BUDGETING SYSTEMS Personal Finance and Credit Card Points 101 Ana M Soriano

Online Tools  There are many online tools in the marketplace today. Many are free to use. One of the most popular tools is Mint.com. You can research alternatives, but for the purpose of this class, I will focus on Mint.com.

Mint.com Pros Free to use Easily Links to your existing debit and credit cards from your financial institution and automatically tracks the information for you. The information is updated instantaneously Categories can be added or deleted for customization Short and Long term saving goals can be applied easily such as retirement, home purchase, car purchase, or vacation. Offers visual tools such as graphs and reports. Sends you alerts when you are coming close to your set budget for a specific category. Has a user friendly mobile app for convenience.

Mint.com Cons  System may mis-categorize your transactions. You may have to manually change them.  System will ask you for your personal log-in information to link up with your existing financial institutions.

Log into Mint.com The first step is to Sign Up or log into

Take the Tour The next step is to Take the Tour. The system will guide you through the features step by step.

Create a Budget Once you complete the tour, start with Create a Budget. Then explore the other features such as Transactions, Goals, Trends, Investments, and Ways to Save.

Add Accounts Once you have explored the site, click on accounts. This is where you will need to enter your existing log-in information for your financial institution. The site will automatically transfer all your transactions and categorize them for you. Once this step is complete, click on budgets again to view how you are progressing with your budget.

Budget Complete!  And just like that – your budget is set up. Personally I prefer online budgeting systems versus traditional budgeting systems - because they are simpler to use. There are less steps involved in maintaining your budget. You also have easy access on the road through the mobile app. However, the major drawback is potentially compromised card information and security concerns.

Additional Online Resources  Here is an article from GoodFinancialCents.com listing the best free online budgeting tools summarizing the pros and cons of each.  budgeting-tools/ budgeting-tools/

Things to Consider When creating a personal budget, there are some things you need to consider such as:  Setting financial goals  Knowing your income  Making a Plan  Tracking Your Spending  Updating your budget often

Make Many Lists Before you sit down to make a list, make a small list of your needs such as housing, food, and etc. Then make a list of your wants such as cable and magazine subscriptions. Examine expenses that can be potentially cut to reduce monthly cost from the wants list. Then make a lists of all your household monthly expenses. Calculate your total monthly household income. Examine ways you can either increase income or reduce costs.

Closing  Budgeting takes an investment of time, but with the right tools and some motivation, a budget is a great tool to map out your financial life.