This is a reprint of an article I wrote for Being Frugal a few days ago…
When I was about 14 years old, my uncle suddenly and unexpectedly went home to be with the Lord. He had meticulously taken care of the finances for their family and left my aunt on a very solid financial foundation. Obviously, this didn’t take away the pain of him being gone, but his preparation eliminated additional stress that would have been present without it.
It’s one of those things we all prefer not to think about, but it is always better to be prepared. My aunt is still reaping from what my uncle sowed by having his things in order.
My FLOP
Being impacted by my uncle’s premature death and wanting to do everything I can do to help my wife, I decided to create a system for keeping things organized.
It has been a work in progress over the last few years, but has evolved into a very helpful tool. Simply put, it is a single file or location for all your financial account details. I call it a FLOP (Financial Life on One Page). FLOP sounds a little cooler than FLOOP, but not much 
In adding to it over the last few years it has come to have three main purposes. The first being that it is a:
1. Balance Sheet
One of the best pieces of advice I received about 5 years ago, when I started my journey to clean up my finances was to keep a balance sheet. I didn’t really understand why at the time, but I did it anyway. I have updated it twice a year since I started it and it has been a great source of encouragement as I have fought to get out of debt.
The reason it has been such a source of encouragement is because a balance sheet not only takes into account the debt you have been paying off, but all of your good financial decisions. So increasing your savings, paying down debt, making wise purchases all will affect your balance sheet in a positive way.
Also, looking at the size of your debts or assets does not necessarily give an accurate report of your financial condition. To get a accurate picture of your financial situation you need a balance sheet to calculate your net worth. It is very easy to do and is just a big subtraction problem:
Assets - Liabilities = Net Worth
If you have never started a balance sheet, I recommend doing it. It is a simple way to track your financial progress as you move towards your goals. For most people it shouldn’t take more than an hour to gather up all your account balances and asset values.
And as with most things, you are either moving forward, or you are going backwards. If you are increasing your assets or minimizing debts your net worth should be growing. If your net worth is getting smaller, then it is an indication that you should re-evaluate how you are spending your money. And even if your situation is not very encouraging, it will force you to see the financial truth so you can make adjustments as needed.
How to create a balance sheet
- Use Excel, Google docs, or some other spreadsheet software.
- List every Asset you can possibly think of from cars to stocks to jewelry for the amount that you could quickly sell it for. (To save time, you can lump together smaller assets like “misc. household items”) Total these items up to get a subtotal of your assets.
- Below the Assets total, list every debt or liability that you have. Mortgages, credit cards, student loans, they all apply. Total your debts to get your liability total.
- Subtract your liability total from your asset total to get your Net Worth.
2. Organize all my login information
Another piece of good advice I got a few years back was to create an extremely unique login ID and use it for every website that I had an ID for. I followed the advice and it has helped, but it is not a fail-proof system. Some sites require your email address, some want more than 8 characters, some want less, etc. And in this day in age, where you just about need to login to open your refrigerator, it can be difficult keeping track of all your login information.
After adding all your accounts in the balance sheet section above, you should have all your account information listed already and you can just add a column to add your login for that company. If you use various passwords you could list them in another column as well, but consider using a password hint rather than the actual password. I still come back to my FLOP at least once a week to figure out a login that I forgot about.
3. Financial roadmap for my wife
The third and most important reason for my FLOP is for my wife. In most families, one person manages the finances and has a better understanding of the overall financial picture. I am that person in my family. Are you that person in yours?
If so, would your spouse (or other beneficiaries) know where to find your financial information? Insurance policies, bank accounts, investment accounts, safe deposit boxes?
I know for my personal situation I know a bit more about our financial details than my wife does. I use my FLOP to layout all of the pertinent details for my wife, if she ever needed them. It contains the name, phone number or web address of each institution, our account numbers for those institutions and any other pertinent info that may be needed.
I then burned the file to a CD and kept it in our safe. Every year or so I put a copy of the updated FLOP in there.
Losing a loved one is a terribly difficult process. Having a “roadmap” prepared in advance for your loved ones is a great way to help eliminate unnecessary stress.
If you are interested, you can download a copy of my template for my FLOP.
This article was included in the Carnival of Personal Finance
Related posts
Paypal - making online shopping safer
I have been a Paypal user for quite a few years, since I first started selling on ebay. They have added a bunch of features over the years and one of my favorite recently has been their plugin.
It is a little do-dad that pops up whenever you land on a page that has a field to enter a credit card number. It then offers to generate a one-time credit card number for you to use on the merchants site. If you say yes, it then generates the number, fills it in for you along with a generated expiration date, and even the extra 3-digit code if needed. Once the transaction is complete, the plugin offers to take a screenshot as a receipt for you and then the money comes directly out of your Paypal balance.
I know that lots of merchant sites have technology to protect user’s credit card numbers, but using a generated credit card number rather than your own seems like it will always be safer. And then again, you have sites that don’t have very good security measures in place to protect your credit card number. This baby comes in handy for those as well.
What you need to use it
Since I just recently switched to Mac, I was a little bummed to find out that it is only currently available to Windows users (I can still use it on my laptop). Mac users can go to Paypal’s site and generate single-use numbers, but that seems to take all of the fun (not to mention time saving) out of it.
- Internet Explorer and Firefox are both supported.
