mint.com money tracking tool

[LAYAAN]

I just found something I really like. I have been searching for a long time for a money tracking tool like this.

The features I like in it -

- You can link it to ALL your bank/s, credit card/s, investment/s, saving/s accounts and it compiles ALL transcations in the transactions menu. This is a huge plus. I tried moneytrackin and I couldn't find a similar feature in it. I had to manually enter each transaction and that was too much for me to do.

- You can create budget for each of your areas.

- You can get support from online community.

- Yes, its FREE!

 

I'm sure many people out there are already using it. But if you got to know about it late, just like me, give it a try.

[AuthenticAuthor]

Thanks for the tip.

 

If the software is open-sourced and compatible with Linux, I may just give it a try.

[LAYAAN]

What is an open source software?

[Anthropic]

Open source software is software that is made available in source code form for anyone to copy and modify, basically do whatever they want with it.

 

link removed is web based so it should work just fine in Linux. Not open source though.

 

I looked into link removed a while ago and at the time it didn't support any Canadian banks, which made it not too useful for me. It seemed pretty slick though.

 

One thing I wonder about, does using link removed violate the terms of service for your accounts? I mean you've basically given a third party your account numbers (hopefully not passwords too), this sounds kind of like it would violate terms of service agreements for bank accounts. That would be bad, because if something happens, you may not be protected and the bank would leave you out to dry.

[AuthenticAuthor]

One thing I wonder about, does using link removed violate the terms of service for your accounts? I mean you've basically given a third party your account numbers (hopefully not passwords too), this sounds kind of like it would violate terms of service agreements for bank accounts. That would be bad, because if something happens, you may not be protected and the bank would leave you out to dry.

 

Very good point. For this reason, I prefer it to be onboard computer software rather than a web-based application. Inevitably they have your information, when it could be more secure in your own computer instead.

[AuthenticAuthor]

Open source software is software that is made available in source code form for anyone to copy and modify, basically do whatever they want with it.

 

Additionally, having the software in source code rather than in machine code (1s and 0s) means someone could actually understand what the program actually does (if that someone was a programmer that is). The software is more trustworthy since it isn't hiding what its doing in your system.

[LAYAAN]

Additionally, having the software in source code rather than in machine code (1s and 0s) means someone could actually understand what the program actually does (if that someone was a programmer that is). The software is more trustworthy since it isn't hiding what its doing in your system.

tell me in simple English what you mean by this. So, does that make link removed good or bad in terms of security of our data?

[Anthropic]

The idea is that if it is open source, anyone can look at how the program is constructed to determine if there are any security risks. That is, I don't have to just trust the creators of the software, I can actually look for myself to see that everything is working as advertised. In reality, I don't think being open source necessarily makes software more secure, so I wouldn't worry about it being open source or not.

 

I think link removed has pretty decent security and privacy protection. Take a look at their link removed and read up on it to decide for yourself.

 

I'm more concerned about whether or not it violates your terms of service for your accounts. Which it may or may not, I don't know. All I know is the banks will take any chance to screw you, and could use this as an excuse to do just that.

[LAYAAN]

okay, I see what you are saying, but thats what you pay for convenience. You see other money tracking tools don't have the feature where transactions are automatically added to your account on mint and you don't have to manually enter each transaction.

Now you have read mint's privacy and security statement, do you trust it?

Also, what do you think about calling up your bank and asking them about mint and if they are okay with it?

[AuthenticAuthor]

In reality, I don't think being open source necessarily makes software more secure, so I wouldn't worry about it being open source or not.

 

It really depends on the very person using said software of course. While being OS doesn't necessarily mean its free of bugs (which program isn't free of bugs?), legally speaking its great for those who want to pop open the hood and inspect it before driving it.

 

I'm more concerned about whether or not it violates your terms of service for your accounts. Which it may or may not, I don't know. All I know is the banks will take any chance to screw you, and could use this as an excuse to do just that.

 

Another reason why I wouldn't want to use a web-based application instead of an onboard open-sourced software.

[Anthropic]

okay, I see what you are saying, but thats what you pay for convenience. You see other money tracking tools don't have the feature where transactions are automatically added to your account on mint and you don't have to manually enter each transaction.

Now you have read mint's privacy and security statement, do you trust it?

Also, what do you think about calling up your bank and asking them about mint and if they are okay with it?

 

I hear ya, I'm one of those "manually enter transactions into spreadsheet" people. Personally, I'm satisfied with the level of security and privacy of link removed, I'd probably be using it if it supported Canadian banks. I'd definitely look into whether it violates terms of service though, calling the bank seems like a good idea. Although, I'd dig into the legalize myself just to be sure.

[hers]

im currently on the website trying to figure out how to hook it to my account. it's giving me issues though. it's saying "downloading transactions" but is taking a while. this is the second time i've tried doing this and the first time it came back saying there was an issue connecting to my bank. I bank with Bank of America, if that means anything. Can anyone help?

[LAYAAN]

im currently on the website trying to figure out how to hook it to my account. it's giving me issues though. it's saying "downloading transactions" but is taking a while. this is the second time i've tried doing this and the first time it came back saying there was an issue connecting to my bank. I bank with Bank of America, if that means anything. Can anyone help?

Log in to your account---> scroll all the way down to the bottom of the "overview" page ---> click the 1st option on 2nd line in the list of several options "support community" ---> you can ask this Q to the users' community.

 

BOA knows about this problem. Many users have had this problem before.

Good luck!