There are several sites available for helping us poor folks learn how to track their money. Mint.com is one such site, and after reading several reviews, I thought I would try it out. It was free to join, and if it ends up helping in the end...all the better.
In all honesty, I haven't spend that much time on the site since my initial set up. I did spend some time over the past week, and discovered a few flaws in the output. Not sure if those are ME flaws, or THEM flaws. I have to wait and see if the changes I made permanently fix the problems.
The biggest problem I encountered has to do with checks. The system has no way of knowing what a check is for, so it kind of goes into an "other" category. I had to manually go in and change all the checks (not that there are THAT many, but some), and allocate them properly. I think this will be an on-going issue.
Additionally, some of my on-line transactions aren't appropriated in the right category either. So again, I had to manually change them.
It does recognize some major items and tracks them well. Such as the grocery store, fast food, and restaurants. It knows that Dunkin Donuts falls under coffee. The only glitch with our grocery store is when we use the pharmacy....it can't distinguish that, so I had to manually change those too.
It makes all sorts of neat pie charts that show how your money is being allocated. It gives you reminders of bills being due. And especially...when you have gone over your budget in a category!!! (Not that should EVER happen...but ......)
I am still playing with it and trying to make it work for me. I really love parts of it, and I am hoping the more I use it, the stronger tool it will become. Go check it out!
I stumbled on your blog....and I love it! How brave you are to be so honest about it all! You may inspire me to be a "copy-cat"...hope that is ok. :) I just started using mint.com.....found the same glitches at you have. But it is cheaper than 69.99 for quicken.....and I am hoping it will "learn" what I categorize to where....
ReplyDeleteAgain thanks for putting your mess "out there"....it is nice to know we are not alone!
Welcome Sherry! I think being a "copy cat" is a huge compliment, so I hope you do, and I look forward to reading about your own mess.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your input about Mint.com. Glad to hear that others have some of the same problems. Confirms that it isn't just me!
I still have to change categories, and I've been using mint for over a year. I consider it a small price to pay for something that's free. I also feel like it forces me to look at every single tranx and account for what it is. I still check my online account for up-to-date transaction information, though; mint's tranx are sometimes delayed a day or two.
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