REB Images/Getty Images

Intuit says, "We are reimagining Mint as part of Intuit Credit Karma." Many Mint users, however, hate the move. Nevertheless, Intuit will discontinue its personal finance application, Mint, as of Jan. 1, 2024. Mint has been a mainstay in the budgeting and financial tracking community since its inception in 2006. 

Mea culpa. I'm with the users. When I started tracking my personal finances on a computer, I used VisiCalc. Over the years, I've used other programs, but I was an early user of Mint. While Mint has had its problems with privacy, synchronization with banks, and customer support, it was free and had, Intuit claims, 3.6 million monthly active users as of 2021. 

Also: AI and data: Honing hyper-personalization to build the bank of the future

Credit Karma, which is where Intuit wants you to go, offers credit scores, reports, and monitoring. It also offers personalized recommendations for credit cards, loans, and other financial products for free. However, since Credit Karma generates revenue through advertising and referrals, it's an open question of how good these recommendations are. 

Moving to Credit Karma comes with challenges. While Credit Karma will incorporate Mint's features, such as consolidated financial account views, transaction tracking, spending reports, and net worth estimates, it notably lacks Mint's budgeting tools. Intuit promises Credit Karma will improve, but for now, its budgeting tool, budget calculator, doesn't equal Mint's tools -- nor will it enable you to make monthly or category budgets.  

Additionally, there may be interoperability issues with some Mint-compatible financial institutions. Mind you, Mint also had trouble with working with many banks and financial companies. For example, I'm not alone when I say I've had repeated problems getting Mint to sync up with my American Express accounts. 

Also: It's 2030, and digital wallets have replaced every card in our purses and pockets

For users who are reluctant to switch to Credit Karma, Intuit is providing a one-month window post-shutdown to download their data from Mint. However, the communication regarding the shutdown has been uneven. Many users report they've yet to be notified by Intuit that the shutdown is coming. I'm one of those. I found out Mint was shutting down from other reporters, not from Inuit. 

If you elect to transfer to Credit Karma early, you should know it's a one-way trip. You'll lose your Mint account and data, and you can't reverse the process. Whether you move to Credit Karma, or switch to another service, I advise you to download your transactions. Your transactions will arrive in the CSV format, which can be used by essentially all spreadsheets and financial programs. 

Already have a Credit Karma account? Intuit says all you must do is log into Credit Karma from the Mint app. Your financial account data will now be available in the Net Worth section of your Credit Karma app. However, Intuit warns that not all your financial institutions will work with Credit Karma. 

Also: The best identity theft protection & credit monitoring services: Protect your data

So, where should you go from here? I'm still working out the answer to that myself. Some of the programs I'll be trying out includeMonarch Money , with a monthly$14.99 plan, and an annual plan is$99.99 per year, aka$8.33 per month; YNAB , which costs$14.99 per month or$99 annually, which comes to about$8.25 monthly; and NerdWallet , which is free. 

Finally, I'm consideringSimplifi by Quicken , which costs$47.88 per year, billed annually. Don't let the name "Quicken" fool you. Quicken, the financial program many of us cut our teeth on, and its owner no longer has any connection with Intuit. QuickBooks, however, does still belong to Intuit. Yes, it is confusing. 

On top of all this, if you move away from Mint/Credit Karma, even if you import your data, you'll still face having to set up connections to your banking services and learn new ways of tracking and managing your finances. Frankly, I'm looking forward to this like I would a root canal. 

Adding insult to injury, we have seven weeks, which will include the November and December holidays, to make the financial jump. Thanks, Intuit. Thanks a lot.  

Featured

MacBook Pro (M3 Max) review: A desktop-class laptop for an AI-powered ageDo you have the latest AirTag firmware update? How to checkBest early Black Friday deals: Amazon, Walmart, Best Buy, and moreYou can now turn your Amazon Echo into a Wi-Fi extender. Here's how

• MacBook Pro (M3 Max) review: A desktop-class laptop for an AI-powered age
• Do you have the latest AirTag firmware update? How to check
• Best early Black Friday deals: Amazon, Walmart, Best Buy, and more
• You can now turn your Amazon Echo into a Wi-Fi extender. Here's how