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HOW TO: Use Mint to Manage Your Spending Habits

Posted: 14 Jul 2011 10:01 PM PDT

Posted on One Tip A Day - What Will You Learn Today?

mint 02 HOW TO: Use Mint to Manage Your Spending Habits

This is a guest post by Annie. If you want to guest post on this site, then please read our guidelines here.

I had been hearing about Mint for a few months before I finally found out that my bank was signed up with them. But being that I still wasn’t sure of what they were, it wasn’t until one of the tellers I was friendly with took the time to convince me one day that I should check it out. She said that she used them all the time to help reduce her spending and control her budget. I was intrigued, mainly because the bank itself had those kind of services. If she was really endorsing another service other than the one she worked for, it must be at least decent, right?

It was only hours later when I registered, and I have to say that I am seeing major results. Because I have two main bank accounts in addition to my credit card accounts, there is a lot to keep up with. Other people have even more, with loans and mortgages and investments…it can make anyone’s head spin, and a single online banking account won’t show it all.

Mint works by pulling all of those accounts together and listening it on one single website. It gives you the complete picture, and makes it easier to see what it is you have and don’t have. Using that blueprint you can make changes where necessary, which is very helpful. I have already saved a ton of money by keeping from overextending myself.

You can also reign in your spending and keep a tighter budget using Mint. Just follow these helpful hints.

Make or Edit Categories

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I was kind of shocked when I first added all of my accounts. I thought it would show me their current state and it did. But it also showed the last yearof activity, which was an awful lot of information for my PayPal and bank accounts. Add to that two credit cards, a large loan for a car and an additional savings account, and I was practically swimming in data.

Luckily, most of it is properly categorized. It will break them down into smaller genres, such as Shopping, Utilities, Mortgage, ect. While this is handy, sometimes things aren’t placed properly or it isn’t exactly how you would want it. Luckily that problem has an easy fix, and it doesn’t take long at all to change those already made or just create your own.

Here is what you have to do:

Go to your main account and to Transactions at the top, then select the one you want to change.
Next, select the appropriate category for that transaction and see if there is a subcategory. From there you can either leave it under the same main category or add a sub section. For example, if you were in Shopping you could create one for Clothing in that section. Or you could change the initial title.
From there, go to Edit Details. This will allow you to change the rules of the category, so you can decide what is sent there. You can also add tags and notes in order to further specify what should be placed there in the future.
Finally, go to the dialogue box and select "Always remain (Insert Category) as (Chosen Name) and (Chosen Subcategory). From then on, all transactions of that type will be renamed per those specifications, as well all existing activities that meet the requirements. So you don’t have to go through and tag and change things yourself.

Another good idea is to take some time to set up rules for anything that has been uncategorized. Inevitably, there are some transactions which wont be able to be set into their proper place. You can use the steps above to take care of those as well.

The best part of having everything in their proper genre is that you can get a gross amount of any category, subcategory or particular store. Which will let you see exactly how much you are spending, which might just come as a shock to you. I, for one, saw that I was spending almost $300 a month on eating out, including my husband’s lunches…shocking!

Set Up Budgets

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We all have to follow by a budget to make sure bills are paid on time to the places we need them to be, and that we have enough to cover everything. Getting on top of it can be difficult, but Mint makes it easier by giving a complete view of your financial situation. That includes any overspending so you can see what you have to cut out to be more fiscally healthy.

There are several default budgets that you can use that will be set to your available income each month. However, you can customize your own as well. Just click on Planning in your main account and select what budget you want to edit. Or else click on Create Budget to start from scratch.

If you are using a tablet budget you can just change the amounts and details to fit your lifestyle. Start by changing the amounts with the triangles beside each selection to go higher or lower. For more advanced options, click on Edit Details and put in whatever you need. Mint will do the rest by automatically updating everything to fit those specifications.

Use Email Alerts

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Usually a site will have very specific email alerts that may or may not be helpful. With Mint, you can create your own to tell you when your funds are low, when you have a bill coming up, when you become overdrawn, when a deposit is made and more. Even for unusual activity that can directly alert you to fraud.

Get The App

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Want to be mobile? If you have an iPhone you can download the app and take it on the go. You can add tags, check and log transactions and make account changes from your phone. This is handy if you want to keep track of your spending while you are out, specially for a night on the town or when shopping.

Mint is a great site that can really help you to balance your finances in a more easy and simple way. It is free, simple to use and available now in its full version after a long time stuck in beta. So check it out.

Annie is a tech-savvy mom of two and frugal blogger for Home Loan Finder, and helps people find the best online home loans.

HOW TO: Use Mint to Manage Your Spending Habits is a post from One Tip A Day - What Will You Learn Today? - Tips for your PC, Mobile, MP3 player, Software and more. Each day One Tip will be posted: Simple and quick to apply for all user levels.. Visit One Tip A Day - What Will You Learn Today? for the Latest Tips for your PC, Mobile, MP3 player, Software and more. Each day One Tip will be posted: Simple and quick to apply for all user levels.

How To Increase Google Adsense Revenues

Posted: 14 Jul 2011 03:53 AM PDT

Posted on One Tip A Day - What Will You Learn Today?

Google Adsense is probably the most popular ad network for bloggers. Famous bloggers like Darren Rowse make thousands of dollars each month from adsense, and many bloggers get some sort of cheque through the post.

Everton from Connected Internet has just shared a tip on increasing adsense revenues using Doubleclick For Publishers (DFP) that I’ve never seen before:

In summary, serving ads via DFP:
Increases the earnings of existing adsense units
Makes it viable to run adsense ads in positions that previously did not make financial sense like headers, sidebars and below posts

For any blogger or website owner using Google Adsense, this is essential reading.

More: Increase Adsense Revenues

How To Increase Google Adsense Revenues is a post from One Tip A Day - What Will You Learn Today? - Tips for your PC, Mobile, MP3 player, Software and more. Each day One Tip will be posted: Simple and quick to apply for all user levels.. Visit One Tip A Day - What Will You Learn Today? for the Latest Tips for your PC, Mobile, MP3 player, Software and more. Each day One Tip will be posted: Simple and quick to apply for all user levels.