💸 Mint is Dead. Long Live Plain Text Accounting?

[bookkeeper_bob]

The Mint shutdown on March 23, 2024 was a wake-up call for millions of users. Intuit pulled the plug on one of the most popular free budgeting apps, and people are scrambling for alternatives. But this disaster is actually the perfect opportunity to switch to plain text accounting with Beancount.

The Mint Shutdown: What Happened?

On March 23, 2024, Intuit shut down Mint after 17 years of operation. The company pushed users toward Intuit’s Credit Karma product, but many long-time Mint users were outraged:

What Was Lost

• 17 years of financial history for early adopters
• Automatic transaction categorization (people relied on this)
• Budget tracking and alerts (core functionality)
• Net worth tracking over time (years of data)
• Custom categories and tags (personalization lost)

According to Engadget’s coverage, Intuit claimed Credit Karma would provide “an improved experience,” but users reported:

• Missing features (budgeting tools less robust)
• Data migration issues (historical data lost or corrupted)
• Privacy concerns (Credit Karma is ad-supported)
• Different focus (credit monitoring vs budgeting)

Yahoo Finance reported that “users who want to keep their financial data will have to export it before Mint closes” - but the export format was limited and didn’t preserve all historical information.

The Alternative They’re Pushing: Expensive Subscriptions

Now that Mint is gone, financial companies are charging $100-200/year for basic budgeting features:

Quicken Simplifi

• Cost: $47.88/year (promotional) → $71.88/year (regular)
• Features: Budgeting, spending tracking, bill management
• Limitation: Cloud-based, subscription required

YNAB (You Need A Budget)

• Cost: $99/year or $14.99/month
• Features: Zero-based budgeting, goal tracking
• Limitation: Aggressive subscription model, no lifetime option

Monarch Money

• Cost: $99.95/year or $14.99/month
• Features: Net worth tracking, budgeting, investment tracking
• Limitation: Another subscription with no guarantee it won’t shut down

Beancount

• Cost: $0 (free and open source)
• Features: Full double-entry accounting, unlimited history, complete control
• Limitation: Learning curve (but worth it!)

The Real Cost: Subscriptions vs Privacy vs Control

Let’s do the math over 10 years:

Tool	10-Year Cost	Privacy	Data Ownership	Shutdown Risk
Mint	$0	Ads/tracking	Cloud only	Already shut down!
YNAB	$990	Cloud-based	Cloud only	Subscription model
Quicken Simplifi	$718	Cloud-based	Cloud only	Intuit (same as Mint!)
Monarch Money	$999	Cloud-based	Cloud only	Unknown
Beancount	$0	Self-hosted	Plain text	Can’t shut down

Over 10 years, you save $700-1,000 by using Beancount instead of subscriptions.

But the real value isn’t just money - it’s permanent ownership of your financial data.

Why the Mint Shutdown Should Scare You

The Mint shutdown reveals a fundamental problem with cloud-based financial services:

1. You Don’t Own Your Data

Mint users had zero control when Intuit decided to shut down:

• No warning (announced in November 2023, shut down March 2024 = 4 months notice)
• Limited export options (CSV only, lost categorization rules and historical insights)
• Forced migration to inferior product (Credit Karma)

2. Privacy is Not Guaranteed

From CNBC’s analysis:

“Mint was free because it made money from ads and product recommendations based on your financial data.”

When you use free cloud services:

• They analyze your spending patterns
• They sell targeted financial products (credit cards, loans)
• They share data with partners (aggregated, but still…)
• They can change privacy policies at any time

3. Features Can Disappear Overnight

Mint’s shutdown was sudden, but even before that, Intuit had been:

• Removing features (investment tracking degraded)
• Reducing support (fewer updates, slower bug fixes)
• Shifting focus (prioritizing Credit Karma integration)

Cloud services can rug-pull you at any time.

