I always set goals at the beginning of the year. My list for 2010 is quite lengthy and I continue to add to it. Two things I just recently added to the list: Budget and blog.

I just joined mint.com, a website aimed to help manage your expenses based on your current balance on a bank account. I currently use an excel document to manage my money and savings but this website allows me to track how I spend each dollar on a particular category, how much I go over and how much I have leftover to spend for myself (it's categorized under "Everything else."

It's amazing that going over by a few cents adds up in a single month. Mint.com narrows down everything to a particular category like gas, clothing, cell phone bill, restaurants, movies and more. You can add your own budgets and rename a category based on expenses. I really like this because I can set a budget of $40 for the month on clothing expense and mint.com's system will tell me how much I've gone over and/or how much extra cash I have left over to spend on myself, otherwise known as "Everything else." It's a simple system and if you decide to change your Entertainment budget from $40 to $50 a month, all you have to do is click "edit." The website is very safe and secure (Verisign, McAfee, TRUSTe) for those that aren't sure about entering bank accounts into a website.

I also decided I need to write and update this blog more often for myself. I see this as a way of exercising and practicing my writing, leading me to find a focus for this blog. I think I'm getting close to the answer.

Labels: blog, budget, mint.com, money management