If you want to improve your financial situation, developing and living on a budget definitely helps. By doing this, you are creating a detailed map that will guide you to financial freedom. A Mint budget can help you do all that for free!

Mint is our family’s budgeting software of choice. During the course of our marriage, we’ve done some incredible things with our Mint budget:

• Eliminated around $50,000 in debt in 1 year
• Paid off our $200,000 mortgage in less than 5 years
• Became millionaires in 10 years.

We are so proud of the progress we’ve made. We attribute this success to working together and staying on a monthly budget with Mint.

Now using Mint isn’t a requirement. There are many helpful tools and options when it comes to creating your first budget. You can choose online tools like Mint, YNAB, Zeta, Tiller, or even an excel template.

Even writing down your first budget on a piece of paper is a great way to start!

We’ve been using Mint for over 10 years and I’d highly recommend it. Here are some stand out Mint features to mention right off the bat:

• It’s priced right … FREE
• Automatically syncs up with your accounts (bank, credit card, investments, etc).
• A convenient smartphone app lets you see your budget activity in real-time
• Tracks your net worth so you can see your progress over time

Mint gives you the information you need to take control of your financial future. If you are interested in starting your first Mint budget, here are 10 simple steps to get it done:

1. Sign Up for Free

Visit Mint and click “Sign Up Free”.

You’ll then be asked to enter your preferred email, insert your phone number (for extra security and 2-step verification), and create a secure password.

After that, you can confirm your location to better customize the experience.

2. Link Your First Account

To start tracking your money and create a Mint budget, you’ll need to link to your checking, savings, credit card, and investment accounts.

As an example pictured below, I’m going to link up to an American Express credit card account.

3. Link All of Your Accounts

Once you’ve linked up one account, be sure to link all of your other accounts by clicking on the “+Add Accounts” tab at the top of the page.

Again, this can be your investment accounts, bank accounts, and credit accounts. Anywhere you are using, spending, saving or investing your money.

4. Define Your Budget Categories

Once all of your accounts are loaded in, click on “Budgets” in the menu at the top of the page.

In the budgets area, you will see that Mint has already begun placing your items into specific categories for you. Now some of these categories will be correct and some you’ll want to change to fit your preferences. Click “+Create a Budget” to begin creating your preferred categories.

Your income is a great place to start.

Choose the “Income” category in the drop-down menu “Choose a Category”. You’ll need to define the way you receive income (paycheck, dividends, business income), the frequency you get paid (monthly, every few months or once), and the amount.

5. Add Your Budget Necessities

After your income is set in Mint, start adding your expense categories in the same fashion as you did with the income. Start off with the important necessities like mortgage, rent, groceries, clothing and your individual utility bills.

6. Don’t Exceed Your Budget

As you start to add these important monthly categories, you’ll see the “You’ve Budgeted” section shows you how much you have left over. Don’t let that “Left Over” number turn red or you’ve already gone over budget!

7. Add Expenses That Align With Your Goals

Once you’ve added all of the important necessities, start to add your expenses that are aligned with your dreams and goals for your future. This is when I’d recommend adding categories like savings, paying off debt and retirement investments.

For example, let’s say you have a medical debt of $1,000 that has been weighing on you for years. With Mint, you can allocate $200 month for the next 5 months to pay that off!

You’ll need to adjust other areas of your budget to ensure you have $200 free to pay off that debt, but that is where Mint really comes in handy!

8. Create a Zero-Based Budget

The goal at the end of the budgeting process is to have your “Left Over” amount equal ZERO. This way you are giving each of your dollars an assignment each month so they are working for you! This is called a “Zero-Based Budget”.

9. Reorganize Misplaced Expenses

Mint will do its best to categorize your expenses throughout the month. If Mint is unsure what category you’d prefer, it places those expenses in the “Everything Else” section at the bottom of the budget page.

When that happens, you’ll need to update the categories to fit in your budget.

For example, I have a “taxi” expense from a Lyft ride that I took the other day that was not budgeted. If I’m using Lyft on a semi-frequent basis, then I’ll need to make sure I’m budgeting for that going forward.

10. Commit and Succeed

My wife and I get together on the first of each month for our “Budget Party“. We choose the first of the month because Mint only allows you to budget for the month you’re actually in. For example, on February 1st we reviewed how we did in January and we also budgeted for the month of February. Set a date and time that works well for you and stick to it.

If you’ve never developed or lived on a budget before, you’re not going to get this right for the first couple of months. That’s okay! If you truly care about making a change in your finances, keep at it. From my experience, the time spent budgeting is totally worth it.

Is Mint Safe?

Now a question I get from time to time is … Is Mint safe? Honestly, I don’t know for sure.

With that said, I hopped onto Mint’s privacy policy page to learn more. After reading through it (I’m not a lawyer!), here’s what I think it means.

I believe they sell our information by partnering with brands that may want to sell to us. With that advertising/referral partnership, that’s probably how they make money. For more on how Mint makes money, check here.

So, it’s up to you to decide if that arrangement works for you.

Personally, I’ve been using Mint for almost a decade and I’ve had no issues with safety or security so far.

Closing Thoughts on Setting Up A Mint Budget

If you’d prefer a partner that doesn’t work with third-party partners, you could consider a tool like YNAB or Tiller. For a nominal annual fee, you get to use their services and avoid the ads and third-party noise you might experience with Mint.

Or if you want a free, quick budgeting tool and you’re okay with some ads, Mint has been a go-to budgeting resource for countless folks just like me.

Are you interested in creating a Mint budget?

Please let us know in the comments below.