I saw this over at How I Save Money who saw it at Budgets Are Sexy who saw it at over at Automatic Finances. I thought it was a pretty cool idea so I figured I'd steal it and do my own post on it.
(1) How do you spend: cash, debit or credit? The majority of my transactions are made by debit card or credit card. I hardly ever use cash because whenever I have it, it always seem to disappear and I have no clue where it went. For larger purchases, I use 1 of my 2 credit cards that gives me cash back or rewards for using my credit card. I use a couple of checks each month to pay for the mortgage on my rental property (they charge to pay online) and to pay my trash bills.
(2) Do you bank online? How about use a financial aggregator (Mint, Wesabe, Yodlee, etc.)? I love online banking and I don't know what I would do without it. I usually check my accounts at least once a day to make sure everything is going okay. I use Mint to get an overall view of my finances and also to check on those accounts that are rarely used.
(3)What recurring bills do you have set on autopay? None. I have a problem with billers being able to go in and debit my account automatically each month. I have no problem paying the bill online as long as I initiate the transaction. I just have a huge fear of them making a mistake and withdrawing $3000 instead of $30.00. I know it would be a huge headache for me to correct the error and I'd rather avoid going through the hassle.
(4)How are your finances automated? My 401k contributions are made automatically and my paycheck is direct deposited. I setup automatic deposits to my savings account.
(5)Do you write checks? If so, how often? I'm still a geek when it comes to checks. I actually like writing checks. I don't write that many but I'm sure I write more than most people these days. No, I'm not one of those people that holds up the line in the grocery store. I'm all about the debit card for that.
(6)Where do you stash your short-term savings? Short term savings are safely tucked away in a money market account at my local credit union. The rate is not the highest but it is among one of the best rates I can get right now.
How about you? Let's hear 6 things about your finances.
1) Credit Card - Schwab and Costco AmEx, made almost 2.5% cash back this year.
2) I do all my banking online, using Mint and pay bills using USAA billpay. I check Mint everyday.
3) Mortgage, auto loans, 0% APR credit card offers, and utility bills are all on autopay. I have notifications sent before a bill is paid so I can avoid the situation you describe.
4) My 401(k) and Roth IRA contributions are all automatically sent every 2 weeks, and my paycheck is direct deposit.
5) I avoid checks at all cost, because I always forget the check book!
6) ING - I used to rate chase, but finally decided it wasn't worth it.
1) Keep very little cash on hand, always use debit card and do the transaction as though it is credit.
2) Do online banking, but nothing like Mint. I don't have enough trust to do that.
3) No autopay. I always pay the utility bill late, and often wait for a shut-off notice. Their "Smart Meters" have doubled my bills and are stupid, so they can wait for payment and have the extra expense of sending me bills and late bills.
4) I don't write many checks, and especially don't like doing so in public. There is a store that I used to frequent that charges the customer to use plastic, and I had to write a check in order to avoid an extra charge. I disliked that so much, I changed stores.
5) I like receiving physical bills, not e-bills. If something happened to me and my husband was left to receive e-bills, nothing would ever get paid!
6) I prefer to pay for certain things like car insurance by the year, and whenever full payment avoids interest charges, that is what I do. I am more fulfilled by never paying interest than by earning it.
Hah! I wonder where this will travel next? glad you liked my friend :)
Thanks for the plug buddy!!!!
Since you backklinked to all the previous posts I may just have to do a roundup!!!
@Tom: I have the Schwab card too and I love it.
@J Money and Lulu: I saw it and thought it was pretty cool. Thanks to you guys for doing it first.
Yeah, Thanks for advise, The importance is keep a register of all your income and expenses and look for ways of cutting unnecessary items from your expenses
(1)Credit card for the rewards.
(2)Current Major Bank & Mint.com
(3)Cable, mortgages, utilities.
(4)401K and payday
(5)Only once to my gardener
(6)Savings, checking, brokerage