Mint.com is a personal finance site which provides the ability for you to link together all of the parts of your financial life. In order for the service to work you need to provide all of your banking passwords and account numbers to Mint so that it can work all of its behind the scenes magic. With a treasure trove of financial information like this sitting in one place, you'll want to be sure that your information is secure. Ryan Taylor of Money Millionaire Habits did just that and has provided a simple rundown of the security features utilized by Mint.com to protect your money.

First off, it is important to note that you don't make any transactions from inside Mint, which affords solace to some wary users. The most impressive piece of information about Mint.com's security is that the back end that runs Mint, called Yodlee, is also used by many of the top banks in the industry. All of these precautions should combine to give most users the same sense of security when using Mint.com to manage their personal finances as they have with their own bank.

Even though I am part of the younger generation which seems at time to jump on new technology, I have been hesitant to start using any of these third party online budgeting systems mainly due to security. Thankfully, it appears that my fears were unfounded and Mint.com appears to be using good policies and software to safeguard users' information and money. Stay tuned, in the near future I'll be looking into the security behind a Mint.com competitor, Wesabe.

Still suffering from a holiday spending binge? You've got a few more weeks to tell your story of profligate spending and win a chance to get your credit cards paid off -- or at least up to $5,000 -- by Mint.com. The contest runs through March 31, during which time participants can enter a text story or upload a video at Mint.com. Along with the credit payments, the winning video entrant and the winning writer will each receive financial counseling so they do not make the same money mistakes again. Membership at Mint is not a requirement to enter the contest.

Mint is a web-based company that allows its members to enter all of their credit card and banking information and then automatically tracks spending, finds savings and helps with budgeting. In the wake of the holiday season, there are many people suffering the pains that come from looking at the mounting credit card bills.