A few weeks ago I signed up for Mint.com. They have a great user interface and my credit union and credit card companies were among those already supported, so setup was a cinch.
It certainly is nice to see my finances in one place, although they currently don't support investment accounts. However, Quicken and MS Money have done this for quite awhile. The real selling point is that Mint makes recommendations on ways to save money based on your accounts. It wasn't long before Mint pointed out that I could earn several hundred more dollars this year if I changed my accounts around a bit. Not bad!
Most of the folks I know will probably freak out about inputting account numbers and passwords for the various accounts into one interface. This probably won't help a bit, but here is what Mint has to say about keeping your information safe:
http://www.mint.com/safe.html
Anyway, if you are a current user, let me about your experience.
A couple other similar sites exist. If you are interested in checking them out as well, here they are:
Wesabe
Geezeo
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Monday, January 28, 2008
Another One Bites the Dust
The Orem, UT CompUSA is shutting its doors. Looks like compusa.com will live on but most, if not all, of the retail stores are shutting down. You might remember from my previous "Customer Blacklist" post that Comp held a place of honor on the list. Isn't it funny that horrible service and outrageous prices don't create a sustainable business? Good riddance to a bad business.
Sunday, January 27, 2008
The Dream Basket Rules!
When I married my wife, my father-in-law counseled us to take a couple trip and a family trip every year. The trip didn't need to be expensive or elaborate, but it should be fun. The purpose was to build memories to last a lifetime. And after all, the family and couple that travels together stays together.
We have followed his counsel for the last 10 years and I can honestly say that this makes a huge difference in the dynamic of my marriage and family.
To do this right, however, one must provision a "dream basket". Just like funding retirement, it's essential that we fund our dreams. My dream basket is labeled as such in my ING Direct savings account. We put a percentage of our monthly income into the fund and watch it grow. Then, when it's time to travel somewhere, we pay cash for it from the dream basket.
Making the dream basket automatic is the key. The way I've set up our automatic savings plan is as follows:
- We save between 3-5% of our net income (aka take-home pay).
- Half goes in on the 2nd and half on the 16th (one day after pay day). This can be set up to happen automatically through ING.
- The interest earned in the account stays in the account, which helps the dream basket grow faster.
We also do all we can to make the dream basket stretch. My wife is awesome at finding deals on hotels, car rentals, you name it. We just returned from Disneyland and had a rental car for three and a half days. Total cost to us was $15.00 including taxes!
We also supplement the dream basket by using points/miles from our credit cards and frequent- flyer programs. So far we've used them on flights and hotel stays. This can bring down the total cost of a trip significantly.
Anyway, the trips are a great tradition and the dream basket is the best way to make them a reality.
May all of your dreams come true...
P.S. If you don't have an ING account and want one, let me know and I'll send you a referral email. You'll get a $25 bonus and I'll get $10 for the referral. I'll make sure that gets put right into my dream basket. :)
We have followed his counsel for the last 10 years and I can honestly say that this makes a huge difference in the dynamic of my marriage and family.
To do this right, however, one must provision a "dream basket". Just like funding retirement, it's essential that we fund our dreams. My dream basket is labeled as such in my ING Direct savings account. We put a percentage of our monthly income into the fund and watch it grow. Then, when it's time to travel somewhere, we pay cash for it from the dream basket.
Making the dream basket automatic is the key. The way I've set up our automatic savings plan is as follows:
- We save between 3-5% of our net income (aka take-home pay).
- Half goes in on the 2nd and half on the 16th (one day after pay day). This can be set up to happen automatically through ING.
- The interest earned in the account stays in the account, which helps the dream basket grow faster.
We also do all we can to make the dream basket stretch. My wife is awesome at finding deals on hotels, car rentals, you name it. We just returned from Disneyland and had a rental car for three and a half days. Total cost to us was $15.00 including taxes!
We also supplement the dream basket by using points/miles from our credit cards and frequent- flyer programs. So far we've used them on flights and hotel stays. This can bring down the total cost of a trip significantly.
Anyway, the trips are a great tradition and the dream basket is the best way to make them a reality.
May all of your dreams come true...
P.S. If you don't have an ING account and want one, let me know and I'll send you a referral email. You'll get a $25 bonus and I'll get $10 for the referral. I'll make sure that gets put right into my dream basket. :)
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