Save Money and Reduce Debt with Mint.
Sounds like two great ideas, right? Right! It’s not the only option, but it is a way to get started. Just like if you were sitting behind the wheel of the fastest car in the world–A Bugatti Chiron! Just you and a lot of horsepower positioned behind the limit line on barren stretch of road. The only thing stopping you and holding you back–the red light.
And then, wait for it, wait for it, I know I’m holding my breath too…it happens, the light turns GREEN and you step on the accelerator sending a flurry of gas to the ever hungry engine. The feeling, the roar of the engine and the transfer of power to the wheels feels as if you are a part of the car. Yeah I know pretty wordy, but I love Mint and I love when things turn green in the Mint App. It is by no means easy to change things from black to green, but the satisfaction of being debt free will give you more freedom in life.
Go Big Green!!! Mint is awesome! It is my new favorite app. I pretty much use it every day. Why?
Well, let me tell you why. Quite simply put because it does so much, and it is so easy to use in the world of finances.
So where did Mint come from?
Mint is an app created by Aaron Patzer and it was later acquire by Intuit. Intuit owns Turbo Tax, Mint, Quickbooks and ProConnect. Mint can help you organize your personal finances in one easy place. Did I say “Go Big Green,” while using Mint if your account is positive, then the money number in that specific account turns green. Again, I do not make any money from Mint, but I wish I did. It is truly an awesome, fantastic, phenomenal idea. And I wish I came up with it before Mr. Patzer did! Download Mint now from your App Store! Oh yeah, and it’s free!
A few reasons why I love Mint—Consolidate, Automate, Motivate, Allocate, Designate, Eradicate (CAMADE). It’s a dumb acronym, and yes, I made it up because I’m prior military and in public safety and we love acronyms for everything.
Consolidate.
With Mint, once you download it and create an account, you are ready to go. It’s great. Start linking all your accounts to Mint. You will need to initially enter in your account numbers and/or logins along with the passwords. I know super scary–especially for those of us that are a little more aware of all the indentity thieves in the world, but fear not, Mint is extremely secure. Once the information is entered into Mint, then the account is tracked, and the personal information is not saved anymore. So, so awesome! Now all of your eggs are in one basket where you can see what mountain you must climb. And yes it will be a mountain, but you can climb it. It is doable. Don’t forget what Zig Ziglar says, “You were designed for accomplishment, engineered for success, and endowed with the seeds of greatness.”
Automate.
Now that you have consolidated all of your accounts to include savings, checking, credit cards, student loans, home loans, investment accounts, and so on we can start to automate. I like to check this daily to ensure the automation is working and see where my money is going. Mint updates daily but some accounts have an extra security step to verify you are in possession of the device you are viewing your Mint account on. So they may require you to enter in a security code to update the account.
Motivate.
Now that you have automated things you will start to see changes in your finances from black to green. When using Mint, green is what you want to see! We love to be rewarded for our actions, but what better way to reward yourself than visually and financially. You actually get to see your money grow.
Allocate.
Mint makes you a budget. Yes, I said makes you a budget. Why is that nice? Oh come on…you and I love instant gratification and that is what Mint does. It instantly gratifies. It assigns your expenses to different categories such as Auto and Transport, Entertainment, Food and Dining, Shopping, Mortgage and Rent, and on and on. I think you get the idea. Again so nice for someone like you or I who doesn’t know where to start. The most important thing is to start.
Designate.
Aka: Goal Setting…Mint has it! Yes, you can set a goal in Mint. And yes, it is so easy to set a goal too. Hypothetically, let’s say I want to buy a motorhome for $25,000 by April of 2021. What have I done here, something very important, and Mint made it easy. I type in a name for my goal, what I want a motorhome, car, house down payment, blah, blah, blah. Then I set a goal amount I need to save for that purchase. And lastly, I listed a date that I want to reach the goal purchase by. Amazing, right?
Eradicate.
When you login to Mint, I use Face ID (iPhone) for quick access. You initially see the Accounts header then Net worth and a number, Cash and a number, Credit Cards and a number and Investments and a number. Those numbers are either colored in green or black. The green means you have a positive number and the black means that you have a negative number. So negative numbers really bother me, but when I see that negative number turn to green and then continue to grow, it’s very exciting.
All in all, Mint is an amazing tool. Since my goal is to rid public safety and military’s personal debt, this tool will help maximize our opportunities to do specifically that.
I hope you can see why I love Mint–CAMADE–Consolidate, Automate, Motivate, Allocate, Designate, Eradicate. Mint can easily become your financial friend. Let Mint help guide and encourage along your path to financial freedom through firm and fair discipline.
Just as a reminder, the information I provide is for educational purposes. Please do your own research and make your own decisions based upon that research. I care about you and want the best for you, but ultimately you should make an informed personal decision.
Your Assignment.
Not in a relationship— And don’t have any children, then download the Mint app and get started plugging in your accounts.
In a relationship—And married with children or in a significant relationship, then download the Mint app on both phones, but create only one login and password if you have joint accounts or create your own logins and passwords for separate accounts. Once you are logged in start entering the account information in.