Mint.com Review: A Convenient Timesaver

Given that I run a site called The Budgeting Babe, people are always asking me to review one financial product or another. And I usually decline. Why? Some valid reasons, some not... For one, I have never considered myself a financial expert that should be judging someone else's work. But also most requests are poorly written and the sites look bad (are difficult to understand, boring or sketchy). So rather than hurt someone's feelings and waste my readers' time, I typically stay away from these kind of requests.

The sites and products I do write about are those that I actually use myself. They add value to my daily routine - which is quite rushed anyway - and serve as a time saver, rather than just one more thing to do. They have to capture my fancy and be relevant to me, whether or not they work for the rest of the population.

In the curious case of Mint.com, however, I've simply been hit over the head with so many ringing endorsements from friends (via facebook and in person) that I succumbed to the pressure. Tonight, I signed up for a Mint.com account. And two hours later, I was still on the site, modifying entries, searching trends and making looking for mobile capabilities so I can access my accounts anytime, anywhere. So there you have it, peeps, I did it.

Is this Budgeting Babe in love? Not yet. I see some pluses and some minuses to the site. My initial security concerns still exist (especially after visiting their forums), I don't like the offers portion of the site and I would like to see some improvements to the mobile site. But my overall impression is that Mint.com is a convenient timesaver with a lot of potential that will ultimately enable me to free up more time for work, the gym and my friends. It's a good place to start your financial journey if you're currently using the Web to manage your finances (but not actively interacting with them), and it seems easier to use than MS Money. And best of all, it's free.

A deeper dive into my experience follows.

POSITIVES

As I mentioned, the site is easy to use. Setting up an account is a snap and not much of your personal data is needed to sign up - just a password and your zip code.

Once you set up your accounts, your "home" screen (that displays your activity overview) is well-designed to show helpful information upfront, like account alerts, simple pie charts of spending activity, current account totals and a quick net worth display.

This was eye-opening for a few of my friends - one mentioned that she noticed Starbucks was her most frequent retailer visited last month (she was surprised and said she'd kick the daily habit). For me, a lot of the information displayed was already on file on my computer (in spreadsheet form). But the nice thing about Mint.com is that the site does everything for you; I don't have to calculate my net work every month, it's already done. That's a timesaver. Likewise with seeing my spending categories - they all were what I expected month-to-month, but I didn't have to calculate them manually... nice.

There are a couple other good features I noticed - for instance, my rent check wasn't easily recognized as rent, so I recategorized one entry as "rent" and all the other checks written for the same amount automatically updated (with the ability to change them again if needed).

THINGS I'M NOT SURE ABOUT
Rather than asking you for account information (SSN, account numbers), the site asks you to sign in to your accounts on other financial sites you're already using. There is still personal information being exchanged. On one hand it still seems risky, but on the other hand, if you're already using the web to manage accounts, you're probably at risk anyway. Bad rationale on my part, but I've received notice of so many "secure" account breaches that I'm giving up on it in favor of being more vigilant and using trustworthy companies.

AREAS FOR IMPROVEMENT
Two things that bugged me about the site:
1) There was some ad-supported content. This is to be expected since the site is free, and it's late so I'm going to have a hard time articulating this, but here goes... it feels weird to have offers coming through onto a screen where my financial data is housed. The site claims to be secure, and yet, they have to be sharing some information to allow Discover to show a credit card rate offer that's comparable to what I'm currently paying, or E-Trade to show ads that tout the return on their investment vs. my trusty savings account. I feel like I should get to opt-in to offers. As much as I like the site, I'd be willing to pay a small fee to have a site free of offers for peace of mind that my data is mine alone.

2) There's an iPhone app, but no mobile-ready site. I'm starting to live off my mobile phone, which is a BlackBerry. I would love to open a BB app and have all my data in front of me ("Can I really afford that? Let me check my phone!"), but it doesn't look like that's possible yet.

So there you have it. I'm tired and need to go to bed.
What do you guys think about Mint.com? Are you using it?

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Ringing in the New Year, Miami Style

I’ve chosen to start 2009 in sunny Miami, where the weather is as perfect as the golden tans sported by lean bodies on the beach, where the mojitos are sweet and sunsets form peach, magenta and purple streaks over sparkling waters. It’s a far cry from my usual frozen hungover and sleepy start to the New Year. Just last week I was iced like a popsicle in sub-zero snowbanks, battling grey skies and a greyer mood, bundled in a down coat, scarf, hat, gloves, boots, two pair of socks, wool under layers, fleece mid-layers and more. Today I was lying on the warm beach in a swimsuit, soaking up rays and lazily watching primary-colored kites fly overhead amidst billowy clouds as manatees lolled by the shore.

For a $275 plane ticket and a free stay in my cousin’s condo, Miami and the Keys are the perfect winter getaway for this Budgeting Babe. The salty sea breeze is just what my body needed to ward off the colds I’ve been fighting for what seems like an eternity. And the pace of life…well, it may sound weird, but sometimes I actually forget that I’m still in my 20’s (though not for long)… the daily grind and a bevy of personal, financial and family obligations can get me a little stuck focusing on the future, rather than on the present. But here, it’s hard to get too far ahead of yourself as picture-perfect palm trees sway to the tune of ocean waves and care-free locals toss frisbees in the park. It’s a nice reminder to stop and focus on the present, to enjoy myself and to just live a little.

So how did I get here? Well, very serendipitously, actually. I was dropping off some gifts for my godson and his sister (who live in Texas) at their grandmother’s house in Illinois, and she mentioned that her son – my cousin – who lives in Miami was headed to Brazil for a month. She casually mentioned that he offered his condo to her as a winter getaway but she couldn’t take advantage of his generosity. My ears perked. At the time, B and I had just about given up hope on taking a trip to the Florida Keys during his winter break from law school… we had been trip-planning for several weeks, but hotel rates were too expensive for our taste. We immediately called my cousin (less than 24 hours before his departure) and arranged to stay here for a week. It was super spontaneous but we did it. And I must say, now that we’ve gotten over the weirdness of staying in someone else’s house while they’re away, it’s perfect.

In our first few days, we’ve managed to spend time exploring Coconut Grove (where we’re staying), South Beach and Key Biscayne. We’ve blown through cash pretty fast since our first day of meals and drinks was fairly expensive, and we also didn’t pack the right kind of clothing (note: 75 in Miami is MUCH warmer than 75 in Chicago!), but from now on we’ll be hitting the grocery store before heading out to the beach for supplies and groceries and avoiding the pricey dinners (the sushi on 5th Street was kind of calling my name last night…yum).

I’ll post some pics when I get back home, but now I’m off to go do some reflecting on my goals for the upcoming year and grab another mojito. Happy New Year to everybody reading my posts; I can’t wait to hear your goals and resolutions for 2009.
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