Thursday, July 1, 2010

You Could Use a Mint, Part III

So I am little annoyed with Mint at the moment, because it isn't syncing with all our accounts properly.  Notably, it won't connect with Sallie Mae for our student loan accounts.  That is understandable, I suppose, since Sallie Mae isn't that big of a lender, and doesn't service MILLIONS of Americans' student loans.  Lots of people are having the exact same problem I am, and Mint provides a pretty good forum to submit problems and find others with the same problem.  According to the listing for this bug, Mint is working on it.

On the plus side, I'm getting the hang of the budget functions.  It allows you a good amount of flexibility with different types of budgets.  Most of the budgets I set up are standard: so many $ per month for rent, cell phone, internet, utilities, etc.  You can also set up a budget that rolls over from month to month.  This is great for our eating-out budget, so we can save up for a big night out or even borrow for it ahead of time.  I also used that type of budget for things we buy regularly but not every month, like cat food.

I've discovered how Mint makes its money.  The service is free for me to use.  There is a tab on the site labeled "Ways to Save," that suggests financial services that I may be interested in.  For example, I can get a list of available CDs that have better interest rates than my savings account.  I can also shop for credit cards, banks, brokerages, and auto insurance.  I'm sure Mint gets a finder's fee for any service I buy through their site.

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