Financial Tools: The Pros & Cons of Mint

Mike Cashion, MFF Director of Operations

By: Mike Cashion, MFF Director of Operations

WHAT IS MINT?

Mint is a great financial tool by Intuit. They are the same company that created Quickbooks which is used by many organizations for bookkeeping and accounting. They also offer a product called TurboTax which is one of the largest softwares out there for people to complete, file and pay their taxes. Mint basically connects to all of your bank accounts, credit cards, loans, retirement plans and more. What the tool does is pull all of your financial information into one place so you can see it all. The tool has gotten so good that it automatically categorizes most of your transactions. This means you can see where your money is going without having to categorize every single transaction. 

WHY WOULD YOU USE IT?

Using Mint translates into being much more informed about your financial health. Mint shows you balances and where you are spending money, so that you can see your net worth, set budgets, create goals and stay informed on your financial health. I check my Mint account every morning when I sit down for my first cup of coffee. The notifications remind you of upcoming bills, if you have exceeded a budget and if a recurring bill has increased dramatically all of the sudden. The mobile app and website are awesome and you can use it in so many ways. It should work well for everyone. If you only want to have an overview that you look at occasionally, it serves that purpose. But, if you want a more in-depth understanding of your financial picture, you can dive much deeper into Mint’s many features.

 

 

THE PROS?

  • Free to use
  • Website & App work well
  • Connects with most financial organizations
  • Automatically categorizes many transactions especially after it gets to know you
  • Monthly Credit Score
  • Bill payment reminders
  • Calculates your Net Worth

THE CONS?

  • Free but with Advertisements (Kind of annoying)
  • Over time you will have to log in to connected accounts to grant Mint permissions to pull transactions (Not often)
  • Many notifications are great if you want to be really involved but can turn people off unless you adjust your notification settings

START YOUR JOURNEY TO FINANCIAL INDEPENDENCE TODAY

At MFF we believe that everyone should have the chance to learn to be financially independent. Our team continues to build out free online programs so that you, too, can start your journey to financial independence. Get started TODAY with our Standards of Financial Literacy Program! 

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