I loved this post by J. Money at Budgets are Sexy so much that I decided I wanted to hear from you guys about how you make your finances work. Here are 6 questions and I'd really love to hear from you!
1) How do you spend: cash, debit, or credit?
I am all about using credit cards RESPONSIBLY. This means paying off in full every month, and deciding what credit card suits your needs and lifestyle. I think credit cards are convenient, they help me track my finances better AND you get cash back or other rewards. Nice!
2) Do you bank online? Do you use a financial aggregator (Mint, Wesabe, etc)?
I am completely paperless when it comes to banking. I pay bills online with Chase, although I'm thinking about moving my money. I also have accounts set up with USAA (love them!). And you've definitely heard me rave about how much I heart Mint. It's so easy to track your spending and also figure out if there are better options for your banking needs.
3) What recurring bills do you set on autopay?
I only have my car payment, cell phone bill, and cable bill on autopay. Everything else fluctuates a little too much for me to have it on autopay and I think it keeps me more on top of my budget when I look at my bills every month. (Another plug for Mint - it reminds you of due dates!)
4) How are your finances automated?
The only automated part of my finances is funding my 403b. Other than that, I move money from one account to another as it's needed. I'm trying to keep just what we need with a tiny cushion in checking while putting the rest (and promising not to touch it) in savings.
5) Do you use checks? If so, how often?
Our joint checkbook is so old, it has our previous address on it...and we moved almost 4 years ago! My personal checkbook has my COLLEGE address on it. Wow. Needless to say, I'm not a big check person. Just rent. And scratch paper.
6) Where do you keep your short-term savings?
I keep short-term savings in a savings account; however, I am thinking about switching to a no-penalty CD, which have higher interest rates than most savings accounts.
There! As I mentioned, I would love to hear how you all keep it together - respond in the comments with your 6 answers!
1. We use credit and debit cards-but we make sure to pay the balance off every month.
ReplyDelete2. We only bank online. All of our statements are paperless. We've signed up for mint.com but haven't really used it too much.
3. We don't have any auto-pay bills.
4. We each put 50% of our income into a joint bank account and then a set amount into savings and then the rest is our own fun money.
5. We never use checks! We literally have 5 unused boxes.
6. We don't have a specific short term savings account. All of our savings are with ING direct.
Whew! That was a long comment!!
1) How do you spend: cash, debit, or credit?
ReplyDeleteMostly debit. Although we are moving toward a new cash approach, which is really my preferred way.
2) Do you bank online? Do you use a financial aggregator (Mint, Wesabe, etc)?
We do almost all banking and billpay online. It's great!!! We use our Wells Fargo aggregator currently. It's okay, but we'd like to use Mint eventually.
3) What recurring bills do you set on autopay?
Mortgage, Gym, pet insurance. Otherwise we like to make sure we review our bills.
4) How are your finances automated?
Retirement and savings are taken directly off the top. And we have direct deposit.
5) Do you use checks? If so, how often?
RARELY.
6) Where do you keep your short-term savings?
Money Market.
1) How do you spend: cash, debit, or credit?
ReplyDeleteMainly credit so I can TRACK EVERYTHING! And I love the hotel points I get.
2) Do you bank online? Do you use a financial aggregator (Mint, Wesabe, etc)?
Online checking acct, and credit cards. I don't use MINT, I just use my own homegrown spreadsheet. Mint is too hard for me to use because of my business expesnses and reinbursements.
3) What recurring bills do you set on autopay?
TV, internet, home insurance, cell phone, car insurance, school loan.
4) How are your finances automated?
Every week I automatically move some money into savings from checking. My 401K is automated too.
5) Do you use checks? If so, how often?
Rarely. Our bank can send checks from the website so we use that most of the itme.
6) Where do you keep your short-term savings?
ING Direct savings account
1) How do you spend: cash, debit, or credit?
ReplyDeleteCredit for everything for the points - I make almost $1000 a year from points (Chase Freedom = 3% back on gas and groceries). I pay the balance in full every month religiously. I also use a 0% promotional APR to make some extra cash - take out a credit card with a 0% APR and use it for everything you'd normally purchase, don't pay off the balance and put the cash into savings, then use that cash to pay off the whole balance when it comes due. THIS ONLY WORKS IF YOU RESTRAIN YOURSELF and only buy things you normally buy.
2) Do you bank online? Do you use a financial aggregator (Mint, Wesabe, etc)?
I use paperless statements and make payments online for all my accounts. I used to use Microsoft Money but found I didn't need it.
3) What recurring bills do you set on autopay?
Mortgage, student loans, cell phone, TV/Internet and car loans (see below). Credit cards I want to pay by hand to give me a chance to review the bill.
4) How are your finances automated?
My work lets me set up many direct deposit accounts, so I have accounts with several banks that I direct-deposit money into. One account is just for a car loan and gets half of the loan payment with each paycheck. I send 15% of my paycheck into my stock purchase plan, which is funded by payroll deduction and gives a 10% discount on our stock (flipped immediately). I have my 401k deduction set at 9%+3% match, with automated notification if my portfolio gets too far from my desired allocation. My bonus is designated as Roth IRA money. And all money remaining after our monthly expenses goes directly into an investment account. It's hard to spend money you never see in your account!
5) Do you use checks? If so, how often?
Never.
6) Where do you keep your short-term savings?
I have a consumer investment account at Fidelity connected with my 401k, so no fees and a good rate on the deposits, so I keep it there. Plus it's easier to transfer it into permanent savings from there.
Thanks all for the great responses! A few comments to the comments:
ReplyDeleteBrittni - I know the feeling about unused checks! I have a check graveyard in our office!
Frugal Femme - good for you for putting your retirement and savings on auto-pilot. To quote David, "it's hard to spend money you never see".
Newlywed Next Door - I'm sure your spreadsheet works just fine for all of your purposes, but did you know you can exclude things from Mint? You have to manually go in and change the category, but it might be looking into. Although, I know your spreadsheets are Legen-(wait for it)dary!
David - I'm so impressed you put 15% away for retirement! What a feat! When we retire, I'll be hanging out with you for sure! :)