Do you use (and trust) Mint?

[CJ2008]

DH has been using Mint.com for a while and I am seriously considering putting my information in there too so that we could get an accurate picture of ALL our finances.

But I keep dragging my feet.

I am nervous giving anyone all my account information to my bank accounts. I know Mint is "read only" and you can't move money between accounts, etc., but still. It's A LOT of very sensitive information all in one place.

But the alternative are either spreadsheets, or Quicken, etc., which are not as easy and convenient to use (that's always the tradeoff, it seems).

So do you use it?
Do you trust it?

If you don't use it, or stopped using it, why?

Thanks!

 

[kenny]

I've never heard of Mint.
Whom I don't trust are clever 12-year old boys in their bedrooms hacking into stuff for the testosterone rush.

I refuse to upload anywhere any more of my data than absolutely necessary.

I won't even use the 'cloud'.
That scares the hell out of me.

 

[JewelFreak]

I think Mint was mentioned in a thread a while ago -- only time I've heard of it too. I agree with Kenny. I don't put any financial info -- banks, income, acct. numbers, etc., online. I just don't think there's any way they can guarantee it won't show up on some computer in Nigeria someday.

 

[perry]

While I understand that for some it is desirable to be able to store all of their financial (or other) information in one place; and in a way that provides an overview; I would never use Mint after spending approximately 60 seconds on their site looking at how they manage security.

I do not consider it a secure service. They store your data in a fashion to anyone. All it takes is a court order, or a good hack, and someone has your data. The fact that it is transmitted via 128 bit encryption does not buy you much protection.

Secure cloud servers (the actual real secure cloud servers) install a high level encryption program on your computer such that all data (and documents) are encrypted to a level 1000 times more secure than 128 bit encryption; and then sends that encrypted file to the cloud server. The password for unencrypting the file(s) is never ever sent or stored at the cloud server. If anyone gets a court order for that server, or it gets hacked, all they get is super high level encrypted random letters and numbers. Not readable, and even NSA is not every likely to break the encryption (and NSA is known to routinely break 128 bit encryption).

I do note that if you look at the "best rated" could servers that none of them are considered a secure cloud server - as most people are not interested and are looking for lots of "FREE" stuff and features (best = most free stuff and easy features). Secure servers may provide a small amount of Free space - but not much, and then you pay. Paying for internet features is not popular - which is why most people have a huge exposure to a hacker (or a court order).

Perry

 

[TooPatient]

Don't use it and don't trust it.

I don't want my personal information where a hacker can so easily access it or where an "oops" could send all of my data to someone. Too much chance for something to go wrong.

 

[CJ2008]

Thanks everyone.

Every time I think I'm ready to jump in I go back to square one.

I think I would feel most safe if my bank offered a really good aggregate and budgeting tool. But I realize that's also a false sense of safety. It's just that since I ALREADY share my information with my bank, I would be more open to it. It's the sharing with an extra entity that really has nothing to do with me - I am not their "client" like I am my bank's client - that most bothers me. Again, probably all a false sense of security there too.

Curious for those who are not using Mint and cite security issues - like Perry, Kenny, TooPatient, JewelFreak, etc. - do you bank online? And don't banks use 128-bit encryption too? What makes that different for you?

 

[KristinTech]

www.youneedabudget.com I love this software! It is actually a lot of fun. And you don't have to input any personal information at all, aside from the bank balance. No account numbers or passwords. We have no consumer debt, no mortgage, and only about $4000 on a zero interest car loan. We don't use the software to get out of debt, we use it to see where the dollars are going. I used it to buy my mother's ring this past spring.

 

[CJ2008]

I've heard of that software KristinTech - but I'm a little confused...if it doesn't link up to my banks how does it track our spending?

 

[kenny]

Thanks everyone.

Every time I think I'm ready to jump in I go back to square one.

I think I would feel most safe if my bank offered a really good aggregate and budgeting tool. But I realize that's also a false sense of safety. It's just that since I ALREADY share my information with my bank, I would be more open to it. It's the sharing with an extra entity that really has nothing to do with me - I am not their "client" like I am my bank's client - that most bothers me. Again, probably all a false sense of security there too.

Curious for those who are not using Mint and cite security issues - like Perry, Kenny, TooPatient, JewelFreak, etc. - do you bank online? And don't banks use 128-bit encryption too? What makes that different for you?