The Plain Text Accounting Alternative

With Beancount, you have:

1. Complete Data Ownership

Your financial ledger is a plain text file on your computer:

2025-01-15 * "Grocery Store" "Weekly shopping"
  Expenses:Food:Groceries           127.50 USD
  Liabilities:CreditCard:Chase

2025-01-16 * "Paycheck"
  Assets:Checking                  3,500.00 USD
  Income:Salary

• You can read it with any text editor
• You can back it up anywhere (Dropbox, Git, USB drive)
• It will work forever (plain text never becomes obsolete)
• No company can take it away

2. Privacy by Default

Your data never leaves your computer unless you explicitly share it:

• No cloud sync (unless you choose to use Git/Dropbox)
• No ads based on your spending
• No data selling to third parties
• No privacy policy changes

3. It Can Never Shut Down

Beancount is open source. Even if the maintainer abandons it:

• The code is available forever (GitHub)
• Your ledger files work without the internet
• Community can fork and maintain it
• Plain text format is future-proof

4. More Powerful Than Mint Ever Was

Mint was designed for basic budgeting. Beancount is full double-entry accounting:

What Mint could do:

• Track expenses by category
• Show budget vs actual
• Display net worth
• Categorize transactions (basic rules)

What Beancount can do:

• Everything Mint did, plus:
• Multi-currency support (for international users)
• Investment tracking with cost basis
• Custom importers for any bank format
• Python scripting for unlimited customization
• Tax reporting and optimization
• Version control (Git tracks every change)
• Fava web interface (visual like Mint)

My Migration Journey: Mint → Beancount

I was a Mint user for 8 years (2015-2023). Here’s how I migrated:

Step 1: Export Mint Data (January 2024, before shutdown)

Mint offered CSV export:

• Transactions CSV (all historical transactions)
• Accounts CSV (account balances)
• Categories CSV (custom categorization)

Result: 8 years of transactions in CSV format (~15,000 transactions)

Step 2: Write Beancount Importer

Used Python to convert Mint CSV → Beancount format:

import csv
from datetime import datetime

def mint_to_beancount(csv_file):
    with open(csv_file) as f:
        for row in csv.DictReader(f):
            date = datetime.strptime(row['Date'], '%m/%d/%Y')
            description = row['Description']
            category = row['Category'].replace(' ', '')
            amount = float(row['Amount'])

            print(f"{date:%Y-%m-%d} * \"{description}\"")
            if amount > 0:  # Income
                print(f"  Assets:Checking  {amount:.2f} USD")
                print(f"  Income:{category}")
            else:  # Expense
                print(f"  Expenses:{category}  {-amount:.2f} USD")
                print(f"  Assets:Checking")
            print()

Result: Beancount ledger with 8 years of historical data

Step 3: Set Up Automated Imports

For ongoing transactions, I wrote importers for my banks:

• Chase checking (CSV download)
• Amex credit card (CSV download)
• Vanguard investments (OFX download)

Time investment: ~10 hours to write importers
Ongoing time: ~15 minutes/week to import and categorize new transactions

Step 4: Customize with Fava

Installed Fava web interface for visual dashboards:

pip install fava
fava main.beancount

Result: Web interface similar to Mint, but running on my own computer with my own data.

The Comparison: 1 Year Later

Mint (before shutdown):

• Cost: $0 (but ads and data mining)
• Time: ~5 minutes/week (automatic sync)
• Control: No control over features/privacy
• Privacy: Data analyzed and sold
• Flexibility: Limited to Mint’s feature set

Beancount (after migration):

• Cost: $0 (truly free, no hidden costs)
• Time: ~15 minutes/week (manual import + categorization)
• Control: Complete control over everything
• Privacy: 100% private, self-hosted
• Flexibility: Unlimited (Python scripting, custom reports)

Trade-off: I spend 10 extra minutes per week, but I have complete ownership and privacy.

Addressing the “Beancount is Too Hard” Objection

Yes, Beancount has a learning curve. But consider:

Initial learning investment: 10-20 hours to understand basics
Payoff: Lifetime of financial clarity and control

Compare this to:

• YNAB costs $990 over 10 years
• At $50/hour, that’s 19.8 hours of work to pay for YNAB
• You’d break even on time investment, but Beancount gives you MORE control

And the learning is transferable: Double-entry accounting concepts apply to any tool (QuickBooks, Xero, etc.) and any country.

My Offer: Mint → Beancount Migration Guide

I’ve helped 5 friends migrate from Mint to Beancount. If there’s interest, I can create:

1. Python script to convert Mint CSV → Beancount
2. Step-by-step migration guide (screenshots, commands)
3. Fava setup tutorial (replicate Mint’s visual interface)
4. Common bank importers (Chase, BofA, Amex, etc.)

Let me know if this would be useful!

