Mint would classify my health insurance transaction as “financial”. However, if Mint categorizes other transactions incorrectly and you want them to always go in a particular category every month, you can create and manage transaction rules. Now that example will always have to be monitored since Target is an all-in-one store that provides a number of products that I split across various budget categories. In my personal experience when I used Mint exclusively for budgeting, I had to constantly monitor and edit the way transactions were categorized to get accurate reports.įor example, a trip to Target defaulted to the category “shopping”, however, I’d have to change the category depending on the items I purchased, like groceries or household items, for example. When a transaction is imported from your bank account, Mint makes a smart guess and sorts your transactions into categories automatically. One of Mint’s selling features includes “automatic categorization” of your expenses. Pay Specific Amount Each Month – help you budget a certain amount toward your debt each month, without having a target payoff date in mind.The amount will adjust if you are making slower or faster progress than your original plan! Pay Off Balance by Date – Calculate a monthly amount to budget to pay off your credit card debt by a specific date.Monthly Funding Goal – Sets a target amount to budget for a category each month. There is no target category balance or date, so it goes indefinitely (well, unless you decide to delete the goal) and is not impacted by new spending.Your category balance will be orange if you haven’t budgeted enough, or if you need to budget more after spending from that category. YNAB will give you a Goal Target each month and tell you how much more you need to budget to stay on track. Target Category Balance by Date Goal – Does the same thing, but sets a target month as well.Since there isn’t a way to be off track, there is no alert if you’re short of your goal, but you’ll see a progress bar when you select the category. Target Category Balance Goal– Set aside money until you have a certain amount available without a specific timeline to get there.The first three tackle spending categories and the last two deal with credit card payment categories.
If you look at YNAB’s success stories, you’ll see that their users rave about how the software and methodology helped them gain control over their money, get out of debt, save for emergencies, and invest wisely. Intentionally spend less and save more so that eventually, you’ll be able to cover this month’s expenses with dollars from the month before. Be flexible and address overspending as it happens. Never get surprised by another unexpected bill or life event again. Prioritize how you use your money as it comes in, then stick to your plan.
The software stands out from the rest because it was developed around four unique money management principles which helps instill better money habits. YNAB is a budgeting tool created to help users proactively take control of their both their spending and saving.