Mom Invented

With all that you want to accomplish in this down economy, sticking to a budget is essential, yet it can be tough to do. Who wants spend the time to input all their information into a spreadsheet or a program and analyze it?

Enter Mint.com, an award winning free personal finance tool that helps you track your finances, stick to a budget and maximize your money by providing recommendations for bank accounts, credit cards, CDs and more that can give you the best rates. Mint can hook up to all your online accounts, from your checking, savings, credit card and brokerage accounts to your car and property loans, education loans and more, bringing in your numbers automatically and even categorizing your purchases and fees without any work on your end. The site also lets you connect on the go, with an iPhone app and text message alerts that can give you updates when bills are due, when you're running low on funds or when you've gone over budget.

With no fees, helpful graphs, and multiple ways to delve into your spending data, Mint can help you take control of your finances and get on track to finding your financial trouble areas and creating a better financial future. It can even help you maximize your credit card rewards -- whether you want air miles, cash back or points -- and you can compare your spending and savings to national averages to get a bigger picture view of how you're doing.

Learn more at Mint.com and let us know what your experience is. If there are any other great personal finance tools you're using, we'd love to hear about those in the comments as well.

Tagged as: budgeting, business finance, business tools, financial advice, financial planning, Mint.com, personal finance, saving money