Thing 44: The Economy

Although I do many things online, I am hesitant to provide a great deal of financial information through untested financial websites. I looked over the features for the Banking 2.0 websites, and thought Mint.com would be the most useful for me. I looked over their Privacy and Security page, was satisfied with what I saw, and decided to go for it.


I liked the Mint.com website because it could turn your incoming earnings and monthly expenditures into a pie chart to show how much you spent of your earnings, and how much you really saved. This will help you to budget your money better, especially if you plan on making a significant purchase, or if you are planning for retirement. You can also track your expenditures by month so that you can calculate how much you spend and save each year. Based on your spending/saving patterns and credit history, they will reccommend the best credit cards for your spending habits, as well as reccommendations for bank accounts, CDs, and brokerage firms.

Some of my favorte money management/money saving/shopping tips:

1. If you must drink more than one cup of coffee per day, bring a travel mug with you. If you need to refill at a coffee place or a gas station, quite often you will get your coffee for the refill price rather than the original price.

2. Tea is cheaper than coffee. If you have a hot/cold water dispenser at work, a tea bag can make at least three rounds.

3. If you need a fancy coffee from Starbucks or Caribou, save on the goodie. I get my goodies from the supermarket and always bring them along with me. A muffin from the supermarket ends up being half the price as a muffin at a fancy coffee place.

4. Buy groceries on special, and don't fool yourself into buying healthy food that you will not eat.

5. Bag lunch.

6. Crock pot meals are economical and delicious.

7. Reuse lunch bags, or get a reusable insulated lunch bag.

8. Carpool, take public transportation, or walk.

9. Walk if where you need to go is a mile or less away.

10. The public library is my best friend for home entertainment. I get movies, music, and of course all of my books from there.