Mint is an additional place to reveal your data.

More revealing = more risk.

I'm not trying to get you to think or act like me.
I'm explaining my reasoning for my decision that only applies to me.
YMMV.

 

[perry]

Curious for those who are not using Mint and cite security issues - like Perry, Kenny, TooPatient, JewelFreak, etc. - do you bank online? And don't banks use 128-bit encryption too? What makes that different for you?

Yes, I bank online for 2 out of xy financial institutions. But only from my hard wired home computer which is running two antivirus software programs; and I only access one account at a time.

I do not store a single password on my computer - and never have.

I do not store in my Favorites File the internet web pages of my banks.

I do not use bill pay from within my banking software. I write checks; or in a few cases authorize individual transactions for a fixed dollar amount. I will never set up automatic bill pay.

Also, should I be hacked (or should my bank be hacked) - this would only expose a single account to risk. It would not be consolodated listing of all of my accounts or all of my financial institutions.

Perry

 

[asscherisme]

I've never heard of Mint.
Whom I don't trust are clever 12-year old boys in their bedrooms hacking into stuff for the testosterone rush.

I refuse to upload anywhere any more of my data than absolutely necessary.

I won't even use the 'cloud'.
That scares the hell out of me.

I TOTALLY agree.

edited to add, I got a letter from my children's pediatrician telling me that they not only had been storing my kids personal info, medical records, but my social security number (as the insurance holder) in unencrypted files and that they were hacked and data stolen. Their fix? They offered to purchase a free year of credit monitoring. As if that's suppose to make me feel better. Its one thing to be hacked, but they were storing sensitive info unencrypted? Having our whole lives online and susceptible to identity theft, account theft, etc. I find very scary.

 

[asscherisme]

Thanks everyone.

Every time I think I'm ready to jump in I go back to square one.

I think I would feel most safe if my bank offered a really good aggregate and budgeting tool. But I realize that's also a false sense of safety. It's just that since I ALREADY share my information with my bank, I would be more open to it. It's the sharing with an extra entity that really has nothing to do with me - I am not their "client" like I am my bank's client - that most bothers me. Again, probably all a false sense of security there too.

Curious for those who are not using Mint and cite security issues - like Perry, Kenny, TooPatient, JewelFreak, etc. - do you bank online? And don't banks use 128-bit encryption too? What makes that different for you?

For one, all the account numbers are not stored in one place.

 

[chrono]

I try to limit my online banking as much as possible.
I only do so on my home computer with anti-virus.
I only access one account at a time.
I do not store any passwords on my computer (no auto log-ins, no file of passwords, etc)
I do not store banking links as Favourites
I do not pay bills online; I write checks with the exception of automatic deduction for utility bills.
The automatic deduction only comes from a single bank account.

 

[asscherisme]

I try to limit my online banking as much as possible.
I only do so on my home computer with anti-virus.
I only access one account at a time.
I do not store any passwords on my computer (no auto log-ins, no file of passwords, etc)
I do not store banking links as Favourites
I do not pay bills online; I write checks with the exception of automatic deduction for utility bills.
The automatic deduction only comes from a single bank account.

Mailing checks has its own potential for fraud. Someone steals the envelope to your check and they have your address and checking account number. There is also check washing. No matter how you pay bills there is the potential or fraud.

I do agree with you regarding not storing passwords on my computer and I also only access banking from my home computer with anti virus. Anti virus does fail sometimes. I had my last computer trashed by a virus and had to buy a new one.

 

[CJ2008]

Mint is an additional place to reveal your data.

More revealing = more risk.

I'm not trying to get you to think or act like me.
I'm explaining my reasoning for my decision that only applies to me.
YMMV.

I'm with you, Kenny. I think exactly like that. I am more on the cautious and fearful side when it comes to sharing my information than I am on the "nothing will ever happen, tons of people use it" side.

Your answer was exactly what I was looking for - I want to hear people's reasoning behind why they feel one way or another. To learn - some of these reasons are new to me, for example (like avoiding bill pay services) which is going to prompt me to research into them, and to explore my own fears and feelings about sharing information. And ultimately, to help me make a decision once and for all on Mint.

 

[CJ2008]

Yes, I bank online for 2 out of xy financial institutions. But only from my hard wired home computer which is running two antivirus software programs; and I only access one account at a time.

