Written by: August 7, 2022
Mint (the #1 downloaded personal finance app) is a smart budgeting tool that will help you take charge of your money.
Principle-First
Save your money because one day it might save you.
It starts with budgeting and tracking your spending.
Let me show you how.
INTRODUCING MINT
Take control of your finances with Mint (iOS, Android, Desktop). Get an overview of all your accounts in one place.
Core features:
- Set custom budget
- Link accounts to automatically track spending
- Manage your subscriptions
- Get alerts for bill payments
- Receive insights on how to save
You Need a Budget (YNAB) is another popular budgeting service. While Mint is free, YNAB is $98.99 annually. Here’s a useful article comparing the two.
SUPERHUMAN SCORING
In every edition of All Systems Go, I assess the featured product across four superhuman dimensions: impact, setup, maintenance, and aesthetics.
Unlike your typical product review, I focus on factors that influence personal growth. Get to know the evaluation system.
Impact (9.5/10)
49% of Americans cannot cover a $400 emergency expense.
Lack of financial planning can cause severe personal stress (and hurt relationships).
A proven way to manage anything is to measure it.
And that, my friend, is the power of Mint: effortless, automatic measurement.
Setup (8.5/10)
Setup is easier than you think:
- Download the app (iOS, Android, Desktop)
- Register for a free account
- Follow prompts to sync accounts (banks, credit cards, investments, loans).
- Mint will auto-categorize expenses (utilities, food, etc.)
- Receive a proposed budget based on your historical income and spending.
- Accept or customize budget based on your savings goals.
Maintenance (8.0/10)
Budgeting is 90% mindset and 10% logistics.
Build the wealthy mindset with this book: The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel.
It’s full of gems like this one:
“Money's greatest intrinsic value—and this can't be overstated—is its ability to give you control over your time.”
Mint will help take care of the other 10%, logistics.
Schedule a weekly review of your spending.
See whether you are on track and identify areas for improvement.
Aesthetics (8.0/10)
Mint has standout downloads and reviews in Apple’s App Store (4.8 rating with 746K reviews).
Intuit owns mint. So you can trust they have top-grade security.
An elite experience all around.
BRINGING IT HOME
If you missed it, I wrote a popular Twitter thread this week on free personal finance tools.
Check that out for more free tools to help you be smarter with money (credit score monitoring, retirement planning, etc.).
Here’s to money being a means to freedom. 🥂
All systems go,
P.S. If you’re enjoying the free newsletter, it’d mean the world to me if you share it with others. System Sunday just launched, and every single referral helps. Thank you!
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Resources
- Newsletter Archive: Read past issues of All Systems Go
- Energy Dashboard: Get an under-the-hood look at my self-tracking metrics for energy management (updated weekly)
- [Quick Win] Phone Charger Challenge: Save 60 hours every year with this simple morning hack
