charts 'n graphs
i've said it before and i'll say it again: i freakin' love Quicken®. i can chart out all sorts of fun things, like my dwindling debt (nevermind those school loans), my growing retirement fund, how much money i spend on coffee... it's amazing to see all the day to day purchases mapped out in a graph, cuz' there ain't nothing like numbers to tell you the truth (the whole truth, and nothing but the truth).
in high school, i remember my old AP history teacher (gus haynes was a rad dude) telling us that "in 10 years, we won't even be using cash... it's going to be replaced by debit cards, and the government will be able to track every single expenditure you make!"
"yeah right, mr. haynes. whatever."
he may not have been 100% right (since i still have a pocketful of change and a wad of ones in my bag), but he was certainly hitting on something fundamental. i wouldn't be carrying around the little bit of cash i do, if it were honestly up to me. i hate it. it feels vulnerable. it's not labeled. not mine. someone could easily snatch it up and claim it as theirs and who would know the better? how's that for security?
maybe there's something weird about knowing other people might be able to see everything i ever spent my money on... admittedly that idea freaked me out when i was sitting in my history class listening to gus "tell it like it was"... but i don't buy it. it's quite awesome that, at the very least, I can look at my money with complete accuracy, detail, and instantaneity - whenever i want (assuming i'm at home with my lappy and my wireless). does anyone really care that i bought a new hoodie, two lattes, a can of cashews, and my MUNI pass?
having all this data at my finger tips is particulary awesome because tracking my money day-to-day, week-to-week, month-to-month helps me figure out where the hell it all goes. it keeps me in check. being someone who is fresh out of school and a newbie in the world of "adulthood", i need a little financial chaperone, of sorts.
so here's to mr. haynes being mostly right! and to the glorious, digital world of debit cards and online bill pay!
if it were up to me, i'd even pay pal my rent to my landlady, doing away with my checkbook once and for all... that's what i call freedom!
in high school, i remember my old AP history teacher (gus haynes was a rad dude) telling us that "in 10 years, we won't even be using cash... it's going to be replaced by debit cards, and the government will be able to track every single expenditure you make!"
"yeah right, mr. haynes. whatever."
he may not have been 100% right (since i still have a pocketful of change and a wad of ones in my bag), but he was certainly hitting on something fundamental. i wouldn't be carrying around the little bit of cash i do, if it were honestly up to me. i hate it. it feels vulnerable. it's not labeled. not mine. someone could easily snatch it up and claim it as theirs and who would know the better? how's that for security?
maybe there's something weird about knowing other people might be able to see everything i ever spent my money on... admittedly that idea freaked me out when i was sitting in my history class listening to gus "tell it like it was"... but i don't buy it. it's quite awesome that, at the very least, I can look at my money with complete accuracy, detail, and instantaneity - whenever i want (assuming i'm at home with my lappy and my wireless). does anyone really care that i bought a new hoodie, two lattes, a can of cashews, and my MUNI pass?
having all this data at my finger tips is particulary awesome because tracking my money day-to-day, week-to-week, month-to-month helps me figure out where the hell it all goes. it keeps me in check. being someone who is fresh out of school and a newbie in the world of "adulthood", i need a little financial chaperone, of sorts.
so here's to mr. haynes being mostly right! and to the glorious, digital world of debit cards and online bill pay!
if it were up to me, i'd even pay pal my rent to my landlady, doing away with my checkbook once and for all... that's what i call freedom!
posted by megan at
10:23:00 PM
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