I do not store a single password on my computer - and never have.

I do not store in my Favorites File the internet web pages of my banks.

I do not use bill pay from within my banking software. I write checks; or in a few cases authorize individual transactions for a fixed dollar amount. I will never set up automatic bill pay.

Also, should I be hacked (or should my bank be hacked) - this would only expose a single account to risk. It would not be consolodated listing of all of my accounts or all of my financial institutions.

Perry

I had never heard of accessing only one account at a time as a security measure. I'll look into this.

I use LastPass to store my passwords - but I do not have any of my bank accounts or investment accounts in it. But I realize this is still "iffy" - a lot of "me" all in one place.

Not having a favorites file - is that to prevent someone from knowing which bank you bank with to begin with?

 

[CJ2008]

I TOTALLY agree.

edited to add, I got a letter from my children's pediatrician telling me that they not only had been storing my kids personal info, medical records, but my social security number (as the insurance holder) in unencrypted files and that they were hacked and data stolen. Their fix? They offered to purchase a free year of credit monitoring. As if that's suppose to make me feel better. Its one thing to be hacked, but they were storing sensitive info unencrypted? Having our whole lives online and susceptible to identity theft, account theft, etc. I find very scary.

Yes, this drives me crazy. We go to a local school where we pay a monthly fee and I know they don't keep the credit card information under lock and key.

I don't ever give out my social security # any more - not even the last 4 digits. If a doctor requires that I don't use them...but I went years and years and years filling it out on forms.

 

[CJ2008]

I try to limit my online banking as much as possible.
I only do so on my home computer with anti-virus.
I only access one account at a time.
I do not store any passwords on my computer (no auto log-ins, no file of passwords, etc)
I do not store banking links as Favourites
I do not pay bills online; I write checks with the exception of automatic deduction for utility bills.
The automatic deduction only comes from a single bank account.

I am learning so much from you guys. I thought I was careful but you guys are above me.

How DO you store your passwords Chrono?

This has me thinking of a different question - DH sometimes uses his Android AT&T phone to tether his computer to the Internet when he's at work. If he's going through his phone is he in essence using a public network? (and therefore should not do any banking, etc.?)

 

[vc10um]

We do not use Mint.com for many of the reasons already stated above.

I tried it for sometime awhile back when I was single and didn't have much money to my name, didn't like it, and am still having a helluva time deleting my account even though I no longer use a single one of the accounts tied to Mint.

My husband and I now use GnuCash. And by "my husband and I" I mean "my husband handles the software, I just help him get the information every month by logging into the accounts I control so he can pull the information." He loves it, and I love the financial picture we get from it. It's a win-win!

 

[yssie]

This has me thinking of a different question - DH sometimes uses his Android AT&T phone to tether his computer to the Internet when he's at work. If he's going through his phone is he in essence using a public network? (and therefore should not do any banking, etc.?)

If the site uses https (which most banking sites, etc. do) it doesn't matter whether you're using 3G/4G and tethering by phone or Wi-Fi or any other type of connection - the SSL communication protocol demands public/private key encryption between the browser you're using locally and the server you're connecting to, and has exactly the same potential issues w/ client cert verification regardless of type of connection.

For non-secure sites 3G/4G is safer than free wi-fi - at least it's some sort of encrypted...

 

[perry]

This has me thinking of a different question - DH sometimes uses his Android AT&T phone to tether his computer to the Internet when he's at work. If he's going through his phone is he in essence using a public network? (and therefore should not do any banking, etc.?)

Does he tether with a hard cable - or with bluetooth.... If bluetooth the entire world in his area can listen in. Any encryption exist between his phone and the internet endpoint - not between his computer and his phone.

Concerning password storage: In my head. I may leave coded notes for certain ones (in a code that only I know - and it does not even contain the full password; just enough so I can recognize the pattern. Most of my passwords are based off of patterns or personal sayings. These patterns and personal sayings are essentially unique to me. Someone would have to know me very very well to know any of my personal unique experiences, jokes, etc. Next they would have to know my personal code for certain things.

Life is worth living if you do it right!,

Perry

 

[KristinTech]

I've heard of that software KristinTech - but I'm a little confused...if it doesn't link up to my banks how does it track our spending?