The Bottom Line: Take Control Before It’s Too Late

Mint’s shutdown was a warning:

• Cloud services can disappear
• Subscriptions cost $700-1,000 per decade
• Privacy is compromised with free cloud tools
• You don’t own your financial data

Beancount offers:

• Permanent ownership (plain text)
• Complete privacy (self-hosted)
• Zero cost forever (open source)
• More powerful than Mint (full accounting)

The question isn’t “Why switch to Beancount?” It’s “Why trust another cloud service after Mint?”

Questions for the Community

1. Were you a Mint user? How did the shutdown affect you?
2. What budgeting tool are you using now?
3. What’s stopping you from trying plain text accounting?
4. Would a Mint → Beancount migration guide be helpful?

The Mint era is over. It’s time to take control of your financial data.

Sources:

• CNBC: Mint budgeting app is shutting down (2024)
• Engadget: Mint is shutting down and pushing users to Credit Karma (2024)
• Yahoo Finance: Intuit shutting down Mint (2024)
• My personal Mint → Beancount migration experience (January 2024)

[accountant_alice]

@bookkeeper_bob This is such an important discussion! The Mint shutdown affected several of my clients, and it exposed the fundamental risks of relying on cloud-based financial tools.

The Professional Perspective: Why I Never Recommended Mint

As an accountant, I’ve always been skeptical of “free” financial services. Here’s why:

1. The Business Model Problem

Free cloud services make money by:

• Selling your data (aggregated spending patterns)
• Advertising financial products (credit cards, loans, investments)
• Upselling premium features (Mint → Credit Karma → paid services)

From CNBC’s analysis:

“Mint made money through ads and partner referrals based on your financial profile.”

This creates a conflict of interest:

• Your goal: Accurate, unbiased financial tracking
• Their goal: Maximize ad revenue and referral commissions

With Beancount (or any self-hosted tool):

• No financial incentive to mislead you
• No ads cluttering your financial reports
• No “recommended credit cards” based on your spending

2. The Data Ownership Crisis

I have clients who lost 10+ years of financial history when Mint shut down. The CSV export Mint provided was inadequate:

What Mint’s CSV included:

• Transaction date, amount, description
• Basic category assignment

What Mint’s CSV did NOT include:

• Custom rules and filters
• Budget configurations
• Historical trends and insights
• Linked account relationships
• Notes and tags on transactions
• Multi-year comparison data

Client A (small business owner):

• Used Mint for 12 years (2012-2024)
• Relied on historical expense trends for budgeting
• After export, lost all context and had to rebuild everything in YNAB
• Cost: $99/year × 10 years = $990 (future cost)
• Time cost: 40 hours to rebuild historical categories and rules

Client B (switched to Beancount in 2020):

• 5 years of complete history in plain text
• When I asked “What if Beancount shuts down?”, I showed them the file
• It’s plain text. They can read it with Notepad. It works forever.
• Cost: $0
• Time cost: 15 hours to learn Beancount initially, then smooth sailing

The Hidden Costs of Subscription Tools

@bookkeeper_bob showed the 10-year cost comparison. Let me add the opportunity cost:

YNAB: $99/year

• 10 years: $990
• 20 years: $1,980
• 30 years (retirement planning): $2,970

Beancount: $0/year

• 10 years: $0
• 20 years: $0
• 30 years: $0

Difference: $2,970

If you invested that $99/year instead at 7% annual return:

• After 10 years: $1,370
• After 20 years: $4,320
• After 30 years: $9,930

By choosing Beancount over YNAB for 30 years, you save ~$10,000.

And that’s assuming YNAB doesn’t raise prices (spoiler: subscription services always do).

Why Cloud Services Fail: The Incentive Structure

Mint shut down because:

1. Profitability pressure: Free services need to generate revenue somehow
2. Corporate priorities: Intuit wanted to consolidate products (Credit Karma)
3. User data is the product: Once they extracted value, they shut it down

This pattern repeats across industries:

• Google Reader (RSS): Shut down 2013
• Google Plus (social): Shut down 2019
• Evernote Free tier: Crippled in 2016
• LastPass Free tier: Limited in 2021

Cloud financial services will follow the same path:

1. Launch free tier to gain users
2. Monetize through ads/upsells
3. Once growth slows, either charge or shut down
4. Users scramble to migrate

The Self-Hosted Advantage

With Beancount (or any plain text accounting):

1. No Vendor Lock-In

Your data is portable:

• Plain text format (readable by any editor)
• Easy to convert to other formats (CSV, JSON, SQL)
• Can be processed by any programming language
• Future-proof (text files will work for decades)

2. Privacy by Design

Your financial data never touches third-party servers:

• No data breaches (can’t hack what’s not online)
• No government surveillance (no cloud provider to subpoena)
• No terms of service changes (you control the rules)
• No AI training on your data (looking at you, ChatGPT)

3. Unlimited History

Cloud services often limit historical data:

• Mint: Initially unlimited, but search was limited to ~7 years
• YNAB: Full history, but locked behind subscription
• Quicken: Desktop version has history, cloud version limited

Beancount: Your ledger file can contain 50+ years of data with zero performance impact. I have clients with ledgers going back to the 1990s.

