Self Improvement
So Josh recommend that I use Mint a while ago. I was using MSMoney for my finances and thought that I should continue using that. The problem with MsMoney is that it doesn't sink my bank accounts correctly. I'm not sure why it doesn't, but it doesn't. It actually makes me really angry that it can't work correctly.
Anyways, this week I finally took the plunge and set up an account with Mint. I LOVE the way that it works. I can see all of my finances from all of my accounts all at once in a logical well layed out way. The budgeting portion of the tools could be better, and by could I mean it could use some serious work. Especially the way that you set up your budget. I can't just put in what my expected income will be for each month and the set up percentages of that in each catagory. I also think the part of the problem that I have with it is that it has too many categories. I guess if you really want to drill down it's fine, but I want the one slide powerpoint, not the complete breakdown. I guess I just don't have enough money going in and out for it to be really useful. Nor do I care if I spent money at Whole Foods or Shaws. I just want to throw it in a "food" catagory.
I think as more transactions add up it will become a lot more useful to see the drill down. I wish that they would let you set up a budget when you first start and give suggested percentages of your income that you should spend in each catagory - then let you adjust those percentages based on your actual spending. I don't care about the dollar amount that I spent as much as the percentage of my income that I spend on each catagory. They do that to some extent in the pie chart of your spending, but I want to see the difference between my goal budget in terms of percentage and my actual spending. I want those delta functions!
Overall it's great. I'm just hoping they add more features. Anyone use it longer and have suggestions?
I've been really lax since I moved to Boston about my budget. I'm hoping that this tool will help me get better aligned, and start saving more money than I have been. I'm supposed to have a whole crap ton more money saved in "short term" in case I ever lose my job. 3-6 months salary!! I have maybe like 2. I also want to start saving so that I can eventually buy a house. But that's a ton of money that I don't have either. I think if I can take a good hard look at my spending and figure out where I'm being stupid that I can do a lot better a lot faster. It's not that I don't make enough money, I'm just not paying attention to where I'm spending it, and I'm not spending it on things that are important to me.
I'm really debating too about joining a gym/finding a personal trainer. The yoga is great, it's just not as often as I should go, and not as close to home as is convient. I'd really like to get back into running again too; the problem was first the shin splints and now my right knee, and soon it's going to be cold and I'll start getting asthma attacks when I push myself too hard in the cold weather. I like pushing myself; so I think I need to find somewhere to go.
It's a bit of a debate though. Do I find somewhere between home and work so that I'm more likely to go more often, or do I chose somewhere further away that has better facilities and more options of stuff to do? Do I really need more than just a cardio room and weights? I like the thought of the additional options, but if I'm not going to use them is it really worth paying for them? There are a few gyms in Central that I could join, there are some yoga places that I should try too. I guess I'll have to do my homework into my options and see what I want to do... *sigh*
Anyways, this week I finally took the plunge and set up an account with Mint. I LOVE the way that it works. I can see all of my finances from all of my accounts all at once in a logical well layed out way. The budgeting portion of the tools could be better, and by could I mean it could use some serious work. Especially the way that you set up your budget. I can't just put in what my expected income will be for each month and the set up percentages of that in each catagory. I also think the part of the problem that I have with it is that it has too many categories. I guess if you really want to drill down it's fine, but I want the one slide powerpoint, not the complete breakdown. I guess I just don't have enough money going in and out for it to be really useful. Nor do I care if I spent money at Whole Foods or Shaws. I just want to throw it in a "food" catagory.
I think as more transactions add up it will become a lot more useful to see the drill down. I wish that they would let you set up a budget when you first start and give suggested percentages of your income that you should spend in each catagory - then let you adjust those percentages based on your actual spending. I don't care about the dollar amount that I spent as much as the percentage of my income that I spend on each catagory. They do that to some extent in the pie chart of your spending, but I want to see the difference between my goal budget in terms of percentage and my actual spending. I want those delta functions!
Overall it's great. I'm just hoping they add more features. Anyone use it longer and have suggestions?
I've been really lax since I moved to Boston about my budget. I'm hoping that this tool will help me get better aligned, and start saving more money than I have been. I'm supposed to have a whole crap ton more money saved in "short term" in case I ever lose my job. 3-6 months salary!! I have maybe like 2. I also want to start saving so that I can eventually buy a house. But that's a ton of money that I don't have either. I think if I can take a good hard look at my spending and figure out where I'm being stupid that I can do a lot better a lot faster. It's not that I don't make enough money, I'm just not paying attention to where I'm spending it, and I'm not spending it on things that are important to me.
I'm really debating too about joining a gym/finding a personal trainer. The yoga is great, it's just not as often as I should go, and not as close to home as is convient. I'd really like to get back into running again too; the problem was first the shin splints and now my right knee, and soon it's going to be cold and I'll start getting asthma attacks when I push myself too hard in the cold weather. I like pushing myself; so I think I need to find somewhere to go.
It's a bit of a debate though. Do I find somewhere between home and work so that I'm more likely to go more often, or do I chose somewhere further away that has better facilities and more options of stuff to do? Do I really need more than just a cardio room and weights? I like the thought of the additional options, but if I'm not going to use them is it really worth paying for them? There are a few gyms in Central that I could join, there are some yoga places that I should try too. I guess I'll have to do my homework into my options and see what I want to do... *sigh*
Comments