NP here - good to hear all the recs for YNAB, because that's what I'm considering using. I hated Mint, I found it totally useless for my needs.

how are mint or ynab different then quicken?

Anonymous wrote:There's a budget feature on mint.com, where you can see how much of a category you have left per month. If you budgeted $600 per food, and all your grocery transactions were categorized correctly as "food" then you could see how you were doing with that category that month. You can track that over time, download those transactions into a XL (very handy for tax purposes for medical categories for example.

That's a huge IF when it comes to Mint though. I love it, but it is sometimes way of base with it's categorizations. You do have to keep up and correct them if you want to use it for budgeting.

Another YNAB user here. I love it. Tried Mint years ago and found it to be more of a hassle than useful.

Like a PP, YNAB has actually changed my spending patterns and instead of going into my overdraft every month, I actually have money left over now. The iphone app makes it so easy to track expenses and budgeted categories.

www.youneedabudget.com

There's a budget feature on mint.com, where you can see how much of a category you have left per month. If you budgeted $600 per food, and all your grocery transactions were categorized correctly as "food" then you could see how you were doing with that category that month. You can track that over time, download those transactions into a XL (very handy for tax purposes for medical categories for example.

20:41 I use YNAB and love it, so much more than Mint. It has changed my mindset about spending in a profound way. Best of all, every major non-monthly bill I have is accounted for and funded. It has taken SO much stress and worry from my life.

It's work, especially because I choose not to just download and sync transaction from my bank. I enter purchases and payments as I go so that I can see on my iPhone that, yes, I've got $60 left in my restaurant fund this month, or, no, I'm not gonna buy that delicious looking pie on sale b/c I've already overspent in my junk food/splurge category. Keeps me so cognizant of all those little $15-30 purchases I'd make thoughtlessly that would add up to hundreds and hundreds each month!

Thank you everyone!! I'm going to try out mint.

I use You Need A Budget (YNAB), including the app. I don't want to connect my accounts directly like with Mint, and I really really like the budgeting philosophy with YNAB. It has truly changed my life!

NP here, is there anyone who uses YNAB for what OP is trying to do? Do you like it?

I LOVE mint except the reality check it gives you! Since you can categorize everything, you realize how much you spend on food.

another mint lover- and there is an app to track on the go!

+1 for mint....LOVE it

+1 for mint.com

You don't have to enter much at all -- the app/web site downloads all the transactions. You can see what you owe, what your income is, what your bills are. You can see everything by week or month or year. You can calculate your net worth (an approximation but they estimate your house's value, etc.). Using this web site has given me insights into our finances that I could have used years ago.

I think that mint.com does this.

Is there a website (or even a app for iPhone or iPad) that you can put in all of your monthly bills and paychecks and track how much your bills are a month, how much you have left, how much to save, etc.?

TIA!!