4. Customization Without Limits

Mint had a fixed feature set. If you needed something custom, too bad.

With Beancount:

• Write Python scripts for custom reports
• Create visualizations with matplotlib/plotly
• Export to any format (PDF, HTML, Excel)
• Integrate with other tools (tax software, investment trackers)
• Automate anything (imports, reconciliation, alerts)

Example: I wrote a script that emails me when my cash reserves drop below $10k. Took 30 lines of Python. Impossible with Mint.

The Fava Solution: Best of Both Worlds

@bookkeeper_bob mentioned Fava. This is KEY for Mint refugees.

Fava provides:

• Web-based interface (like Mint)
• Beautiful visualizations (charts, graphs, trends)
• Mobile-friendly (check finances on phone)
• Real-time updates (as you edit ledger file)

But unlike Mint:

• Runs locally on your computer (no cloud)
• Your data stays private (not sent to servers)
• Open source (can’t shut down)
• Free forever (no subscriptions)

Setup time: 5 minutes

pip install fava
fava main.beancount
# Open browser to http://localhost:5000

I show Fava to clients, and they say “Wait, this is better than Mint AND it’s private AND it’s free?”

Yes. Yes it is.

My Professional Recommendation

For personal finance:

• Avoid cloud subscription tools (YNAB, Monarch, Simplifi)
• Use Beancount + Fava (privacy, control, zero cost)

For small business:

• Avoid cloud tools unless absolutely necessary
• Use Beancount for internal books (privacy)
• Use QuickBooks/Xero only if required by accountant/investors

For anyone who values:

• Privacy → Beancount
• Control → Beancount
• Long-term cost savings → Beancount
• Future-proof data → Beancount

Addressing “But Beancount is Too Technical”

I teach Beancount to clients who are NOT technical:

• Retirees (age 60-75)
• Small business owners (no coding background)
• Non-profit managers (limited tech skills)

My teaching approach:

1. Week 1: Install Beancount and Fava (I do this for them remotely)
2. Week 2: Show them how to add transactions manually in a text editor
3. Week 3: Set up automated imports (I write the importers)
4. Week 4: Teach them how to use Fava for reports

Success rate: 90% of clients are self-sufficient within 1 month.

The “too technical” excuse is a myth. You’re reading and writing plain text. If you can use a text editor (Notepad, Word), you can use Beancount.

The Mint Lesson: Don’t Trust Corporations with Your Financial Data

Intuit shut down Mint with 4 months’ notice. Imagine if they had given 4 DAYS’ notice. Or no notice at all.

This is the risk of cloud services:

• They can change terms at any time
• They can raise prices at any time
• They can shut down at any time
• You have ZERO control

With Beancount:

• You control when/how to use it
• No price changes (it’s free)
• Can’t shut down (open source)
• Complete control over your data

Final Thoughts

The Mint shutdown was a blessing in disguise. It forced people to reevaluate their relationship with financial technology.

The choice is clear:

• Pay $100-200/year for subscription tools that might shut down
• Or spend 10-20 hours learning Beancount and own your financial data forever

I choose ownership.

Sources:

• CNBC, Engadget, Yahoo Finance (Mint shutdown coverage)
• My professional experience with 50+ clients (2015-2025)
• Cost analysis of subscription tools vs self-hosted
• Fava documentation and setup guides

[finance_fred]

I was a Mint user for 10 years. When it shut down, I migrated to Beancount. Here’s a step-by-step tutorial so you can do the same.

