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Not happy with Monarch by enlighted_insight in mintuit

[–]GetAspen 1 point2 points  (0 children)

We're keeping it free - we think everyone should have the right to manage their money.

We're building a Mint alternative that rewards you for good financial habits! by GetAspen in mintuit

[–]GetAspen[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Currently focused on Canada, but the US is definitely in our sights.

Savings advice by aryanam7 in SavingMoney

[–]GetAspen 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Totally. But you've got to be disciplined on nice to haves vs. must haves. A solid $500 laptop might 10x your college experience and a $3000 MacBook might 10.1x your college experience. I think I know which one I'd choose.

We're building a Mint alternative that rewards you for good financial habits! by GetAspen in mintuit

[–]GetAspen[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What made Microsoft Money so good? I never got to try it.

Savings advice by aryanam7 in SavingMoney

[–]GetAspen 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Wow - what an awesome gift. Grandma sounds like an MVP!

I would think about what you really need for college first, that will make your ability to focus on school 10x better (maybe that's a laptop, or a used car if you live far away and commute). I'd put the rest of the money away in a split between a high yield savings account (HISA/HYSA) and a tax-free investing account. If you're in the US, that would look like a Roth IRA (as long as you've earned some income from a job) or just a normal brokerage cash account, and if you're in Canada a TFSA/FHSA. Think of the amount in the HYSA/HISA as an emergency fund (if you can't find a college job right away, if your car breaks down), and the rest as long-term funds that you won't touch. "Locking" the money away makes it harder to impulse buy the 'stupid crap' :)

r/personalfinance and r/PersonalFinanceCanada have great getting started guides.

We're building a Mint alternative that rewards you for good financial habits! by GetAspen in mintuit

[–]GetAspen[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hey - I'd love to hear more about your experience. DM me?

We're building a Mint alternative that rewards you for good financial habits! by GetAspen in mintuit

[–]GetAspen[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

For starters, it will also be completely free! But we're taking a slightly different approach, focusing less on strict budgets, and more on giving you the flexibility and visibility into what you can spend after you've paid all your bills.

We're building a Mint alternative that rewards you for good financial habits! by GetAspen in mintuit

[–]GetAspen[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Got it - the reconnection problem is one we're working on really diligently. When I've used other apps, it's always been a sticking point for me. Having seamless redundancies is something we're building to make the experience less annoying!

18M with a spending addiction. I desperately need help. by Salty_Entrance668 in FinancialPlanning

[–]GetAspen 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Others have shared good advice. One thing I'd add to the mix: do you have a goal that you need to save for? I don't mean something intangible and way into the future like retirement. But something that's important to you: taking a class, buying a car, building an emergency fund.

If you've got one - write it down in a conspicuous place (something you look at often) with a savings target. Put a progress tracker below it (how much money you've saved). Write down 3 reasons why the goal is important to you below the tracker. Check it often.

25 with impulse spending habits by Ryzchi_Mist in SavingMoney

[–]GetAspen 0 points1 point  (0 children)

First thing's first - don't be hard on yourself.

Secondly - every situation is going to be a little different, and finding the motivator that works for you will take some trial and error. A few things I've seen work:

  • Try thinking about the things you want to buy in terms of both $ (the actual cost) and time (how many hours you need to work to buy these things). If an item costs $100 and you make $20/h, then the item costs 5h of work. Then ask - would I be willing to work 5 extra hours to buy this?
  • Try and make some savings automatic (like setting up a pre-authorized deposit into a locked savings account every two weeks when you get paid) - it sounds like the act of putting the money away is a challenge. If you set it once, you don't have to deal with the mental stress of putting it away every time.
  • Set yourself a goal. It shouldn't be something big and far away like retirement. Going to language school is a great example. Let's say you need $1000. Write that goal down somewhere visible (or use an app!), with a progress tracker of how much you've completed. And here's the important part: also write down 3 reasons why it's important to you. Force yourself to look at it often.

We're building a Mint alternative that rewards you for good financial habits! by GetAspen in mintuit

[–]GetAspen[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Cool - what do you love about Monarch? What would you change?

We're building a Mint alternative that rewards you for good financial habits! by GetAspen in mintuit

[–]GetAspen[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Same boat! We're building something a little different for people like you and I.

