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What happened to Mint?

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Re: What happened to Mint?

#341

Post by jnfr »

wpietri wrote: post #107
roywiggins wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Mint never really lost its soul. It always seemed like it was going to try and upsell me on stuff, but that was fine by me because I'm not in the market for new credit cards or whatever. But I guess that's part of the problem, and they're just not making much money off referrals and therefore can't be bothered to improve the product? The problem for me with Mint is that it just... stopped getting any updates, and the…

To me, the lack of updates is Mint losing its soul. What was refreshing and different about Mint for me is that they said, "Hey, what if we really look at how people deal with their money and design accordingly?" It was a huge, innovative leap forward. It was far from perfect, but if they just kept iterating with the same spirit, I knew it would get to be something I loved. Alas, alas.

Founder of Lunch Money (https://lunchmoney.app) here! I encourage you to check us out– we aim to be that personal finance app that was built for the modern-day spender.

Re: What happened to Mint?

#342

Post by triceratops »

3JPLW wrote: post #160
lxe wrote: post #149

I've been using Mint daily for 12 years. The #1 thing that I need from Mint is 100% reliable integrations so it can automatically pull all my data, which it no longer provides. I have been talking to their support for about a year asking to fix an integration with US's largest mortgage servicer. The #2 thing is reliable inference of transaction categories. That's also starting to wither. Categories are all over the p…

I use Mint purely as an API to coalesce and export the transaction history. I then use a Google Sheets workbook to view my balance and expenditures (by Mint-assigned category) over time — allowing for coarse insights, prioritization, and adjustment. The Mint-assigned categories are terrible, and I regularly have to review and re-assign categorizations.

Do you have blank templates of your Sheets workbooks that you could share?

Re: What happened to Mint?

#343

Post by wyclif »

avarun wrote: post #318
wyclif wrote: post #272

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I hate the phrase "lifestyle business." Look: it's a business. No, it's not going to make VCs billionaires. But it's a perfectly respectable business nonetheless. Nothing wrong with that.

It's a positive term....

Sometimes. Depending on the context. But usually in SV VC circles it's a dismissive term.

Re: What happened to Mint?

#344

Post by jyrkesh »

mrpotato wrote: post #120
djstein wrote: post #92

Just going to post a great alternative that people over at http://reddit.com/r/financialindependence/ recommend Personal Capital http://personalcapital.com/ I've been using it for about 4 years now. Best money management system I've used in a long time

> Just going to post a great alternative To clarify, personal capital is for US residents From their support page: >Although you can access the Personal Capital application from any location, we currently only support U.S based financial institutions (currency, USD) for linking accounts. Note that for security reasons, you will need a valid U.S. phone number to sign up for Personal Capital. https://support.personalca…

"For security reasons" is laughable.

They want your phone number because their "advisors" blow up your phone every month or two trying to get you to use their financial services (which I'll never do). They also like telling me in the UI that I'm "not putting enough of my money" to work or some BS, just cause I like having a little nest egg.

That being said, it's a massively useful tool. I'll gladly let my Pixel spam filter their calls every couple months in return for being able to track my net worth and investments so easily.

Re: What happened to Mint?

#345

Post by bananamerica »

zerkten wrote: post #339
bananamerica wrote: post #330

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> When you use it to describe someone else's business it's often considered a slur I see. I find it a bit unsettling that in some cultures stating that a business has priorities other than profit at all costs is considered a slur.

I'm not sure it's specific to a limited set of cultures. I think there would be fairly broad cultural support for it being considered diminutive. Besides, the core of the problem is that it's only valid when that business owner describes itself as a lifestyle business.

I can say that, while competition is part of every capitalist society, at least in my region of Brazil the search for work-life balance is something few entrepreneurs would be ashamed of.

Re: What happened to Mint?

