Mint.com

I was at Malli's and was reminded of coming up with the expense report for our Shenandoah trip. And I was like...ok..alright...I will get to it when I can...

That's when Malli suggested this awesome site: Mint

I wonder how and why I did not come across such a wonderful and helpful site. Did I forget to add FREE?

I saw so many other tools/sites/programs charging exorbitant fees for far less and complex stuff than Mint.com.

It takes literally minutes to set up. Just provide it with your login and passwords to your accounts. It is safe, don't you worry. It does not ask for your names, your SSN, or your personally identifiable info and no money can be transferred in or out. Its just a 'read only' reporting tool.

You can set it to retrieve your bank balances, credit card balances, loans, real estate, car(s) and investment accounts. Further settings can include the APRs, interest rates, monthly fees, and email alerts.

So, I set up my accounts and it retrieves my balances and transaction activity very accurately and charts them out beautifully in charts and reports.

(Click on the image to get a better view)

As I browsed about in the site, it did not stop surprising me with the great stuff it has to offer. Suggestions to save, performance of my investments vs the DOW, suggestions to roll over previous IRAs, my spending trends, categories of my expenses. You can set up your budgets for different expenses and this thing tells you if you are on track, over budget or if you need to slow down! It suggests credit cards, banks, CDs, brokerage firms and IRA rollover suggestions!

So much so that, depending on how you set up your alerts, it can send you emails/sms' to alert you that a particular credit card bill is due. Imagine that!

A couple more screenshots might help you understand why I LOVE this site: (click on the pics to enlarge and view them better)

Now this is something, I really think everyone should know. Helps with consolidating all your accounts and tells you if you are screwing up...or getting screwed. A nice way to manage your money. IMHO.

Thanks Malli!