ColinAke.com…until I write a book.

I called Dad at lunch today and asked him if he knew of any software apps much like MyMileMarker that helped manage finances - he said Clark Howard had been recommending Mint.com.  So I checked it out.

Mint.com takes all your financial data (syncs with your credit cards, bank accounts, etc) and pulls them into one interface.  It categorizes purchases so you can keep track of where the money goes, it allows you to compare actual expenditures to budgeted expenditures, and it allows you to compare yourself against averages and see how you can save money.  And it’s free.  Apparently they get a cut if you get a new credit card with a lower rate.

Seems like a pretty sweet tool - very useful, very easy to use, and very handy.  I was talking to Cooper earlier today and he expressed the objection about having all your data in one place - which is about my only concern as well.  But Mint says they can only read and can’t write to your accounts.

Have you heard of Mint and had a good/bad experience?  Should we be concerned about security with this type of data?  What are your thoughts?

I’ll start using it and give periodic updates as to whether it’s a great program or just another stick in the mud.  I wanna hear from you guys!

Take care,

Colin

Last night, I was signing up for MyMileMarker - an online tool to help track gas mileage / usage and provide you with some sweet stats, and I came upon the best End User License Agreement (or EULA) I’ve ever read:

“It’s a web site… it won’t destroy your computer. We’ll take your data and store it, but if we lose it, we’re sorry. We’ll probably sell aggregate data (but not your name or email address) to advertisers. We reserve the right to charge for this at some point.  These terms might change in the future, but if they do, we’ll let you know.  Cool?”

Wasn’t that easy?  How often have we just hit “I agree” and not even read half of the EULA?  This is how it should be - not 3 pages of legal jargon I can’t understand.

This should be the new standard for EULAs.  Don’t write something that you can’t read in under a minute, and make it in simple, understandable terms.

Colin

Yes, I’m aware I’m a nerd for blogging about how awesome a EULA was.  Feel free to make fun of me, though.