Why I Chose Beancount Over Paid Alternatives

After Mint shut down, I evaluated:

• YNAB: $99/year (too expensive long-term)
• Quicken Simplifi: $72/year (owned by Intuit, don’t trust them anymore)
• Monarch Money: $100/year (unknown longevity)
• Beancount: $0/year (open source, can’t shut down)

Decision criteria:

1. Must be cheaper than $100/year Beancount ($0)
2. Must have historical data import Beancount (CSV import)
3. Must have visual interface Beancount (Fava)
4. Must be private Beancount (self-hosted)

Winner: Beancount

Step-by-Step Migration Tutorial

Step 1: Export Your Mint Data (Do This NOW if Mint Still Works)

Update: Mint shut down March 23, 2024, so this step is only for people who exported beforehand. If you didn’t export, skip to Step 2.

1. Log into Mint
2. Click “Settings” → “Data Export”
3. Download these files:
   • transactions.csv (all historical transactions)
   • accounts.csv (account balances)
   • categories.csv (your custom categories)

What you’ll get:

• 10 years of transactions (in my case: 28,000 transactions)
• CSV format (easy to parse)

Step 2: Install Beancount and Fava

On macOS/Linux:

# Install Python (if not already installed)
python3 --version  # Should show 3.8+

# Install Beancount
pip3 install beancount

# Install Fava (web interface)
pip3 install fava

# Verify installation
bean-check --version
fava --version

On Windows:

1. Install Python from python.org (3.8+)
2. Open Command Prompt
3. Run: pip install beancount fava

Time: 5 minutes

Step 3: Create Your First Beancount File

Create a file called main.beancount:

;; My Beancount Ledger
;; Started: 2025-01-15

;; Account declarations
2025-01-01 open Assets:Checking USD
2025-01-01 open Assets:Savings USD
2025-01-01 open Liabilities:CreditCard USD
2025-01-01 open Income:Salary USD
2025-01-01 open Expenses:Food:Groceries USD
2025-01-01 open Expenses:Food:Restaurants USD
2025-01-01 open Expenses:Housing:Rent USD
2025-01-01 open Expenses:Transport:Gas USD

;; Opening balances (from your current accounts)
2025-01-01 * "Opening balance"
  Assets:Checking      5,000.00 USD
  Assets:Savings      10,000.00 USD
  Equity:OpeningBalances

;; Sample transaction
2025-01-15 * "Grocery Store"
  Expenses:Food:Groceries    127.50 USD
  Liabilities:CreditCard

Save this file.

Test it:

bean-check main.beancount

If no errors, you’re good!

Time: 10 minutes

Step 4: Convert Mint CSV to Beancount

Here’s the Python script I used to convert Mint transactions:

#!/usr/bin/env python3
"""
Convert Mint CSV export to Beancount format
Usage: python3 mint_to_beancount.py transactions.csv > imported.beancount
"""

import csv
import sys
from datetime import datetime

def clean_category(category):
    """Convert Mint category to Beancount account"""
    # Replace spaces with nothing, handle special cases
    category = category.replace(' & ', 'And')
    category = category.replace(' ', '')
    category = category.replace('/', '')
    return category

def convert_transaction(row):
    """Convert a Mint CSV row to Beancount format"""
    date = datetime.strptime(row['Date'], '%m/%d/%Y')
    description = row['Description']
    category = clean_category(row['Category'])
    amount = float(row['Amount'])
    account = row['Account Name'].replace(' ', '')

    # Determine if income or expense
    if row['Transaction Type'] == 'credit':
        # This is income
        print(f"{date:%Y-%m-%d} * \"{description}\"")
        print(f"  Assets:{account}  {amount:.2f} USD")
        print(f"  Income:{category}")
    else:
        # This is expense
        print(f"{date:%Y-%m-%d} * \"{description}\"")
        print(f"  Expenses:{category}  {amount:.2f} USD")
        print(f"  Assets:{account}")
    print()

def main():
    if len(sys.argv) != 2:
        print("Usage: python3 mint_to_beancount.py transactions.csv")
        sys.exit(1)

    csv_file = sys.argv[1]

    with open(csv_file, 'r') as f:
        reader = csv.DictReader(f)
        for row in reader:
            convert_transaction(row)

if __name__ == '__main__':
    main()

Run it:

python3 mint_to_beancount.py transactions.csv > imported.beancount

Result: All your Mint transactions converted to Beancount format!

