FinLit #5 — Creating a Budget using Mint

Xoolo
Xoolo
Jul 25, 2017 · 3 min read

We discussed credit and interest in our previous posts. Knowing your credit score is a pillar to financial literacy. Now that you are aware of your score and how to make improvements, another pillar to financial literacy is the ability to create a budget and the financial discipline to stick to it.

Today we will be using Mint, which is an app that can track your earnings and expenses. Mint is a trusted source, so you do not have to worry about Mint stealing your funds or any other deceitful activity. However, I will recommend that you create a strong and secure password that you will only have to access you.

Once you have downloaded the app on your phone or gone to the website on the web, you need create an account followed by syncing your credit cards, loan accounts, and bank accounts. Next, Mint will load all of your cash, investments and debt in addition to your purchases of the month. So you can view what you spend as a basis to create your budget.

Items that you should include in your Budget

Essential expenses:

Rent
Phone Bill
Groceries
Utilities
: Gas, water, electricity bills
Transportation: Do you own a car or take public transportation
Personal care: Hair, laundry, gym members

Luxury expenses:

Take-out: fast food, chinese, etc…
Restaurant: Dining out
Entertainment: Netflix, movies tickets, music(Apple Music, Spotify), video games

Here is an example of a budget

You want to include all your possible monthly expenses from rent to Netflix. Use the picture above as inspiration to create your budget, but most importantly review the things you have spent money on this month. Are they mostly things you will spend month after month? If so add it to the budget. After you have created your budget, you can always edit your budget to decrease or increase parts of it.

Following the creation of your budget, Mint will notify you as you reach the limits of your budget.

For example, if you allocated 50$ to bar drinks and you are at 40$, Mint will send a notification that you are near the end of your budget for that expense. So you know that the next time friends invite your out, it may not be in your best financial interest to go out and drink with them.

The more detailed you are with creating your budget, the better you will be able to manage your money and will be less inclined to make spontaneous purchases. If you feel as if you are spending too much, reduce some of the things that you have flexibility on spending, i.e., take-out food and drinks at the bar.

If you are not sure how to create your budget email us at get.xoolo@gmail.com and we can help you create a budget that is sensible for your lifestyle.

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Xoolo

Making Financial Literacy easy

Xoolo

Xoolo

Financial Literacy made simple

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