Are you a budgeting fanatic? Have you diligently tracked every single dollar you’ve spent on your 2006 Toyota Corolla? Or can you tell me how much money you spent on groceries in the month of April, 2019?
Even if you’re not a budgeting superstar, if you’ve been using Mint.com for any length of time, you could easily dig up that information with a few clicks.
Unfortunately, Intuit has just announced they are retiring Mint.com on January 1, 2024. The imminent shutdown of Mint.com isn’t just the end of a popular budgeting app; it feels like the closing of a cherished chapter for many who have come to rely on its services for over fifteen years.
But before you let panic set in as you ponder the fate of your meticulously categorized transactions and carefully crafted budgets, take heart. There’s no need to bid farewell to your financial history or compromise on the budgeting tools that help keep your finances in check.
Several Mint alternatives allow you to import your former Mint.com data. (So you’ll never lose track of how much your trusty Corolla cost you…). Let’s delve into the ‘whys’ and ‘hows’ of making the switch, preserving your data, and discovering the robust world of alternatives awaiting you post-Mint.com.
The End of an Era: Inuit Pulls the Plug on Mint
As the digital sun sets on Mint.com, a sense of nostalgia accompanies the frustration and concern among its users. For many, Mint wasn’t just an app—it was a financial companion that grew alongside their personal and professional lives. When Mint first came along in 2006 it disrupted the personal finance space by offering free tools to easily categorize and track all of your credit card purchases as well as set up a budget. Mint’s intuitive interface and powerful budgeting tools have seen countless users through life’s many stages, from their first savings goal to their latest investment strategy over the past 17 years.
When Intuit announced Mint’s retirement, it signaled more than just a change in software; it suggested a shift in philosophy about personal financial management tools. Mint’s fate was sealed by the financial untenability of free, ad-supported models in the personal finance space. (While Mint was free to use, working with data aggregators to import all of your transactions can be a sizeable expense.)
As users face the impending shutdown, there’s an understandable scramble to secure financial data and ensure continuity in financial planning and budgeting habits. Let’s look at the nuts-and-bolts of how to make sure you can continue to use your Mint data.
Easy Migration: From Mint to CountAbout
Transitioning from Mint.com to CountAbout isn’t just about transferring data; it’s about ensuring continuity. The migration process has been meticulously designed to be user-friendly:
- Data Export from Mint: Securely download your transaction history and financial data from Mint.com.
- Creating a CountAbout Account: Set up a new CountAbout account, which will be the new home for your financial data.
- Data Import to CountAbout: Upload your Mint.com data to CountAbout through the import tool, which will categorize your transactions and integrate them into the new system.
This process doesn’t require advanced technical skills. It’s tailored for every user, regardless of their tech savviness, to make the transition as smooth as possible. It’s also possible to create a ticket at the help-desk inside the app.
Want a step by step tutorial? This video walks through how to migrate your data from Mint to CountAbout as well as several different other budgeting tools.
Why Settle When You Can Upgrade? Exploring Mint Alternatives
The retirement of Mint.com might seem like a setback, but it can be a catalyst for discovering tools that can transform how you manage your finances.
If you signed up for Mint back when it was almost the only game in town, you might still be using it because it’s “good enough”. But was Mint really the perfect tool for your finances? Settling for the default option, or the most familiar one, isn’t always the best choice. Instead of being upset about the end of Mint, you can look at this as a perfect opportunity to explore alternatives that could offer you more than Mint ever did.
CountAbout sets itself apart with features that address some of the common gripes users had with Mint, such as the intrusive advertisements that could clutter the interface. CountAbout’s model eliminates the need for ads, providing a cleaner, more focused user experience. Here are some of the standout features:
- Customizable Categories: Unlike Mint, which had predefined categories that couldn’t be altered, Countabout offers fully customizable categories. This means you can tailor your budget categories to reflect your spending habits more accurately.
- Ad-Free Environment: One of the most significant advantages of CountAbout is its ad-free interface. The absence of ads makes for a more streamlined, faster, and more pleasant user experience.
- Robust Data Import Capabilities: CountAbout excels at data import, with the ability to take in your history from Mint and other financial software, ensuring that you do not lose years of financial tracking.
- Responsive Customer Service: With a focus on user satisfaction, CountAbout’s customer service is a standout, providing prompt and helpful support for any issues or questions that arise.
If you want to read more about other Mint alternatives, here are some great reviews of personal finance software:
- Andy Hill of Marriage, Kids, and Money reviews 7 different budgeting apps on his website, including many Mint alternatives. You can also watch his YouTube video of how to import data from Quicken or Mint into CountAbout.