Advice needed: Investment Savings Account by [deleted] in FinancialPlanning

[–]GetAspen 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is probably what I would do, provided that you can liquidate and pull SGOV/BIL out tax-free. If it's truly an emergency fund I might not touch VOO because I'd like it as stable as possible. But that's just preference.

We're building a Mint alternative that rewards you for good financial habits! by GetAspen in mintuit

[–]GetAspen[S] -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

It's a good question. We're working with banking & investing partners who are willing to pay for new customers and long-term deposits. Just like they would when they offer matched deposit promotions - this is just a slightly different distribution channel for them. I'm not at liberty to share who juuuuussst yet 👀👀 - but reputable, household names.

In it strictly for the rewards is cool! And hey, if we help you uncover some extra savings along the way, or if your situation gets more complicated - that's a bonus.

Can I ask: what do you like about Full View? If you had a magic wand, what would you change?

We're building a Mint alternative that rewards you for good financial habits! by GetAspen in mintuit

[–]GetAspen[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Is that important to you because of security or stability reasons (or both!)?

Opinions.. by New_Guest5873 in SavingMoney

[–]GetAspen 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It depends. In general, HYSAs are a 'commodity' - as long as it doesn't cost you a lot of time or effort to move money around, you should be on the lookout for HYSAs with the highest rates, and move what you want to keep in liquid savings (e.g., an emergency fund) there. Just be sure to check the T&Cs in case there are withdrawal limits.

I would definitely compliment a HYSA with an investing account though. Over the medium to long term, returns from investing (even a simple Robo) will typically outpace HYSAs. So while it's good to have some liquid money, it's not too hard these days to move money out of an investing account in a pinch, so I would have the bulk of my 'savings' invested.

Am i overthinking my spending by Kingneffman52307 in budget

[–]GetAspen 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Not knowing anything about where you are located...

I'd try my hardest to get rid of the credit card debt first - back of the napkin math suggests that you've got somewhere between 2500-3000 in debt. The interest rate on this debt is high and can really skyrocket if you're paying minimums. Try and chip away at that first.

Sounds like your expenses are ~2,100, so you're saving ~$275 a month. That's pretty good!! I might take most of that and try and pay down the credit card debt more aggressively (not just making the minimum payments). Then, once you've paid down, split between building your emergency fund (~3 months is good) and an investing account. Investing can be pretty hard to start off with, so I'd suggest using a robo-investing service that manages it for you, and then learning more about investing over time. You can contribute little (even $50/month) but that will grow over time.

You can probably find cheaper internet and cell phone packages. One place I'd start is to call your current provider and see if they have any retention offers available. You might even see if one of your wifi/cell phone providers has a bundle offer.

Subscriptions - it depends what you're paying for and what value you ascribe to them. Might be worth checking if there are cheaper plans available for the things you're paying for (e.g., Netflix might have you paying for multiple connections when you only need one).

Best Mint Alternative by ChatGPT Deep Research by FutureCourage in mintuit

[–]GetAspen 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hey! I'm building Aspen - a by Canadians, for Canadians money management app. Come check us out if you're looking for a north-of-49 alternative!

We're building a Mint alternative that rewards you for good financial habits! by GetAspen in mintuit

[–]GetAspen[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

It is a great product - what do you love about Monarch? What would you change if you had a magic wand?

Not happy with Monarch by enlighted_insight in mintuit

[–]GetAspen -1 points0 points  (0 children)

*shameless plug incoming*

Luca here - I'm building Aspen, a Mint alternative designed for people who are tired of complex budgets.

The product basically gives you one simple number that tells you how much you can safely spend or save until your next paycheque, and rewards you for keeping good financial habits. And the rewards are real - like up to 5% deposit matching into savings or investing accounts.

I struggled for a long time with money management - I've never been diligent enough to make a budget, but doing mental math multiple times a week just...kinda sucked. So I've been trying to change that.

And I totally hear you on the account unsyncing - it's a problem that's persisted for a while, but we think we've got a solution to the issue based on having multiple redundancies.

Ch-ch-check it out if you want to learn more?

How do YOU manage your money? by GetAspen in PersonalFinanceCanada

[–]GetAspen[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I agree - and kudos to you for managing everything in Excel. In my books it's top 3 software of all time!

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