Time: 30 minutes to write script, 5 seconds to run

Step 5: Clean Up and Organize

The automated conversion will have errors. Common issues:

1. Duplicate accounts: Mint might have “Chase Checking” and “ChaseChecking”

   • Fix: Standardize account names in the conversion script

2. Unknown categories: Some Mint categories might not map cleanly

   • Fix: Add mapping rules in the script

3. Transfer transactions: Mint shows transfers as two transactions

   • Fix: Manually merge these in Beancount

Time: 2-5 hours (depending on data size)

Step 6: Set Up Automated Imports

Going forward, you need to import transactions regularly. Here’s my setup:

For Chase Bank:

#!/usr/bin/env python3
"""Import Chase checking CSV"""

import csv
import sys
from datetime import datetime

def import_chase(csv_file):
    with open(csv_file, 'r') as f:
        reader = csv.DictReader(f)
        for row in reader:
            date = datetime.strptime(row['Posting Date'], '%m/%d/%Y')
            description = row['Description']
            amount = float(row['Amount'])

            print(f"{date:%Y-%m-%d} * \"{description}\"")
            if amount > 0:
                print(f"  Assets:Checking  {amount:.2f} USD")
                print(f"  Income:Unknown")
            else:
                print(f"  Expenses:Unknown  {-amount:.2f} USD")
                print(f"  Assets:Checking")
            print()

if __name__ == '__main__':
    import_chase(sys.argv[1])

Usage:

1. Download Chase CSV from online banking
2. Run: python3 import_chase.py chase.csv >> main.beancount
3. Open main.beancount and categorize transactions

Time: 15 minutes/week

Step 7: Launch Fava (Visual Interface)

fava main.beancount

Open browser to: http://localhost:5000

What you’ll see:

• Dashboard (net worth, income/expenses)
• Balance sheet (assets, liabilities)
• Income statement (income vs expenses)
• Transaction list (searchable, filterable)
• Charts and graphs (spending trends)

It looks like Mint, but it’s YOUR data on YOUR computer.

Time: 2 minutes

Step 8: Daily/Weekly Workflow

Weekly routine (15 minutes):

1. Download bank CSVs (5 minutes)
2. Run import scripts (1 minute)
3. Open Fava, categorize “Unknown” transactions (5 minutes)
4. Review budget vs actual (2 minutes)
5. Reconcile accounts (2 minutes)

Monthly routine (30 minutes):

1. Generate reports (income statement, balance sheet)
2. Review spending trends
3. Adjust budget if needed
4. Back up ledger file to Git/Dropbox

My Results: 1 Year After Mint

Before (Mint):

• Time: 5 min/week (automatic sync)
• Control: Limited to Mint’s features
• Privacy: Cloud-based, ads
• Cost: $0 (but with privacy trade-off)

After (Beancount):

• Time: 15 min/week (manual import)
• Control: Complete control, Python scripts
• Privacy: 100% private, self-hosted
• Cost: $0 (truly free)

Was it worth the extra 10 min/week? Absolutely. I have:

• 10 years of historical data (imported from Mint)
• Custom reports Mint could never do
• Complete privacy (no cloud sync)
• Skills I can use for life (double-entry accounting)

Resources I Used

Learning Beancount:

• Official Beancount Documentation
• Beancount Command-line Reference
• Plain Text Accounting website

Fava Setup:

• Fava GitHub
• Fava Quick Start Guide

Import Scripts:

• Beancount Importers
• My custom scripts (happy to share if there’s interest)

Common Questions

Q: Do I need to be a programmer?
A: No. You need to be comfortable with text files and command line basics. The scripts I provided work out-of-the-box.

Q: What if I don’t have Mint export data?
A: Download current transactions from your bank (usually last 90 days) and start fresh. Historical data is nice but not required.

Q: Can I use Beancount on my phone?
A: Fava works in mobile browsers. For adding transactions on-the-go, use a text editor app (Notes, Google Docs) and copy to ledger later.

Q: What about automatic syncing like Mint?
A: Beancount doesn’t sync automatically (privacy feature, not a bug). You download CSVs manually. Takes 5 min/week.

The Bottom Line

Migrating from Mint to Beancount took me ~20 hours total:

• 5 hours learning Beancount basics
• 10 hours converting Mint data
• 5 hours setting up import scripts

Payoff:

• $0 cost forever (vs $100/year for YNAB)
• Complete data ownership
• Privacy (self-hosted)
• More powerful than Mint ever was

If you’re a displaced Mint user, give Beancount a try. The learning curve is real, but the payoff is worth it.

Sources:

• My personal Mint → Beancount migration (January 2024)
• Python conversion scripts (available on request)
• Beancount and Fava official documentation
• 1 year of using Beancount full-time