Mint is much more about spending and big-picture financial status. It's not meant for reconciling transactions. One key to understanding Mint is to know that it is not accounting software. That way, you will already have some perspective on your financial situation from your first day using Mint. It not only tracks your money from the day you sign up, but also at a few months' worth of historical data. Once Mint has access to your accounts, it analyzes your spending habits, income, and other financial transactions. You should, of course, combine that with a six-digit passcode on your iPhone. It makes it very hard for you to accidentally leave the app open for someone else to use. It's only a four-digit PIN, but it locks you out of Mint the moment you navigate away from the app, which is good. You can add a passcode to the app, and I strongly recommend you do. That means that even if hacker did get into your Mint account, they wouldn't be able to access the money in your accounts. You don't Mint any ability to move money. That's safer than it sound, because you are only giving Mint read access to information in the accounts. To get started, you give Mint access to your financial accounts by logging into your online banks and credit card accounts through Mint. There's no charge, as mentioned above there are ads, but you shouldn't let that discourage you from using the services, as I'll explain in a bit. Getting Started You can sign up for a Mint account through the mobile app or the Web site. Best Malware Removal and Protection Software.