nifty little site: Mint.com

just popping in to say hello and let you guys know i'm still here :-) seems like the website of the week thing doesn't work so much for me. there aren't always cool sites to share. :-/


my brother told me about this cool website called "Mint". it's free to sign up, and it's a 'refreshing' money management system which syncs with all of your checking and credit card accounts. it'll let you know if one of their offers will save you money, and help you make the switch!

it updates transactions from your accounts each night, and calculates your spending habits and if you've set up a budget (another feature you can configure), will tell you if you went under/over your limits on a certain category.

how does mint keep your information safe? they have a page on that here, along with an FAQ.

it's pretty neat and there's lots of other features to discover, so go check it out! i had trouble adding my PNC account and getting my username and password to go through. hopefully you guys have better luck than me! once i get it working, i'll post screenshots of how it works in case some of you don't want to sign up just yet.

if i don't post for another week or so, happy holidays everyone!

how much should i spend on...?

the following percentages are roughly how much of your monthly net income should be spent on each category. good to know! :-P

• Housing: 20-30%
• Utilities: 2-10%
• Transportation: 2-5%
• Food and Personal: 12-25%

includes clothing, groceries, entertainment, dining out, dry cleaning, and hair cuts.

• Debt Repayment: 5-15%

if you spend more than 15% on these payments, you may need to make some budget adjustments.

• Insurance: 2-5%

for health, life, auto, and renter's/home owner's insurance

• Health Care: 5%

a resource for when insurance will not cover something.

• Savings: 5-10%

for unexpected expenses, emergencies, or vacations.

• Miscellaenous: 1-2%

this could include out-of-pocket expenses, convenience items, magazines, newspapers, and other small purchases.

[via http://www.spsu.edu/finaid/exitcoun/Budget.html.]