The Best. Thing. Ever.

I am so excited for what I am about to tell all of you! I realize, though, that this might only be intriguing to the other like-minded accountants (or partly OCD people) of this world, but seriously, I cannot contain this nerdy excitement.

For a long time I have been wanting to set up a personal finance program (probably using excel) and this week I spent several hours getting started on this. Yesterday, I mentioned to my coworker that my goal for the weekend was to get this program completed. She then proceeded to tell me about this website that she uses to track her finances. After just a couple minutes of discussing this site, I realized there was no way I could create something as perfect as this (and it's free!). So, while I couldn't sleep last night (thanks to the two hour nap I took after work), I set up my account on this (freaking cool) site--mint.com.

Let me explain how it works...

You connect all of your bank accounts, loan accounts, investment accounts, etc. to this site (it's through Intuit and it's completely secure). This process literally took about twenty minutes (and I connected eight accounts).

When there is activity in one of these connected accounts (as you use your debit/credit card, write checks, make loan payments, make transfers, etc.), the information is transferred to this site.

Then, all of the transactions are automatically categorized. So, if I put $10 on my credit/debit card at Cinemark, this would automatically be categorized as 'Movies & DVDs."

But, if you don't like how something is categorized, you have the ability to change (or split it between multiple) categories. For example, if I made a purchase at Wal-Mart, it would automatically be categorized as "Shopping." If I want to, I can go in and change this categorization to "Hair and Makeup" or "Groceries" or "Clothing" or split it between whichever categories I want to. You can also add categories--I added a category called "Christmas Gifts 2012."

Another cool feature is that you can tell it how to categorize future payments. For example, I have it set up so that any check I write for $10 will be categorized as "Doctor" as any $10 check is likely to be for an office copay (but I can go back and change it if it's not).

You can also add a note and/or tags to each transaction. As you can see above, I have a "reimbursable" tag and any work-related travel expenses will be tagged in this manner.

But wait, there's more!

You can set up monthly budgets to help you manage your spending. You decide the categories and your budget. You can set it up so that if you go over budget in any one category, a text or email will be sent to you (you can also have texts/emails sent if any one of your bank accounts go under a certain amount, if any one purchase is greater than a certain amount, etc.)

You can create goals (like buy a house, save for a trip, pay off a loan, etc.) and your progress will be tracked automatically. I set up a student loan goal to help me with Number 2. While setting this up, it calculated that I will save $6,674 in interest if I meet my goal. Holy moly!

You can also view your spending trends, analyze your portfolio performance, and do soooo many more helpful things.

The best thing about this website is how ridiculously user friendly it is. I literally set this up last night and feel I can navigate my way through this site/my account with ease. The second best thing (it might actually be tied for first), is that it is completely, one-hundred percent free. How? Well, advertising of course. But not the obnoxious kind of advertising....advertisements are on the "Ways to Save" tab where you can go to browse different ads (for loan providors, brokerages, etc.). That's it. Seriously, it's not obnoxious at all--these ads might even be useful someday.

Anyway, I am beyond grateful that my coworker (who is, by the way, the most organized person I have ever met in my life--but that's another post altogether) enlightened me with this whole thing and all I want to do is share this with everyone I know.

FYI, after rereading this post, I feel like a spokesperson for Mint.com. I swear I'm not, but I might actually look into that! :)

Enjoy!

Montana

I am pretty sure that New Years Day is the busiest day in most gyms around the world as 95% of the population is starting the first day of their annual resolution. I too have that same resolution for Twenty-Thirteen. However, despite my membership to Anytime Fitness, my yesterday was spent eating, watching whatever I could find on the tele, and making only minimal muscle movemements while sprawled out on the couch. I felt very much entitled to really enjoy my last day of holiday vacation.

Of course, when 8:00 PM rolled around, I started feeling guilty (and lord knows I wasnt't about to go to anytime fitness at 8 PM). So, in an effort to increase my future motivation and the likelihood of accomplishing resolution number 4, I decided to research my next marathon. And it's official. On July 14, 2013, I will be running a marathon in Missoula, Montana.

