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Those who want to categorize their spending, create this month’s budget, and see an overview of all of their financial accounts in one placeĪt the most basic level, these two personal finance tools do the same thing, which is to help you understand where you spend, and how much, so that you can better decide how to allocate your resources in the future. Those wanting to take a very hands-on approach to forward-thinking budgeting, including adopting a new way of thinking about “giving every dollar a job” IOS, Android, web browser, Alexa, Google Assistant (only for Android users)įree trial period, then $14.99/month or $98.99/year, with money-back guarantee IOS, Android, web browser, Apple watches, Alexa
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With its more hands-off approach, Mint is very easy to set up by simply adding all of your financial accounts
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Provides access to a free copy of your credit scoreĪdding your accounts is easy, but getting acclimated to the YNAB budgeting philosophy and process involves a learning curve Reports in multiple categories including spending, income, net worthĪllows you to plan as far into future months as you’d like Reports in three categories: spending, net worth, income vs. Mint enables you to regularly review all of your financial accounts, including enabling you to see exactly where you’re spending your money YNAB helps you proactively manage your money by prompting you to allocate every dollar of your income to expected expenses or savings for that month To make it easy for you to decide which platform is best for your needs, we carefully researched the features, ease of setup and use, compatibility, pricing, and more to lay out a head-to-head comparison of these two popular tools. Meanwhile, those who simply want to track where they’ve spent their money, as well as see a real-time snapshot of their total net worth in one place, might prefer Mint’s more straightforward approach. But as you’ll see, there are important differences in these two tools, including very different budgeting philosophies and pricing models.įor anyone feeling motivated to develop a strong new strategy to help them achieve financial goals such as getting out of debt, spending less, or simply saving more, YNAB offers not just an app, but a whole new way of thinking about what you can do with each dollar you earn.
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Both help consumers track all their expenses, categorize them by expense type, assess how much is going where, and decide allocations for the future. Two of the biggest players in the world of budgeting apps are Mint and YNAB, which stands for You Need A Budget.
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