You have to do it yourself. You CAN import info directly from your bank, but I never did that. I just enter the starting bank balance, assign the dollars a job, and enter any spending from either the point-of-sale as an app on my phone, or at the laptop once a week (usually Saturday morning over coffee). You can reconcile with your bank account at the end of the month to be sure you're on track. My husband joked that "It's like a sandbox," in that you can just erase everything and start again. That might not appeal to some people, but it did to me for the very reason of security. You can do a free 34-day trial, and be sure to sign up for the webinars if you do--they are so helpful! We did a "Fresh Start" recently and I have actually slacked off on it. I need to get back to it, because we did save quite a bit more money while doing it!

 

[chrono]

I do not store my passwords anywhere except by memory. I might write down some hints and clues to jog my memory though.

 

[pandabee]

Hm maybe I am not very smart, or very naive, or both. I use mint and I love it. There are probably better ways of organizing my accounts and seeing my spending habits, budgets, etc. But I find it very helpful to see where all my money is quickly.

 

[ame]

DH has been using Mint.com for a while and I am seriously considering putting my information in there too so that we could get an accurate picture of ALL our finances.

But I keep dragging my feet.

I am nervous giving anyone all my account information to my bank accounts. I know Mint is "read only" and you can't move money between accounts, etc., but still. It's A LOT of very sensitive information all in one place.

But the alternative are either spreadsheets, or Quicken, etc., which are not as easy and convenient to use (that's always the tradeoff, it seems).

So do you use it?
Do you trust it?

If you don't use it, or stopped using it, why?

Thanks!

We use and trust it yes and we actually change banks if they won't work with Mint. We changed CU's recently because they cut off connection with Mint. Nordstrom bank did for a period and I told them I'd be closing my account on the date that occurs. They asked me what it would take to reconsider closing my account, and I said keeping the connection with Mint. That is a non-negotiable. And clearly I was not alone because they reversed that decision. We refinanced our house last year and that bank (or cu) no longer will work with mint. My husband had it out with them about how we like to control how we handle our finances and not be told what services we will be allowed to use, including the Sr. VP of member services. We found out our mortgage is being sold to WF again (lol for days) so we know we'll be able to use Mint again to log our mortgage.

As for password management apps--I use 1Password and love it. It backs up to my Dropbox as well.

 

[CJ2008]

Thanks vc10um - I'll check out GnuCash

Thanks Yssie and Perry - so am I understanding correctly that if he uses a hard cable between his phone and laptop AND visits a website that uses https (like a bank would) - then it would be safe for him to do his banking etc.

Thanks KristinTech - I love the idea that it's totally secure but of course cringe thinking of how time consuming it would be to manually enter all the spending. Probably a lot more doable if you do it weekly like you do...like I said in my original post...usually it's a trade off between easy and secure. I am not writing it off though...since I am still leaning towards not doing Mint.

Thanks Chrono

Pandabee - yes, it's definitely really nice to see it all in one place, and to have it happen automatically. Believe me, I hear you.

Ame - right, your post about Mint was one of the ones I ran into when I did a search here...I wondered if you still used it. There was a part of me that was hoping to hear "no, I don't. This happened and I changed my mind about it." Since I know you like it so much if you turned against it it would have given me the confirmation I was looking for not to use it.

I'm still indecisive about it as you can tell. But since I've been leaning towards no for so long and I don't want to be stuck here I'm probably just going to have to find a different way.

Thanks everyone for your help and input.

 

[ame]

You can always start with one account or something and see what you think. It hasn't exactly slowed my recent spending, but we share my account, and we try to categorize things and fix any Mint-categorized failures asap. Knowing he's looking at all my spending and will comment on my shopping sprees OFTEN helps curb it. But tis the season for deals and I went NUTS this last few days. I am taking the cards out of my wallet after the Nordstrom events this weekend.

 

[CJ2008]

Ame - sorry I missed your last post.

Yeah DH uses it for all his accounts so I KNOW it works and could help us. But DH is more relaxed about security than I am so my accounts aren't in there. Of course this means we don't have a full picture of our spending. This comes up every few months for me every time I realize we need to get some control.

I think I might give YNAB a try. It doesn't seem to care so much about looking "back" but in about how to control what you're doing to do now. Which perhaps is what we MOST need, as long as we have SOME kind of idea about where our $ goes. I'm a bit of a control and detail freak so sometimes unless I have 100% accuracy I get paralyzed - when in reality I probably know "good enough" our spending to start getting some control.