mint.com

If you're like me, you hate balancing your checkbook (well, I assume I would hate it; I never actually have tried). I really enjoy keeping track of my money though; I like to see where my money is going, and that is why I love Mint.com.

With mint.com you can sync all of your banking accounts, credit card accounts, and loans to an online account that keeps track of everything for you.

"In five minutes or less, you’ll see where you’re spending your money, understand how your investments are performing, and set up realistic budgets. Set up email and SMS alerts and you’ll be automatically updated whenever there’s an important change in your finances. Only Mint.com finds you personalized ways to save money, using patent-pending software which analyzes your current spending. The typical Mint.com user finds $1,000 in savings in their first visit."

Mint.com is great because if you have an iPhone or iTouch, you can download their app, which puts lots of great tools at your fingertips. I setup a monthly budget on mint.com and with my iPhone I am able to check my budget instantly before I make any purchases. Every transaction I make with any of my debit or credit cards is automatically categorized and the proper amount is deducted from my budget.

You can also use mint.com to look at handy graphs and charts to see how you're spending your money, and recognize patterns in spending. For instance, November and December are high spending months for me, and I see the largest increase in dining out, drinks, and shopping. I can recognize that beginning with Homecoming in November and running through the holidays, I am more likely to go out with people for dinner, have drinks, buy new clothes, and shop for gifts, and make adjustments to my budget accordingly.

So, if you're into budgeting, or thinking about giving it a shot, go ahead and take a look at mint.com! I think you'll find it is pretty helpful.