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If saving more money, getting out of debt, or sticking to a budget is on your mind (and if it isn’t, it should be) – consider online money-tracking webapp Mint.com.

What is Mint.com?

Mint revolves around automatic, no-hassle importing of your financial transactions from over 3,500 banking and credit card institutions. Once you’ve pointed Mint in the direction of your online banking accounts, the site combines all of your financial data and presents it to you in an attractive and easy-to-use interface, including a very comprehensive budgeting feature, where you can set a budget for any spending category.

Mint.com even alerts you (on its site, via email and even text message, if you’d like) when you’re getting close to going over your budget, you have a bill due, your account balances drop below a pre-determined balance, or if there is a series of expensive transactions (to keep an eye out for fraud).

One of the best and most unique features at Mint, however, is their savings feature. Here, Mint takes a look at your bills, spending trends, and credit cards, and then suggests ways you can save money through different offers (i.e. if Mint knows of a credit card with a better interest rate, or better rewards which you would qualify for, they’ll let you know).

Click to see a full-size screenshot of the Overview Page at Mint.com
Security at Mint.com: Of course there are some of you who are uncomfortable with making the leap to web-based, aggregated money management and thus will always naysay. And, even if you are comfortable doing so, no one wants to trust any of their financial information to a company that isn’t up to par (and rightfully so). But, in my research, mint.com seems to be as safe as they come (I signed up). Be sure and read their Privacy and Security Statement if you’re skeptical. At Mint.com,

• You register anonymously
• Mint asks for your online banking user name and passwords, but does not see or store that information
• Mint has partnered with the leading online banking service provider (Yodlee) to connect securely to your bank.
• All communication between Mint and Yodlee is encrypted using 128-bit SSL, the financial industry standard for data protection.
• Mint provides bank-level data security for the transaction information we store.
• Mint does not know your bank account numbers or credit card numbers.
• You cannot move money with Mint.
• Mint alerts can increase your financial security.

In Conclusion:

Even for someone in need of just mild financial help, the ability to see all of your finances right in front of you – what Mint does best – is incredibly helpful. You’ll see places and categories right away where you’re spending too much money and could easily cut back (or eliminate all together). And, since Mint completely automates your data imports, it requires very little work on your part.

Best of all for recent grads, according to the people at Mint, their next major moves will be integrating other financial bodies. Meaning that soon you may also be able to track and manage your student loans and investments from within Mint.

But, best of all, signing up and getting started at Mint.com is completely 100% free. With that in mind, it’s hard to believe why anyone with a relatively normal financial situation wouldn’t sign up for Mint!

Technorati Tags: budgeting, mint.com, personal finance, debt, college

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