If I’m being honest, I’ve always been decent with money. I’m not sure if it’s the eldest daughter in me, my family’s immigrant background, or the number of times I read about Kit Kittredge (yes, the American Girl) living through the Great Depression, but I’ve always been one to pinch a penny. As a kid, that meant saving as much cash as I could in a literal piggy bank. As an adult, it has translated to counting on a trusty budgeting app to manage my financial health.
For years, I used Mint as my go-to budgeting app. It allowed me to assign budgets to key categories, track yearly and monthly expenses, and monitor my credit score. But sadly, one fateful day in 2023, the app’s parent company, Intuit, announced it was permanently shutting Mint down the following year. Devastated users like me had two options: transfer data to Intuit’s sister app Credit Karma or begrudgingly find a replacement.
No two budgets are created equal, and neither are budgeting apps. Unfortunately, Credit Karma’s budget functionality isn’t as detailed as I’d like it to be (since it’s primarily a credit-monitoring service), so I began looking elsewhere. A few months and several apps later, I finally found my new favorite: Origin. Ahead, I’m breaking down the capabilities of the Origin Financial app, how I use it, and whether or not it measures up to Mint, may the app RIP.
What is the Origin Financial app?
I stumbled upon the Origin Financial app where most great things are discovered: social media. One Instagram ad and a two-month free trial later (courtesy of Mrs. Dow Jones), I’m convinced that the Origin Financial app takes budgeting to the next level. Founded in 2023, Origin has already been named the Best Budgeting App by Forbes and has been touted as a Mint replacement. The app—which also has desktop functionality if mobile isn’t your thing—prides itself on being a “one-stop shop” for money management that helps you grow, track, manage, and save, all from one place. And based on my experience, that claim certainly holds up.
In addition to those features, the Origin Financial app offers tools for estate planning, taxes, and equity tracking. It even allows two users per account, meaning both my hypothetical/future partner or spouse (or beneficiary) and I can one day log into our account to better understand our joint net worth.
What I love about the Origin Financial app
It is easy to set up
Like many budgeting apps, Origin uses a third-party integration called Plaid to securely transfer information. I still had to log into each financial institution I wanted to connect to the app, but Plaid automatically pulled account information and saved me the hassle of typing in account or routing numbers. Once all my information was in, setting up my budget was a bit more manual, but it was still a total breeze.
Origin automatically calculates monthly average spending for common pre-selected categories like groceries, household, shopping, dining, travel, and more, which help outline an informed budget. Then, the app prompts you to set a dollar amount for each category. Spending on something special? Customize as many categories as you’d like from scratch, and Origin will keep track of your spending within those categories in your monthly budget.
It’s aesthetic AF
The Origin Financial app gives “clean girl,” and I love that about it. Everything uses a light background, clear font, and cool shades of green and blue that draw the eye to important information. Its homepage offers a clear overview of users’ assets and net worth for a quick financial health check. Simply scroll down further to find a customizable “Favorites” section digging into areas like budget breakdowns, latest transactions, and top spending categories for the month. Despite the amount of information available, nothing feels too busy or overwhelming. The app’s tabs for spending, portfolio information, investments, and advice are easily digestible and helpful as I check in across categories.
“Origin automatically categorizes spending accurately into charts and graphs that give quick hits when I need them and let me dig deeper when I have the time.”
It creates at-a-glance reports
Speaking of aesthetics, one of the things I missed most about Mint was its helpful (and beautiful) pie charts that gave me a quick view into my spending. When it comes to my budget, I don’t want to have to go digging through credit card transactions or do the mental math to figure out just how much of my money is going to ride-shares or dining out. Origin automatically categorizes spending accurately into charts and graphs that give quick hits when I need them and let me dig deeper when I have the time.
It’s AI chatbot is like a built-in financial advisor
The Origin Financial app includes a built-in AI chatbot called Sidekick that can answer almost any finance-related question you have, from investment portfolio updates to spending habits. I asked Sidetrack to pull my cash flow report from last year to see how it compares with my current spending. So far, so good, but I still asked how I could reduce my spending. Sidekick gave me a detailed report on my top spending categories and customized recommendations for ways to cut back. One of the best parts? The app saves these chats in its Advice tab for easy review when the time is right to make things happen.
It automatically categorizes my spending
Some apps like You Need A Budget (aka YNAB) focus on a budgeting style called zero-based budgeting. This approach works down from a total number and assigns specific amounts for upcoming expenses. For example, if your paycheck is $2,000, zero-based budgeting encourages you to allocate every single dollar to future expenses. We could save $1,000 for next month’s rent, put $500 in savings, set aside $50 for groceries and $200 for eating out, and $250 for the capsule wardrobe pieces you’ve had your eye on, leaving you with $0 unattended. Didn’t set money aside for this month’s Abercrombie sale? You should not be shopping. Underspend and have money remaining? Reallocate it to pay down debt or invest until your budget once again equals zero.
Zero-based budgeting is a bit too manual and rigid for me. I personally take a more minimalist approach to my budget and assign loose spending caps for different categories like rent, groceries, shopping, and more. Origin does a great job at automatically categorizing my spending into these predetermined buckets, so as long as I check in to ensure I’m staying within my selected range for each category, I’m good to go. For me, that’s all I need, and it’s easier than ever.
“Origin safely connects to thousands of financial institutions, allowing me to gauge my net worth in a single swipe instead of across a few apps.”
It connects to all my accounts
To get a full picture of my financial health, I prefer to have all my accounts across saving, spending, and investing listed in one place. But not all budgeting apps will allow visibility into all account types. While I like certain aspects of apps like Nerdwallet, they don’t connect to my investment brokerage or some more complicated accounts. Origin, thankfully, safely connects to thousands of financial institutions, allowing me to gauge my net worth in a single swipe instead of across a few apps. And thank gosh because my home screen is cluttered enough, and I can’t keep adding more apps to it.
It’s priced fairly
Ironically, most budgeting apps—or at least the ones that have the functionality I’m looking for—cost money. Part of me agrees that if you find something that works for your budgeting style, then just spend the money and invest in yourself. But the Taurus in me clings to the principle of the matter, and I have a hard time justifying budgeting apps unless they give me a direct return on my investment.
Origin has a one-month free trial and offers a savings account with a 5 percent APY that got me hooked. Now, I pay $12.99 a month, which is more than competitors like Cleo, less than YNAB, and in my opinion, is worth it for the total amount of money using a budgeting app has saved me. And not only that, because it offers so many features in one, it saves me money on other app subscriptions I’d otherwise be paying for.
Is the Origin Financial app worth it?
While I’ll never get over my beloved freebie Mint, Origin has done a great job checking all my boxes. It truly is the closest replacement I have found to date and has helped me get a firmer grasp on my finances again after being without a trust budgeting app for so long. While I wish it didn’t have a price tag attached to it, I can easily justify it thanks to how much it helps me manage my financial health.
The thing about budgeting is that one size can never fit all. Your shopping budget might look different than mine, but you might pay less in rent. And while Origin works for me, it might not work for someone who has different financial habits or thinks of spending in different ways. When it comes to apps, it doesn’t matter what we use as long as it works consistently and helps us take control of our finances. All that really matters is getting started.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jessica Ivetich, Contributing Writer
Jessica is a freelance writer and digital marketer with nearly a decade of brand and agency experience. Contributing to The Everygirl since 2022, she is also a proud Midwesterner, Formula 1 fan, and book lover who’s always looking to learn something new.
Source: Cosmo Politian
