Since Mint...is shutting down...how does everyone here budget???

[crazyliblady]

This is way too much manual input for me Are you going through your accounts and totaling up what you spend in each category? After a decade of having that automated, there is no way I'm going back to manual tracking. I have 4 streams of income and a half a dozen bank accounts for different purposes. It would take hours each month.

It's only "manual" in the sense that I came up with the budget on my own after decades of trying other methods like writing it down on paper and using various software. It is a spreadsheet in the cloud. I only have one checking account. No, I don't count to the penny on every category. I total in my head what a spent on groceries in a given week, what gas for my car cost, mortgage, miscellaneous, utilities, etc. I am not trying to micromanage myself, but give me an idea of how much I am spending and saving, where I can cut, and where I need to save more. But given that you have a more complicated situation, I would say you need something a little more robust than an Excel spreadsheet.

[riverwed070707]

UPDATE: Someone posted a poll on this on a FIRE board I'm on and the winner by a long shot was Empower. Looked it up (took a bit to find because the name is generic but I found it by searching empower budget app) and its really similar to Mint. Maybe better. After reading some reviews, checking out their security and looking at a couple other options I decided to give it a try. It took me about 15 minutes to get set up. It did not pull in historical trends data and its going to take some time to help it relearn categories for my recurring spending but overall seems like its going to be a good fit. Even has a nice little retirement projection tool that seems pretty accurate. Free to use!

[QuarterMillionMan]

Question on Quicken, Empower, YNAB, etc. Does it sync bank accounts, investment brokerage accounts, etc. I'm willing to pay for Quicken but if Empower does the same thing for free I might try Empower.

[james.hendrickson]

QMM - we actually did a pretty good review article on budgeting apps - its probably a good idea to use one if you don't have a budget system already.

Here is the link => https://www.savingadvice.com/article...ting-apps.html

[QuarterMillionMan]

Thanks James, you & Vicki put in a lot of work into that review and made it so easy 1-stop shop. I like #1 Lunch Money which also tracks cryptos but I may not get it.

[QuarterMillionMan]

I've started linking my bank & investment accounts to my Empower account which my employer big government contracts with. So far so good but Empower does not link Robinhood at least on my first try. I have other crypto accounts that I want to link but if Robinhood is unlinkable not sure the others will. Also, I have a gold Roth IRA that I'd like to link but it remains to be seen. James after reading your review it looks like Empower can link specialty accounts like art & gold which I hope to be the case. I'd like to link my Social Security account as well but we shall see.


Empower Personal Dashboard is the best budgeting app for retirement planning. The software allows you to track your net worth and investments, including alternative assets like artwork and gold. Empower also displays your portfolio’s performance over time and analyzes your asset allocation to help you diversify your holdings. Plus, the app can estimate whether or not you’re on track to hit your retirement goals. It considers factors like the value of your investments, your household composition, location, projected Social Security income, and more.

You can even test different annual savings rates to see how they’ll affect your progress. Empower also offers a savings planner to help you set concrete goals and build an emergency fund. Last but not least, the budgeting tool automatically tracks your transactions and breaks down your top spending categories to identify potential money leaks.

[QuarterMillionMan]

I stand corrected Robinhood did link to Empower.