Mint vs. Other budgeting programs

[sunflower.mama]

I want to use some type of budgeting program, and I set ours up in mint because it's free.  But seems cumbersome?  I run my budgets according to pay period, not calendar month and that's already messing me up.  Plus their categories seem strict, and I dislike how it's showing my HELOC as credit card debt, because that's not how I view it.  Should I persevere or are there better options? I'd invest in a program if I knew it would be more useful.

[sunnysandiegan]

I use Quicken and got used to most of the quirks. The one thing that REALLY bugs me is the paper waste when printing reports and I solved that by exporting to Excel, reformatting/tightening up the data, and then printing.

I think every program will have some quirks. It is a matter of which quirks you can live with more easily...

[GirlBoyGirl]

Well I have said it before and I will say it again- I love love love the Virtual Wallet on PNC.com. You have to be a customer but I think it is worth the switch, there are a ton of free budgeting tools that are really neat. I think they are having a deal now that if you sign up for an account, you get $100. Thats what I did back when I signed up.

[mylilmonkeys]

Does your bank offer any online tools?  Our credit union uses "Finance Works" which is a Quicken product.  I had the same problem with Mint and categorizing things without being able to adjust (and also just general compatibility problems with several accounts).  Finance Works is a little more adjustable, and I have no compatibility problems with other accounts, so I'm pleased our Credit Union offers it.

[sunnysandiegan]

Originally Posted by GirlBoyGirl 

Well I have said it before and I will say it again- I love love love the Virtual Wallet on PNC.com. You have to be a customer but I think it is worth the switch, there are a ton of free budgeting tools that are really neat. I think they are having a deal now that if you sign up for an account, you get $100. Thats what I did back when I signed up.

I looked into this. There is a $10 monthly service fee unless you can meet certain criteria (none of which apply to us).

[GirlBoyGirl]

Really? We don't have any fees and I don't know what kind of requirements our account has. We don't keep that much money in it... You do have to do direct deposit though to get the $100

[Graceie]

I like mint I add catagories to suit our life style

[meandk0610]

what about just setting it up in excel?

[cristina47454]

Mint is frustrating to me bcs for some reason it doesn't report my bank acct and credit cards accurately. It's always off...either by a couple bucks or a couple hundred bucks.  So I feel like it's kind of defeating the purpose...

[sunflower.mama]

I have always had an excel spreadsheet, and probably always will.  I just thought I'd see if commercial programs are worth it, and chances are, I am probably spoiled by doing it myself.

[treegardner]

We use budgeting software called "Budget" from a company called Snowmint. We tried Mint for awhile, but I didn't like it because I didn't feel like it was proactive enough for keeping a tight budget.

 

[khkelsey]

I used to use Budget from Snowmint as well. But when I got a smart phone, I switched to neobudget.com so I can always have it with me. Other than being pc based vs. web based, they're very similar. They both use an envelope system, which I love. I never spend money I need for another bill since I immediately allocate every deposit into envelopes.

[BCattS]

We love mvelopes.com. Envelope system but it downloads your transactions automatically like Mint does.