Mint has just released a free native application for the iPhone and iPod touch that allows you to browse your Mint account (including account balances, transactions, budgets, etc.) quickly and natively. Nice.
[Via Mint]
This documentary is excellent look at where more and more of us are heading and some of the predatory lending that helped get us there. It doesn’t really provide any answers, but it’s reassuring that we’re not alone in this situation and it’s important to be aware of the pitfalls.
I streamed it from Netflix, but you can also borrow it from your local library or buy it from Amazon and iTunes.
Peter Schiff tried to warn us about not only the real estate crash, but also the subsequent Wallstreet crash and credit crunch. Remember Warren Buffett’s words: “[B]e fearful when others are greedy, and be greedy when others are fearful.”
[Via 37signals]
I’ve been seeing the bizarre ads on Hulu for FeedThePig.org and finally broke down and visited the site. It turns out that, “the goal of the campaign is to encourage the 40 million Americans age 25 to 34 to take control of their personal finances.”
Considering how off-putting the commercials are, I’m concerned about their effectiveness. That said, they do have useful links to financial calculators on their Resources page. Especially helpful are the Roll-Down Your Credit Card Debt and Don’t Delay Your Savings tools.
Leo Babauta on getting out of debt:
I highly recommend that people get out of debt and stay out of debt, especially as the economy hits difficult times. It’s not a good position to be in if you lose your job while burdened with lots of debt. Better: become debt-free, with a good emergency fund and a small budget. That’s recession-proof personal finances.
He has more helpful and inspiring articles in the Finance & Family section of his site.
Geezeo is a free web-based personal finance application that makes it easy to track all your finances, see where all your money is going, set financial goals and learn from others.
Another personal finance site along the lines of Wesabe which not only includes the basic tools offered by Mint, Yodlee MoneyCenter, and Quicken Online, but is integrated with a community for that “positive public pressure” and swapping of tips.
[Via My Money Blog]
I never realized that Yodlee, who sells their bank account data roundup services to Mint, actually had their own free online money management software as well.
In addition to the standard personal finance functionality offered by the likes of Quicken Online, Wesabe, and Mint, MoneyCenter’s more advanced features include a BillPay service, financial calendar (when bills are due and such), and a credit card rewards center.
[Via My Money Blog]
Last week, Intuit switched their web-based version of Quicken from a subscription service to a completely free service. I’ve used their desktop software for the Mac in the past and I use TurboTax every year, so I’ll have to give it a try.
Of course, I’ve been very happy with Mint over the past year.
[Via Get Rich Slowly]
SmartyPig is for people who want to save for specific goals. […] Just tell us what you’re saving for, how much you want to save and when you want to reach your goal, and we’ll suggest an automatic monthly deposit you’ll make from your existing checking or saving account until you reach your goal.
An interesting and probably very helpful concept. It’s got a higher interest rate (3.9% APY at the time of writing) than my ING Direct Orange Savings account which just—understandably—dropped from 3.0% APY to 2.75% APY.
The downside: you won’t be earning as much interest as you would if you kept all your savings together. However, the fact that others can contribute to your goals and that you’re looking at “goals” as opposed to account numbers are probably significant benefits.
Of course, it’s FDIC insured.
A Consumerist reader on how she payed off $14,300 in debt over a period of 20 months:
Instead of making a bunch of changes at once, I did things a little over time[…] It’s maybe not in the order that makes the most sense to a financial planner or in the order that someone else would do things; I just know that it worked for me.
Includes a summary of the first 6 months of her plan, much of which is what I plan to do. It’s always good to read success stories.