How To Use the Mint App
Here’s how to get started with Mint:
- Download the Mint app to your smartphone, launch it and create an account.
- Follow the prompts to link your bank accounts, credit cards, investment accounts, loan accounts, P2P payment apps and more.
- Once your accounts are connected, Mint will provide an overview of your finances and suggest a customizable budget tailored to your needs.
- Use the app to analyze your budget and spending habits, view upcoming bills, set alerts and create financial goals.
Mint and Your Budget
Mint is a free budgeting app that lets you connect all of your financial accounts in one digital space so you get a high-level overview of your financial health. The app also allows users to track spending and savings and set and monitor budget goals.
With Mint, users can sync bank accounts, money management accounts, retirement and investment accounts, credit cards and other financial accounts. You also can track all of your monthly bills through Mint and receive reminders so you can easily pay your bills on time.
After connecting your financial accounts, Mint tracks your transactions and categorizes them to simplify tracking. Users can stick with the default categories provided by Mint or create personalized categories to fit their needs.
For added customization, you can add tags and reorganize transactions as necessary to better track your spending. If you’re like most users, many transactions don’t necessarily fall into one specific category. With Mint, you have the ability to separate a single transaction into multiple categories, including any fees charged.
Mint is designed for individual users, and there’s no option for joint Mint accounts. However, two people with joint financial accounts can each create their own Mint account and sync the same accounts to view the same information.
Mint Security
Security is of the utmost priority for Mint and its parent company, Intuit. Mint closely guards user information through the latest security measures, including strong encryption, multifactor authentication and other security protocols. You can also safeguard your Mint account by adding a four-digit security code to your mobile device.
Users can control app access from their online accounts. If your mobile device is ever lost or stolen, you can log into Mint’s website and turn off mobile access or delete your data from the app remotely.
Mint Pricing
Mint is free to use, but an enhanced version of the app, called Mint Premium, is available exclusively on iOS devices and carries a monthly cost of $4.99. Mint Premium lacks most of the advertisements included in the free version of the app and adds advanced analytics, an option to export your data, and access to Billshark, a service that can cancel unwanted subscriptions on your behalf. Mint Premium also lets you compare your spending habits to other Mint users and play two exclusive games that teach saving and spending tips.
Other App Tools
Mint is not an investing app, but it allows you to view and track your investments. Having access to your investments in a budgeting app lets you get a complete snapshot of your finances in one spot. You can add all of your investment accounts, including 401(k), brokerage accounts, IRAs and more. The investment tracking tool allows you to compare your investment portfolio to market benchmarks and even track investment fees so you can see if there are any unnecessary charges.
Distinguishing Features
Mint gives account holders free access to their credit score and credit monitoring tools. You can view your TransUnion VantageScore as often as you would like, thanks to a partnership with TransUnion. Checking your credit score through Mint doesn’t negatively affect your credit.
Your score comes with a snapshot of your credit report, along with insights into how scores are calculated and steps you can take to improve your score. Mint also offers free credit monitoring through TransUnion. Users can sign up to receive real-time alerts whenever TransUnion receives new information from creditors.
Account Access
The Mint app is available for iOS and Android. You also can access your account online through Mint’s website.
How Mint Stacks Up
Mint is not only free—it’s also easy to set up and use. There are times when you may need to reconnect a financial account, which can be a nuisance, but overall the app does exactly what it’s intended to do. Not only can you track spending and create budgets, but also you get a bird’s-eye view of your overall financial standing.
Having access to Mint online and through the mobile app is helpful, especially if you’re doing a deeper dive into your finances and budget. Insights from Mint also provide extra help to spot trends in your spending so you can save money.
Among free budgeting apps, it’s hard to find another app that provides more value than Mint. It’s not perfect, but it’s an excellent tool whether you’re a budgeting pro or a novice.
Goodbudget vs. Mint
Goodbudget is a straightforward budgeting tool that uses an envelope system for tracking expenses. You enter your income and categorize your expenses into virtual envelopes within the app. Then, you set aside a certain amount of money in each envelope to help you budget.
Unlike Mint, Goodbudget doesn’t link to your financial accounts for real-time tracking of your finances. Instead, all transactions are entered manually. This makes it best for people who prefer a budgeting app that doesn’t require their account credentials to work.
Goodbudget offers both a free version and a paid subscription. The primary benefit of the paid version is it includes unlimited envelopes. And while it doesn’t have all the bells and whistles that Mint has, Goodbudget lets you sync your budget across devices and track your debt to help you pay it off faster.
PocketGuard vs. Mint
Like Mint, PocketGuard is a highly rated app that links to your financial accounts to help you track and stay on top of your spending, bills and overall budget. Purchases are automatically uploaded to the app, so you can track your finances in real time.
PocketGuard also comes with tools and services similar to Mint’s offerings, which are designed to help you save amounts big and small. These features include bill tracking, subscription monitoring and graphs of your accounts, net worth and investments.
PocketGuard has a free and paid version, which is more expensive than Mint’s paid service. But some may find the extra cost worth it, due to PocketGuard’s ease of use and greater flexibility in creating categories and setting financial goals.
Honeydue vs. Mint
Honeydue is a free mobile app built with couples in mind. It lets you and your partner view the same bills, set budgets and plan financial milestones together. Like Mint, Honeydue links to multiple financial accounts for real-time tracking of bills and spending, so there are no surprises.
However, not everything has to be shared. Honeydue also lets you set individual financial goals that only you can see. Considering money is among the top relationship issues, Honeydue may help reduce relationship stress by creating more transparency and trust.
The Honeydue app is completely free, including the Honeydue joint banking account that’s part of the service. It has no monthly fees or minimum balance requirements and grants you access to a nationwide network of more than 55,000 fee-free ATMs.
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Is Mint a safe app?
Yes. Intuit, Mint’s parent company, employs the latest security and technology measures to keep its customers’ personal and financial information safe. Security measures include software and hardware encryption and multifactor authentication.
How much does the Mint app cost?
Mint is available in both a free and paid version. The paid version is called Mint Premium and costs $4.99 a month. It’s currently only available for iOS users.
Can you use Mint without linking accounts?
Although it’s intended for automatic syncing, there is a way to manually add financial accounts to your Mint account. However, doing so adds another level of involvement on your part, since Mint can’t automatically update information for these accounts.
Does Mint hurt your credit score?
No. Mint’s free TransUnion VantageScore credit score feature, which allows you to check your credit score anytime, doesn’t affect your credit rating. However, you’ll need to provide your Social Security number to access this feature.
How do you use the Mint app effectively?
To use the Mint app effectively, set up alerts, create custom categories and make use of the graphs. Alerts will help you save on fees and costs, custom categories let you more effectively track where your money is going, and Mint’s graphs let you drill down into every segment of your budget and get insights into your spending habits.
What is the best budgeting app for couples?
A few budgeting apps excel at helping couples share their finances, including Honeydue and You Need a Budget (YNAB). Honeydue is specifically geared towards couples, and YNAB lets you share account access with up to five people.
What are the key components of a basic budget?
Establishing some priorities for how you and your family spend money is where the budgeting process begins. In order to achieve the financial goals you set for yourself, you need to know how much money is coming in and how much money is going out.
How important are good budgeting habits?
After you create a household budget, what really makes things work is living your budget. Your mindset and your habits play critical roles in how well your budgeting efforts serve your goals. If you find you have money habits that could use some improvement, the right app can help.
