Money. It burns a hole in your pocket. It is the root of all evil. And for some strange reason, you put it where your mouth is. You feel its rasp as you slide it between your index finger and thumb; you watch as the plastic skids perfectly through the card reader. As college students, money is pivotal to us. Without it, we can’t attend school. No housing, no food, no going out to Karma Cream at 1:00 a.m to eat a medium-sized Mexican chocolate ice cream at $4.60 a pop and staring at subliminal artwork while questioning your choice of major.
The truth is many students, including myself, have a hard time managing our money; budgeting it so that we can purchase all the necessities we actually need. Looking at your bank account at the end of the semester (or even in the middle of it) can make you want to punch yourself. Don’t punch yourself; get the Mint budgeting app.
Instead of keeping receipts in a shoe box, or going online to check your transactions every day, you can download Mint on your smartphone and have your bank account viewable in an instant while simultaneously viewing where the money went (towards what “merchant”, as the app labels it). With the app, you can see how much money you wasted in the past month included with an illustration of a type of cash meter that continually grows every time money is spent, until it reaches full capacity, at which point you receive a phone alert.
Think of it as the fluctuating ammo gauge in "Call of Duty" you spent $50 bucks on last week. By seeing the meter, you think twice about spending your money. With the app, you can program the maximum amount you want to spend in a month for transit, food, shopping (or any other category you wish to add), and you receive advice and alerts if you’ve gone over your monthly budget.
Handling your money in a responsible way is definitely a lot harder than it sounds. We’re constantly being encouraged to spend our money without giving a second thought to existing coupons or daily deals. Mint can even help you with that. By getting a sense of what “merchant” your money primarily goes to, Mint can provide coupons and handy tips to help you save a little bit. Why go through the long process of checking receipts when you’re an app away from becoming a thrifty connoisseur.
