How To Save More Money Using Mint.com

As a student, the thought about money and how much I am spending can be a scary thing. For years I just purchased everything on my debit card and never really paid attention to my account balance. I did this until I realized that I was spending more money then I was making and my balance was noticeably falling. After my savings were diminished, I was introduced to a website called Mint.

What is Mint.com?

Mint is a web application that aggregates all of your bank accounts in one easy to use dashboard for FREE. You just enter your banking information(Yes it is secure) and it monitors all of your account transactions and balances. The transactions are categorized so you will be able to track and manage your monthly spending habits and set budgets for each category. You will be able to track and manage your income as well so you can keep that upward sloping income graph.

Why is it so Effective

Start Saving More Money: It is like having a personal accountant. You can track all of your monthly income and expenses and improve your spending habits over time. I went from losing money each month to saving money and building my savings account. I managed increase my monthly income because I made it a challenge to try and beat what I made the previous month. Since I am a part time freelancer, I would have the opportunity to either increase my hourly rate or only except compelling projects working more hours and overall make more money.

Reality Check: You can see how much you are actually saving each month. You may ask, “I am only saving $500 a month? That is only $6,000 a year.” This will be a reality check to either spend less or make more money. Maybe the job you have is just not cutting it and you may have to look for a higher paying one. Or if you are a student like me, you may realize that you need to find a part time job during your studies.

My Opinion

Overall, Mint is a great website that allows you to track and manage all of your bank accounts and spot your spending habits that you were once unaware of. If you wish to save more money each month then I highly recommend you start using Mint. One of the greatest decisions I have made for my financial health.