SEATTLE – Keeping track of your day-to-day costs can be overwhelming.

But some people, like Kim Bui, are turning to new free budgeting Web sites to track how much they spend of food, clothes, gas and utilities.

Bui is getting her money matters in order.

"I used to go to the ATM and, you know, check on my balances and it would just be a lot less than I had imagined," she said. "It could be like $200 less. It seemed like a good time to sit down and start budgeting."

Rather than buying personal finance software, Kim turned to mint.com, one of several new and free budgeting Web sites.

"I can just log onto to mint and check in on my accounts and see where my balances are and where everything is," she said. "So, it's pretty quick and easy."

Consumer advocate Gerri Detweiler says these sites make it easy for consumers to manage their day-to-day spending. How? After you create an account, you input your usernames and passwords for any bank account or credit card you want to track.

"They automatically go out to your financial accounts, pull that data in so that you can see all of your financial activity in one place," said Detweiler, author of "Ultimate Credit Handbook."

The features on the sites vary slightly, but most let you set up a budget and alert you when your credit card bill is due or your bank account is close to zero. They also automatically categorize your purchases, and give you a break down of where your money goes.

"I knew I spent a lot of money on shopping and my car but I just didn't actually realize how much of my income was going towards those things," Bui said.

Before signing up, check that the service you chose is partnered with the institutions you want to monitor.

"Some of them offer access to some 8,000 different financial accounts. Some of them, they run around 3 or 4 thousand," Detweiler said.

As for any security risk, Detweiler says it's minimal. But since you're giving out your usernames and passwords it's important to protect yourself.

"Change those passwords monthly and also make sure you have up-to-date anti spyware antivirus software and a firewall on your computer," Detweiler said.

Bui says she feels secure and is happy to have a budgeting tool that works for her.

"It keeps me from spending too much lately," she said.

Detweiler believes online budgeting is the future of money management.

But she says keep in mind - unlike most personal finance software packages that cost, some of these free sites don't let you track investments or track long-term financial goals.  She says these sites offer a lot of value for consumers wanting to get a picture of their daily spending.