and a half now and I love it. Lots of neat features for tracking your assets/liabilities/net worth, and also automatically categorizes spending for easy analysis.

As a side note, several banks offer a licensed version of Yodlee (for example BoA MyPortfolio that SeanOC mentioned, also Wachovia and HSBC) but in my experience with the Wachovia version vs. straight up Yodlee, Yodlee is much more robust.

[tom]

I've used Quicken and Money, and am now using Mint. It's great for budgeting, and tracking spending/some investments. It's very simple and easy to use and doesn't have many thrills which is why I like it.

[Tim]

I like Mint. The number of banks it covers is impressive. I've got my checking, savings, credit cards, 401k, IRA, mortgage and brokerage account all syncing nicely.

Downside for me is that the budget is limited to a set amount each month (for example, I can't budget my car insurance as 600 in March and 600 in September; it has to be 100 per month, making it wrong 12 months of the year).

[mah]

If you're willing to put your information online, Yodlee is by far the best (and free).

[Justin Yost]

Mint is really cool. I have started playing around with Mint and it works really well (I've used Quicken for over 4 years straight). However it is designed around people who only use plastic as such if you make a lot of purchases via cash, forget it. Mint doesn't let you add accounts that it can't access via the web. So if you have a bank that isn't supported, you are out of luck. However they do support a wide variety of banks and also will add support for banks that you need to use. ING does work with Mint and I haven't noticed a problem.

The best part of Mint is that it shows where your money is going in a very informative and clear way. Unlike Quicken which doesn't really show where the money is going, just how much you have. Mint looks to be far better at the budgeting end of things, where Quicken is better at record-keeping.

[Jennifer]

I love Mint - have used it for awhile now and it's nice to see all my credit card transactions in one place.

[FMF]

I'm surprised -- no one seems concerned about the "all my info in one place online" security issues.

[bk]

Mint is merely an alternative front end to Yodlee, except for some reason it works with fewer accounts. I recommend going straight to Yodlee, http://moneycenter.yodlee.com/ . Yodlee has been around 10+ years compared to a lot fewer for Mint.

[t3chvest]

Avast! (Antivirus)

FileZilla (FTP)

Open Office (open source Microsoft Office alternative)

[Jason Kratz]

Just another note about Yodlee since it is important to mention: many of the bigger banks use Yodlee for their own online banking sites.

[YeaYuh]

Quicken can show you where the money is going if you label your transactions. You can also setup budgets and has some additional features you won't get with a web based application. However, it gets really complicated to do things in quicken sometimes. The only con I have for quicken is you have to backup your data to a safe location because if you lose it and need to recover your data you are SOL.

I also used Mint to see if I wanted to do a switch over but I find the limited labeling of transaction makes it difficult to pin-point how the money is being spent. Overall I enjoy Mint and when they can track stocks and mutal funds it will be another plus on getting me to switch.

[Dave Dave]

I've tried Mint and found it frustrating. My main complaint is that many of my accounts had to be added over and over again with the same login information. I can see its potential however closed my account about a week ago because of all the hassles.

[[email protected]]

I personally use mint.com & recommend it to my financial planning clients. I'd call it "quicken light." My clients & I prefer it b/c it’s simple & secure; saves time (one website vs visiting each of your bank & credit card web sites); smart (analyze your spending habits, monitors your budget & makes suggestions).

The best 2 reasons - most people are lazy – it “pushes” info to you (updates your latest activities each time you log in vs having to download, upload, categorize on quicken);
And finally it’s FREE.My clients & I have really gotten a lot of benefits from using it & would recommend in giving it a try.

[Jason]

My wife and I use mint, it is very convenient to get all our info in one place, and allowed me to find out there was random spending that I wasn't seeing or being told of by the wife!! I have tried using quicken, but every 4 months or so my online balance and quicken balance got way out of line and id have to start over! It has helped my financial situation tremendously!

[Ryan]

If you want a local program (e.g. Quicken or Money) but don't have big bucks try a search on Amazon.com for previous model years. I got a copy of MS Money 2003 in 2005 for $5.00. You'll save substantially on upgrades down the line as well. That said...Mint.com has been great for me. I uninstalled MS-Money after getting up to speed with Mint because I like it so much better. The website has a very helpful video regarding their security standard (which I find better than many banks and many online sources consider impeccable). Main points would be, first, no personally identifying info, second, you can't use Mint to move money around so even if someone gets access to your account they can't steal anything. Individual account info isn't visible, etc.

[Mary@SimplyForties]

I use an Excel spreadsheet that I set up to do all sorts of computations for me. Obviously it can't download information from anywhere but mine tracks my spending, saving and investing. I list it as "free" because a lot of people already have Excel on their computer. If you don't work with Excel spreadsheets yourself, I've noticed several bloggers with a master that they willingly share with others. I'd be happy to share mine.

[Dorotea]

Thank you everyone for sharing your experiences and providing valuable feedback -- it is much appreciated!