#346

Post by shkkmo »

peter303 wrote: post #287
ghostpepper wrote: post #254

The killer feature I am waiting for is any site or app with automatic transaction importing from my bank without requiring me to input my online banking password and thus being one data breach away from someone having full access to all my accounts (sms-based 2FA notwithstanding) This is a solved problem in tech (OAuth, I think) so clearly there are perverse financial incentives (ie. my bank doesn't want to make it e…

Or a financial institution could create read-only accounts with no permission to transfer any money anywhere. Besides fintech apps, these are useful for guardians of young or elderly to monitor them. Or when I am traveling in an area with untrustworthy wireless or cellular and want to see if a transaction cleared. Fidelity Brokerage has this kind of account.

The issue is that many banks treat "read access" as a piece of verifying info that can give full account access.

Re: What happened to Mint?

#347

Post by bananamerica »

wyclif wrote: post #340
bananamerica wrote: post #330

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> When you use it to describe someone else's business it's often considered a slur I see. I find it a bit unsettling that in some cultures stating that a business has priorities other than profit at all costs is considered a slur.

You nailed it. It can be either a neutral term or a slur depending on the context, as the above comment says. But I dislike it mostly for the reason you mentioned. It implies that the only really alpha, desirable businesses are those that make a bajillion dollars for VCs and don't have much benefit to customers or the general public.

Yeah, that is awful. And it's a shame that such a useful concept got a negative connotation.

Re: What happened to Mint?

#348

Post by vonmoltke »

bananamerica wrote: post #330
zerkten wrote: post #329

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a useful concept when used appropriately. There is nuance that you are missing. When used it's a description that the business owners provide based on how they run their business, then it's OK. When you use it to describe someone else's business it's often considered a slur (unless they've previously shared this with you and you know that fact.) Many smaller companies are not actually lifestyle businesses althou…

> When you use it to describe someone else's business it's often considered a slur I see. I find it a bit unsettling that in some cultures stating that a business has priorities other than profit at all costs is considered a slur.

If you are using "lifestyle business" to mean "a business has priorities other than profit at all costs", you are using it incorrectly. A lifestyle business is one where the owners have set a target business size and profit level, and do not try to grow past this; some owners even actively inhibit growth to keep the business from getting too large. The purpose of the business is to give its owners a fixed cash flow.

A company whose owners are working to grow the business consistently and organically is not a lifestyle business; it is also not pursuing "profit at all costs". Most privately-held businesses fall into this category.

As to "lifestyle business" being a slur, it is unfortunate that members of the growth-obsessed communities use it as such. They don't see a business with a fixed target size as serious. Incidentally, many also think the same about the organic growth case I mentioned. I ignore them, and most other things from VC startup culture.

Re: What happened to Mint?

#349

Post by dontbenebby »

I stopped using mint for two reasons.

1.) Privacy reasons: they don't charge for the service so I pay via data sharing

2.) Legal concerns: my bank's TOS imply if I give my password to someone it harms my ability to claim fraud. I worry if there is ever a security issue with the protocols Mint uses, I will have my checking account drained or CC used willy nilly and have to fight uphill to dispute the charges.

I used Mint for many years to track my spending.

I found that moving my "entertainment" budget - for meals out, movies, and sundries - into cash led to me overall spending less, without the mental strain of pouring over things.

Most credit cards nowadays give pie charts and stuff similar to Mint in the web UI. I wish I didn't have to spread spending across multiple vendors since I maximize cashback, but I wish someone would examine whether, in the long run, cashback actually saves you money or if it just makes you spend more due to the frictionless nature of using a credit card. Casinos use chips for a reason.

I withdraw my entertainment money monthly, and it makes me think hard about each cup of tea out etc. I think in conversations about cashless being king, we forget the very real phenomenon of overspending with plastic.

Re: What happened to Mint?

#350

Post by iudqnolq »

shashank wrote: post #321
iudqnolq wrote: post #310

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I like your privacy policy. It's reasonably easy to read, has a nice chart, and makes nice sounding promises. Why don't you link to it from your home page? I had to do a Google site search to find it. (And maybe even put the 'what we share' chart somewhere more prominent)

Added. Was an oversight, thanks for pointing out!

No problem. I see it now on desktop but not mobile.
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