Wednesday, April 22, 2009

#58: Money & Finance

I am all about saving a couple trees here and there and I find online banking suitable for my needs. I spend the majority of my time in front of my computer and I never carry cash. I use online banking to send myself reminders when bills are due and automatically transfer money to savings twice a month. My bank does not charge for online banking and I feel it is beneficial for both parties because you save them paper, ink and postage AND you save time. However, this may infringe on the need of bank tellers thus creating a job shortage and such.
I am not too worried about using sites to manage my accounts b/c I feel that my online information is already susceptible to tampering and third party views. This may be naive of me but most banks have some level of protection against identity theft. I decided to create a profile with Mint and received a couple of emails about my weekly expenses. I haven't seen the full potential it offers and plan to cancel the account b/c I don't have time or interest to add in monthly bills that do not extract from my bank account. I think online banking is sufficient use for now. I set up automatic transfers from my checking account to my savings and I also get email reminders when I have bills to pay.
After reading the Consumers Report on spending less, I feel a bit more confident about my spending habit. I recently purchased a water pitcher for myself and my mother for Mother's Day. We constantly purchased water bottles and I've been told that is one habit good to nix b/c of the plastic waste. I definitely think I can be more careful with my debit card as well. At times, I withdraw money but don't make an effort to find my bank's ATM. I've noticed the fees add up fast.

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