Comments on: Personal Expenses Tracking: Mint’s (Holiday Spending) Hangover Cure

By: Elaine

Elaine — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 22:03:45 +0000

I am a new Mint user, and I am confused as to how to use the Tags. I would like to mark certain items (i.e., tax deductible) and be able to pull a list of all those items into a single display. I see how to set up Tag names, but how do I actually mark a specific transaction in my checking account. Thanks for help.

By: Karen Nichols

Karen Nichols — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 21:19:25 +0000

Sounds great–but it sounds like you don’t actually do the paying the bills–like Quicken? Or am I reading the wrong place?
Thanks!

By: David Mackey

David Mackey — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 05:03:59 +0000

Good tips! I think I am going to ask my credit card provider for low rates.

By: Viet

Viet — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 21:04:34 +0000

bRobert: Thanks for being a Mint user!

The current budgeting feature allows you to set a monthly budget for various spending categories. You can do this by clicking “Add Budget,” which will bring up the pop-up window, and from there you can choose the spending category you want (and to break it down even more, you can even choose sub-categories). Once you’ve select the category, you can set a budget amount or use the pre-defined average that Mint has calculated for you base on your recent month’s spending.

After you determined your budget based on your past spending (graph shows spending trend for six months), click “Save” and the budget you’ve set will now appear on the Overview page. Whenever you visit the Overview page, the budget bar graph will show your current spendings for the month, and when you go over your budget, it will show you how much you’ve gone over. Don’t forget that you can also setup budgeting alerts via email or text messages!

I hope that explanation clears the budgeting function up a bit for you. You should note that Mint is still currently in beta, and all the features and functions we have will be tweaked and improved upon based on users suggestions – so we really appreciate your feedback.

If you have other feedbacks or questions later in the future, please feel free to send them in!

By: bRobert

bRobert — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 20:34:55 +0000

I have a Mint account, and I really like the features it does have. There are a couple of things that confuse me that is making me look at other options, though.

The budget setup and editing is very confusing. I’m not sure how it is supposed to work, but I would really prefer to see and be able to modify my budget items on a full page. The pop up is confusing.

Perhaps there is a place for this that I haven’t seen, but my wife cashes the check she receives from her part-time job. I don’t see a way to add additional income that doesn’t go through our bank, or manage cash transactions.

I understand that this is a free service, and you get what you pay for, but I would love to pay for QuickenOnline if they had a decent way to manage a budget. I want everything online and easily accessible from any one of our several computers, so the Quicken application is not an option. Mvelopes looks like what I need, but it is ridiculously expensive.