Can Mint.com solve one of my personal finance goals for 2009? I’m a little late with one of my goals for 2008, so it’s now become my new 2009 goal. Finding a free or relatively inexpensive software program to track personal finance transactions and establish a budget for my wife and I. Since transparency seems to be the catch phrase of 2009 with banks and financial institutions, I thought it would be important to focus on this same issue with family finances. I seem to be the keeper of passwords, bank accounts, and financial records, so it was important to find a way to share this info efficiently with my wife. It also helps that she has an iphone for work and has access to one of the coolest applications ever.

Yes, Mint.com has an application for the iphone that allows you to see your daily net worth and track your spending plans. It’s actually killing me that I don’t have an iphone right now, so I’m trying hard to justify why I need one. One word, I don’t. Can I afford $70 a month for cell service? Yes. Should I spend $70 on cell service? Nope. When can I purchase an iphone? When I create another stream of passive income that nets at least $70 a month.

Time to put the iphone out of my mind for now. Mint.com has the ability to track all of your bank accounts, investment accounts, credit cards, car loans and more. I was even surprised to see my paypal account and Prosper.com account could be linked to Mint. The most powerful part is the ability to track daily transactions through credit cards and bank accounts. Mint will even give you suggestions for saving additional money on credit card offers or higher interest rates through savings accounts. This is how Mint makes money on this service, and it’s an option that you don’t have to accept. I’m perfectly happy with one of my banks, but I could choose to open an HSBC account and earn slightly higher interest. Is it worth jumping from bank to bank, chasing higher interest rates? It could be.

I did have one major issue when trying to link my ING Orange account with Mint. I kept receiving an error message that an invalid username or password were used. I finally reset my 5 personal questions on ING, answered them, then saved. In a separate web browser I answered the same 5 questions on Mint in the same order and pressed enter. Success, finally the ING Orange account was linked to Mint.

I’m still working on establishing a budget through Mint and creating user defined categories for transactions. Many of the categories I had on my Excel spreadsheet can be utilized on Mint. Easy to create custom categories for things like 529 savings plan or Preschool tuition.

What do I wish Mint had? More reports for financial planning. Reports that showed future growth of savings at current interest rates or growth of my retirement account. I realize this can be done on other investment sites as well, but would be nice to have in one place.

What’s the best feature of Mint? The fact that my wife and I can have access to the same personal finance information in real time is amazing. Total transparency and the ability to have access to this information quickly is priceless. Many hours I have spent trying to manually update our budget spreadsheet and transactions are now available for more family time.

Have you used Mint or another personal finance software for your family budget?

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photo credit: ILoveButter

We are all trying to cut expenses and make the most of each paycheck, but what if you could increase your take home pay another way? Would you relocate and move your family to make your dollar stretch even further? Do you have a dream of moving your family to a small town where the pace of life is slower? Worried that the local shopping mall is tempting for you or your teenage kids?

What if you could relocate with your current employer and drastically cut your home mortgage payment? Add to that, your home insurance, car insurance, and many other expenses. Where would I first look? Lot’s of places online such as Realtor.com can allow you to daydream or research what a home would cost in smaller towns. I started researching towns outside of the Bay Area to find out where the dollar would go a little further.

Some things I kept in mind during my research:

1. Schools. Check schools test scores and see how they compare to your current district. It might be better. If you home school, this won’t be an issue.

2. Property tax. If you are moving out of state, be sure to check the local property tax rates. If you are moving from California, you might be surprised to see rates higher in Texas or New Jersey.

3. Insurance. Your home insurance and car insurance rates may decline as you are moving to a smaller town. Less crime, lower rates.

4. Public transportation. Here in Northern California we have Bart and train service to Sacramento area. New Jersey and New York have a great train system as well. Could you extend your commute to your current job? Would the trade-off in time and expense outweigh the cheaper mortgage payment? You also might be able to telecommute on the train.

5. Friends. Maybe you have a friend that recently moved and they love the new home. You could allow them to get settled and test out the new community before you make the plunge. Keep in touch with them and find out what they like about the new town and what they don’t.

How much would you have to save on your home mortgage or rent in order for moving to make financial sense to you? $500 a month or $1,000 off your mortgage payment? Maybe you love your friends, family, and town and could never move.

Need more inspiration? Here’s an article from MSN where people have made the move to small towns.

