Money and Finance #58: Banking, Budgeting, and Spending

Money and Finance #58: Banking, Budgeting, and Spending


I belong to a credit union that offers online banking. I like the fact
that I no longer receive statements in the mail, the convenience of access to my
account at any time, access to information in my "history", and the option of bill
payment online. I don't like the risk of someone being able to access my
information online but that is also a possibility with traditional transactions. My
credit union helps to secure my account by requiring 3 security codes and also
provides a pop-up indicating any unsuccessful (and then successful) attempts to
access my account. Also they will notify members of any breaches that may occur
concerning our accounts-most recently one involving Visa debit cards the end of last
year-thankfully mine was not involved. I only use my personal laptop to manage my
account and keep my security codes in a safe place.
The budgeting tools looked interesting but I prefer the my method of a
budget log-I've tweeked it over the years and find it easy to maintain and also very
portable. I use it to record monthly bill payments along with my check register to
monitor other expenses. I like the freedom of being able to use it anywhere and it
helps me keep track of when and where my money is going.
I found the advise in the Consumer Report article helpful. I'm planning
on speaking to my current cable company about a package deal to include an internet
connection. I'm also considering shopping around for a better deal on my
prescriptions. Actually, many of the expenses I've assumed to be pretty much set
might be more flexible-just need to do some homework on the choices. I think I may
be able to cut some current costs without out too much sacrifice.

ihcpl/ week 10/ #23

Hooray, I made it! I've tried so many things through this training- where to begin? Flicker was fun and I hadn't even thought of a service like library elf- it's a nice supplement to the HCPL notifications. I think this experience has pushed me to "get my feet wet" and get out of my comfort zone. It has also been a great sharing of information with our staff- everyone has been very supportive and so willing to offer tips. I think making the quick videos to give visual training is entertaining and useful. I hope we can maybe expand on the features we have learned- maybe have a little more "hands on" time to practice and reinforce the training. Thanks!

ihcpl/ week 9/ #22

This is great! Although I don't own an mp3 player, I have borrowed one owned by our branch in the past to try some of HCPL's e-books. I liked the fact that material is automatically deleted-no need to worry about overdue fines. My husband and I both have enjoyed some Clive Cussler books-Sacred Stone will probably be our next choice. I think I'll try to download one of the old classic movies on my computer at home-didn't know videos were available! It was interesting that LibriVox accepts volunteer readers for their material.

ihcpl/week 9/#21

I added http://www.npr.org/rss/podcast.php?id=510047 as my rss feed for a podcast. I enjoyed the book reviews that I listened to and think this could be another interesting source for library users. I don't own an MP3 player or Ipod-I like that this is something I can access on my computer.

ihcpl/week 9/#20

I explored YouTube and chose the "Howto & Style" category/ tango lesson: musical phrasing. I thought the site was easy enough to navigate and that it might be helpful as an instructional aide for "visual learning" people like myself. Just like almost anything-that huge variety of choices out there also means you take the good with the bad and responsible use is a concern.

ihcpl/week 8/#19

I enjoyed playing around with the Zoho Writer's features-very user friendly. I had been curious about some of the features that I had seen used in other applications and didn't realize this was available and so easy.

ihcpl/week 8/ #18

After checking out some of the social networking sites, I think they would be a good way to introduce yourself to various groups- as long as there would be some kind of genuine contact eventually(face to face if possible in some circumstances)-not just a lot of people out there pounding away on keyboards and staring at computer screens. Safety issues concern me too, especially since everyone uses anonymity. I really liked Rate My Space.