by RetroRomper » Fri Jul 05, 2013 12:02 pm
I've given up on Mint.com - the amount of fine tuning, learning the UI and incorporating my regular weekly financial reviews into their system just didn't mix. But here is what I am doing instead!
1. Currently I have two checking accounts: one automatically pulls in $500 for my personal monthly "spending allowance" and the other pulls in enough for bills based on my calculated budget. Segregating didn't work for the deep south, but for my pay check it gives me a hard line for me to spend up to without worrying about impacting necessary expenses (and another $2000 goes straight into my savings).
2. I spend the first of the month divvying the $500 into my spending account and comparing my projected bills against what I paid from my account the previous month. I've cancelled one or two recurring expenses because of this and am spending maybe $200 less.
3. My credit union lets me export my transactions into a .cvs file and I've been using this data to graph any increases or decreases in monthly expenditures for both my spending account and the one I use to pay my bills. Seeing personal trends is helpful!
4. I've slowly come into the mindset that I can "save" my monthly spending allowance to afford more expensive things. For example, I'm currently saving up for a $600 camping back pack and I'll have enough money "saved" by next month.
tldr: Mint.com = fail, but I've beefed up my other personal budgeting habits in response to what I'd ideally (but am not able to) do at that site.
I've given up on Mint.com - the amount of fine tuning, learning the UI and incorporating my regular weekly financial reviews into their system just didn't mix. But here is what I am doing instead!
1. Currently I have two checking accounts: one automatically pulls in $500 for my personal monthly "spending allowance" and the other pulls in enough for bills based on my calculated budget. Segregating didn't work for the deep south, but for my pay check it gives me a hard line for me to spend up to without worrying about impacting necessary expenses (and another $2000 goes straight into my savings).
2. I spend the first of the month divvying the $500 into my spending account and comparing my projected bills against what I paid from my account the previous month. I've cancelled one or two recurring expenses because of this and am spending maybe $200 less.
3. My credit union lets me export my transactions into a .cvs file and I've been using this data to graph any increases or decreases in monthly expenditures for both my spending account and the one I use to pay my bills. Seeing personal trends is helpful!
4. I've slowly come into the mindset that I can "save" my monthly spending allowance to afford more expensive things. For example, I'm currently saving up for a $600 camping back pack and I'll have enough money "saved" by next month.
tldr: Mint.com = fail, but I've beefed up my other personal budgeting habits in response to what I'd ideally (but am not able to) do at that site.