I’m always interested in exploring new personal finance tools. The latest comes from mint.com, which is an excellent way to keep track of those expenses that fall under what I like to call “the slush fund.” While your fixed expenses are those that stay the same every month (i.e. rent and insurance), the “slush fund” are spending categories that can easily get out of control. These purchases include groceries, eating out, personal spending, and household items.
At mint.com you’re able to track these purchases easily and adjust your spending accordingly. After signing up for an account, you simply add the bank accounts and credit cards where you put most of your spending and add the budget categories and limits you want to monitor. The system downloads your transactions each time you log on, you place the transactions in the proper category, and the system will show you how much money you have left for the month.
It’s a really easy interface to use, though it doesn’t do everything I’d like it to. First, you can’t develop your budget on the site, you have to know your budget numbers before you get started. And second, there’s no way to manually enter in accounts that, for whatever reason, the interface won’t let you access.
Even so, it’s the best tool I’ve found for watching those slush fund expenses.
Filed under: Personal finance
Hi there, I love your term, “slush fund”! I’ve never heard it. Just wanted to let you know, Intuit now offers another option for tracking your stable expenses (i.e. upcoming bills). In this case, you’d be able to anticipate your bills and get more of a realistic picture of what you’d have leftover for slush later in the month. Anyhow, if you’re interested in the product and want to check it out, visit http://www.quickenonline.com. If you have questions, let me know!
I’ve been really into mint lately, too. I love how can manage all your accts in one place, too: bank, student loans, etc.
Chelsea, thanks for your comment, but I think the issue is that I don’t need to monitor my stable expenses. I need to monitor the slush fund and I haven’t found Quicken to be very user-friendly in that area.
No problem Charity. I appreciate your feedback. We have some exciting changes coming soon so if you review anything later, check us out again. I respect that you’ve found something that works for you!
Charity, i’ve had the same problem with microsoft money… I can see how much i have gone over budget in “slush fund” areas after the fact but not as I’m doing it. I’ll have to check out mint. thanks
[...] ironic twist, the Founder of Mint.com has sold to the makers of Quicken (Intuit). Some of you may remember my post almost a year ago about how I appreciated Mint’s easy interface and particularly the ability [...]