Montana...never been there in my life. The first thing that comes to my mind is the ridiculosly good (but very depressing) movie, 'My Sister's Keeper.' The main character was obsessed with Montana.

Missoula, MT

...and if this is what Montana looks like when I get there, I might become obsessed too.

The next several months will be spent planning this 19+ hour (one way) road trip. I am already so excited for this mini little adventure of mine!

Anyway, my training starts on March 10th (that's two more months of procrastination).

Twenty-Thirteen

Good morning, Twenty-Thirteen. I am exceptionally happy to wake up to you this morning and so excited to tell you what you should expect from me in the next 365 days. Now, I realize that I have had similar discussions with your friends Twenty-Twelve and Twenty-Eleven, but you are different. I promise.

For the last week or two I have put some serious thought into my resolutions and I am ready to carve them into stone (via this blog). So here I go...

Number 1: Stop worrying. I can honestly say that I am THE BIGGEST worrier that any of you readers have ever read about. Oh, you would like an example, you say? I've got plenty...

My most recent (for the last 3 weeks) worry is that I have lung cancer or some other chronic illness. This might be a logical concern for a chain smoker, or for someone of a more advanced age who has spent their entire life working with toxic chemicals. I, however, have smoked (at most) the equivalent of one cigarette in my life (out of pure curiosity), and the worst "chemical" I have unintentionally inhaled is whatever that obnoxious smelling chemical in nail polish remover is. This particular worry of mine stems from this gosh darn cough that I can't seem to shake. I've been to the doctor twice for it now and at my most recent appointment I expressed to him my concerns about lung cancer. My doctor, while stifling a little chuckle, said to "stop worrying" and that the possibility is "very unlikely" for me.

My second example demonstrates how I have been a worrier for my entire life...
When I was five years old my dad found me crying hysterically (the kind of cry that makes it difficult to breathe) in my room. When my concerned father asked me what was wrong, I expressed to him that I was worried I wouldn't be able to find a job when I grew up. I was FIVE. Good god. My dad, who has since become well aware of my worrying mind, did not tell me this story until after I had graduated college and been offered a job.

So, since I understand it would be impossible elimate all worries, I am going to work really hard at eliminating the worries that are beyond my control.

Number 2: Pay off one of my student loans. It makes me absolutely sick looking at my student loan balances and the interest I have paid on them. So, my goal is to pay off the loan with the biggest interest rate--8.4 percent--which is ridiculously high. It may not be proper etiquette to announce how much your student loans are, so I won't. Instead I will just tell you how much one of my three loans is...eleven thousand big ones. To all you readers out there who are blessed enough not to have any student loans, I hope you realize how lucky you are.

Number 3: Get my own place. I graduated college a year and a half ago and have been living with my parents ever since. I cannot stress how grateful I am for being able to do this as this has saved me so much money, and my parents really are pretty great roommates. Nonetheless, this chick is ready to leave the nest and be out on her own again. Originally, I had hoped to buy my own house, but this will be difficult to do while also completing Number 2 above. But, let the pinching of pennies begin. I am up for the challenge, Twenty-Thirteen.

Number 4: Lose twelve pounds. I know, it's the age-old new year's resolution...but I can't deny this goal of mine. Twenty-Twelve was rather good to me as I lost ten pounds during that year while training for my latest marathon. As I discussed here, I plan on running another during Twenty-Thirteen, so hopefully once I get back into my running groove, I will lose the four pounds I have since gained back, and the extra eight it will take to get back to my highschool weight.

Number 5: Increase my calcium intake. Weird, I know. But, I honestly can't remember the last time I drank a glass of milk--it's been at least three years. And, in an effort to stop worrying about the Osteoperosis I am likely to get without enough of this necessary mineral, I am going to start taking calcium supplements every day. Sounds simple, right? Well, for the average person it probably is. I, on the other hand, am terrible at remembering to do simple tasks like this each day.

There you have it, Twenty-Thirteen, my five resolutions.

With Love,
Andi