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I have discussed home mortgages modification, mortgage bailout, credit scores, and even bankruptcy with several friends over the last few weeks. All of them have a similar question and that is “How do I negotiate with a lender if I can’t make my mortgage payment?” It looks like many lenders will work with borrowers, but the fine details are a bit tricky to maneuver. One friend is going through a bankruptcy but wants to keep his home, and now the mortgage lender is trying to work with him. Interesting that the lender did not want to negotiate prior to the bankruptcy. Unfortunately, it appears that you need to be late on your payments in order to qualify for help from some lenders. I found an interesting article that interviewed a family that recently negotiated with a lender.

Indymac has established some rules for qualifying for a loan modification:

1. Mortgage loan needs to be at least 60 days past due.

2. You can’t pay your mortgage and don’t have any way to make your payment. No savings accounts.

3. You can’t file for bankruptcy.

4. A loan modification must make sense to your bank or investor holding your note. The bank won’t modify the terms if you still can’t afford the new monthly payment.

5. Bank will pull your current credit score and also evaluate if you would be a qualified candidate.

It’s unfortunate that you need to be at least 60 days past due to get the attention of your bank. What the family in this MSN article did accomplish is to reduce the monthly payment by a few hundred dollars. The couple still won’t be able to afford the new monthly payment as they have had some serious health problems and job cuts.

Have you tried to negotiate with your lender? Have you been successful with a loan modification?

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photo credit: inkynobaka

I came across an inspiring story about a couple that managed to pay off $30,000 in credit card debt and is now saving $500 a month. The Dunleavey’s tackled the credit card debt problem head on and won after 5 and a half years. I love these stories and what I enjoyed reading about this couple is how they are real about the issue of debt and they took action. $30,000 in credit card debt can seem overwhelming and this couple shares tips on how they made it happen. It didn’t happen overnight and they didn’t find a famous 1869 Red Stocking baseball card in the attic. What they did do is establish a goal to pay down the debt each month and establish a plan of action.

How did they do it and how can you pay off your credit cards? Many of these ideas may not seem like rocket science, but the point is they had an action plan and stuck to it.

1. They cut expenses.
2. Established a budget.
3. Identified and changed bad habits.
4. Adjusted lifestyle
5. Got a roommate
6. They moved
7. Paid down the credit cards with money saved from cutting expenses.
8. Stopped using credit cards
9. Established an emergency account
10. Setup auto bill pay.
11. Opened a new low interest credit card.
12. Communicated with friends and family that they were going to cut expenses.

The Dunleavey’s worked hard to pay down the credit card debt including overtime at work, taking on freelance jobs, and cutting expenses. They also got extreme with household expenses. Many people that I talk with could never get rid of a cell phone, cable tv, or internet. They also cut out gym membership and stopped eating out. What this did give them was an additional $500 a month to pay towards the credit card debt. What I also enjoyed reading about this couple was that they discussed the action plan to pay down debt with friends and family. Instead of saying no to a dinner out or a gift exchange, you could discuss your families determination to get out of debt.

Do you have a success story for getting out of credit card debt? Did you take on an additional job, sell something on ebay, or cut expenses? Or maybe you were fortunate to find that 1869 Red Stocking baseball card and all your credit card worries are gone.

You can read more about MP Dunleavey at MSN or

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photo credit: turtlemom4bacon

We only have a few days left in 2008 and I have been busy collecting some items around the house that we can donate to Goodwill and the Salvation Army. Kids clothes, sports equipment, books, and some unused toys will be given to charity this year. Does your family donate unused items and take advantage of the tax write off for 2008? Some other ideas to help those less fortunate or struggling to make ends meet this holiday season can take a little more creativity. If cash is tight in your household, as it is for many this holiday season, what else can you do? If you are like me, you might have a few thousand mileage points from an airline that you are not using. Did you know that you can donate those miles to charity? Yes, many families could benefit from donating air miles as they can be used for Make a Wish Foundation or The Red Cross and hundreds of other charities. If you have unused United Airlines miles, Delta miles, or Southwest miles, you could donate and help families across the country.

Maybe you were one of the select few who had positive returns on your stocks in 2008. You can donate stock and pass the gains to a charity of your choice. You get the tax write off and the charity gets the stock.

Do you have any creative ideas for donations in 2008? Does your family, especially your children get involved in donating used toys or clothing?

Some helpful links for more info on tax write offs and donations for 2008
IRS.gov
Salvation Army
Goodwill

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