Managing Your Money Just Got a lot Easier

Every so often a new company comes racing onto the scene capable of dramatically changing the way millions of internet users manage their day-to-day lives. Mint.com is one of those companies. I’ve looked over their Website and reviewed their free online money management solution and I just had to help spread the word. No, they don’t offer an affiliate program or pay bloggers to write posts… it’s just a great tool to help you manage your family’s finances.

What Mint.com does is solve the long-standing problem managing your money by offering easy, automatic and online money management, for free.

Mint.com will pull all of your financial accounts into one place eliminating the need to bounce from Website to Website checking balances and handling transactions. Think of it as your “money command center”. If it has to do with money you’ll find it in your Mint.com account. They already have 6,500 US financial institutions onboard bringing data from those accounts securely into your money command center.

Once you add your family’s, or just your own, financial accounts to Mint.com all of your transactions and balances will brought into your Mint.com account automatically every day. This includes your bank, credit card and investment accounts. No need for software, spreadsheets or other tedious tasks to stay on top of your personal finances.

Mint.com will automatically categorize your transactions making it easy to see how much you’re spending on housing, gas, groceries, entertainment, and if there’s any money left to spend,  it will track that too! Of course this information can be viewed in a variety of reports helping you draw the right conclusions about your budget and make better financial decisions.

Tracking cash expenditures has always been difficult, but with Mint.com you can track ATM withdrawals by sorting them into categories to show you where the cash was actually spent. Likewise, purchases from a discount store like Costco can now be split into the appropriate categories. Splitting these transactions helps you understand where your money is spent more easily then ever before.

As if this wasn’t enough already Mint allows you to compare your spending patterns with others! Of course this is done anonymously allowing you to compare your spending with people nearby or at the National level.

Because you probably don’t let your mom monitor your spending any longer you will appreciate Mint.com automatically monitoring your monthly spending. Just identify spending categories you’d like to create a personal budget for, set your budget amount, and it handles it from there. You will receive an alert by e-mail or text message if you exceed your budget.

They also offer customizable alerts to help avoid overdraft charges, missed payments, identity theft, and all sorts of unwanted surprises:

• Low balances in any checking or savings account
• Credit card bill due dates
• Low credit on credit cards
• Over your personal budget on any selected category
• High or unusual spending based on your history
• Bank/ATM fees and finance charges
• Large purchases
• Large deposits, like a paycheck
• High or unusual spending by category based on your history

Bottom line is this Mint.com is a game-changer because it helps solve a widespread problem for millions of people and it’s totally free. They will make their living by allowing quality financial partners market appropriate financial products to users at an appropriate time and manner. The business model is superb for us dads who don’t want to spend any more money or time on managing our finances!

Would love to hear what you think of Mint.com!

Daniil Simkin and Dmitrij Simkin - My Way

A friend sent me a link to this video and while I’m not much of a ballet fan I found this performance by the Simkin’s of Russia, a father and son team, quite entertaining. They dance to Paul Anka’s ‘My Way’ and the performance makes quite a statement about living your life in your own way and driving yourself to be the best you can be in whatever it is that makes you you. At least that’s my interpretation of this performance.

I hope you enjoy it. (4:43)

For more information on the son, Daniil, visit Daniil’s Website.

Fathers Day Thoughts

- A special shout out to you dads who aren’t going to be at home with your families. Whether you’re in Iraq, Afghanistan, on travel, or stuck in a hospital, etc…. I hope you’re able to connect with your loved ones by phone, email, or in some way on this special day called Fathers Day.

- For those of you who aren’t friendly with, or close to your dads, and have grown apart, Fathers Day is a great opportunity to reach out, as awkward as it can be, and tell your dad you still love them. Most of us dads are far from perfect, and in some cases we can be downright jerks. But, you’re only issued one dad in life, and your dad is the best dad you’ve ever had! I wouldn’t recommend waiting for dad to break the ice because we dads are a stubborn and stupid bunch of fellas.

- My dad died a long time ago when he was just 60 years old. At the time he had one grandkid who was just one year old. He’d have a dozen or so if he were alive today. To think about all he’s missed is heartbreaking. If only he had quit smoking he may be here today enjoying life as a proud grandfather. Take care of your health dads! If not for yourself, then for your families and future grandkids that need you!

- Finally, for those of you who knew Tim Russert you were undoubtedly shocked to learn of his sudden death yesterday. He was 58 years old and in his prime as a journalist. More then a journalist, he was a man who loved his parents, loved his kids, and loved the things that shaped his life, like the Buffalo Bills and other sports teams he grew up admiring. He wrote some “dad books” in recent years that we could all learn a few valuable lessons from. A couple of his great books…

My dad got me hooked on watching the Sunday morning political talk shows when I was 18 years old and I’ve watched them ever since. Tim and Meet the Press was one show that I’d never miss and one of only two Sunday morning shows I tivo. There will be a lot of watery eyes tomorrow morning and Sunday morning won’t be the same without him. My heart goes out to the Russert family.

Thank You World from the Virginia Tech Hokies

Like most people I was very shaken when the VA Tech shootings occurred not long ago. We Virginians listened to it unfold on our radio stations and local news stations as we heard the grim details roll on like a never ending nightmare. It was yet another senseless act committed by a soulless lunatic against our young.

Equally as moving was watching the news and learning about the love pouring out of every corner of the world to the students, lost and living, their families and the entire Hokie community.

VA Tech students wanted to say thanks to everyone around the world so they formed a giant human “VT THANKS YOU” and a satellite captured it on the photograph above. Very cool.

On a side note - When I added the post with photographs from the early 1900’s  to the site earlier today I had no idea the event at VA Tech was to occur. Strange coincidence…. That story is here: Mole and Thomas classic photographs now in our ‘Cool‘ category.

There’s a website you can visit for more information and photographs here: http://www.hokiesthanktheworld.org.

Go Hokies!

David