- Paypal also says it is only available to U.S. users as well… I am not sure why, sorry to all the Canadians
My experience with the Paypal plugin
I have been using it for about a month or so and I love it. It saves me time and makes my purchases more secure, that makes me happy. So, if you do much shopping online, you may want to check it out.
this post was included in the carnival of personal finance
Have you used it? What do you think about it?
Related posts
Manage your time better with “Getting Things Done”
I just finished David Allen’s “Getting Things Done”“. I have been wanting to read this book for a couple years, but just finally got around to reading it. It is basically about improving your time management skills and as the title implies, getting things done more efficiently to live a less stressful life. I have read a couple similar books, Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, Zen to Done, and a few other generic time-management type 
books. I learned a few key principles in Getting Things Done that I hadn’t in the others. All in all, I liked GTD and think it is a worthwhile read, however the system may be difficult for some to implement and for those people I recommend Zen to Done - it takes a lot from GTD, but simplifies it just a bit.
In the book David lays out the steps to go from living in organizational chaos to having a system in place to keep your thoughts, notes, and life organized. I like his system, but like most systems it is going to take a few major life changes to implement it fully. When faced with new information or systems like these I like to grab one or two key principles and focus on implementing them rather than the system as a whole. When I try to make a major life change I usually fall off the wagon and end up getting frustrated with myself. Most of my changes that have lasted came by slowly implementing one or two small ones at a time.
Defeating the Stress
In the book David provides a well thought out and reasonable explanation of the source of our stress. He says that the overwhelming, stressful, and other negative feelings we may have are not caused by having too much to do. They come from breaking agreements with ourselves.
At some point in some way we made an agreement TO DO something and the stress and negative feelings come as a result of not meeting those agreements. It is really no different than breaking a promise that we would have with a colleage or friend - if you promise to meet a friend somewhere at a certain time or do something for them, but then you don’t come through - you feel guilty. If you have lots of these agreements that you can’t fulfill you may begin to feel stressed out. So, if you tell yourself to draft up a plan and you don’t do it, you begin to have the same feelings as not coming through for a friend.
He mentions three ways to overcome this stress:
- Don’t make the agreement in the first place - Learn to say no. It is a lot better to say no upfront, than to have to come back later after failing to do it and apologize.
- Complete the agreement - Focus all your energy on that one task and just knock it out. Doesn’t it feel good to check things off the to-do list?
- Re-negotiate the agreement - Change the promises that you made to yourself (or others). Giving yourself some relief from these pressures will greatly reduce some stress.
Our minds add to the stress
He talks a lot about how our minds can make our lives difficult. Any time we have a unfinished task; i.e. something we have said that we ought to do, our minds will continue to remind us that is has not been finished. Often it is at the most inconvenient times.
Our minds, as brilliant as they are in some ways, need to be tricked in this area. The best way to get your mind to stop the endless reminders is to get it out of your head and on to paper. But it must be on paper that your mind is convinced that you will come back and look at on a regular basis. Once your brain trusts that the to-dos are stored in a safe place, then it will stop the endless reminders and will be clear and free to relax. This is how stress-free productivity and our unlimited creative potential is reached.
Basically our minds aren’t free to function at their highest level until we the get millions of to-dos that we have stored up out of our head and on to a paper or digital system that we KNOW we will check again. The key is that it must be something that you check on a regular basis so that your mind TRUSTS that you will not forget about it. The goal of the process it to create a systematic method to keep your mind distraction free, in order that you can work at a high level of efficiency and effectiveness
In my beginning steps of implementing this I have created a google homepage with a couple different checklists to do my collecting of to-do’s. Personally, I have found this to be such a key to maintaining an organized and stress free life. The most difficult part is making frequent and consistent reviews of your collection system.
Processing the inbox
David suggests having a paper and digital inbox. The digital inbox is likely to be your email inbox and the paper one should be a an actual tray on your desk or other workspace area. If you are like most people the initial capture of everything may take many hours to get a handle on it all. But once you spend that initial chunk of time getting it all organized, it will require a whole lot less time to maintain it.
Here are a few of notes about his system:
- When processing your inbox - start at the top and go down, rather than just looking for the most urgent or interesting like most people. Processing merely means, deciding what to do with it and what action is required and dispatch it accordingly.
- Focus only on the single top item from the inbox. Don’t get distracted by the others in the stack, the sole focus on the one thing helps you to quickly and efficiently process it
- Nothing goes back into IN - it is a oneway street, so once it goes out it has to be dispatched somewhere.
- Most of the stuff is not THAT important, but the possibility in your mind that there might be something important in there allows the stacks and piles to control you, rather than you controlling it.
- Most people give more attention to things than they deserve, when really we shouldn’t over-react or under-react. Just because something is thrown right in front of you doesn’t make it urgent, just because something isn’t on fire doesn’t mean that it can wait til later.
- The key to managing all your stuff is MANAGING YOUR ACTIONS!! Don’t just do what you feel like doing, do what you should do.
Next Action thinking
This was a very valuable principle that David mentions in the book. The idea of next action thinking is that our brains often don’t like to do the analysis of what needs to be done when we only have a few spare minutes, BUT if you can go through and get the next action steps for each item, then when you do have a few minutes to spare - you won’t have to think about what you need to do - only ACT, by completing one of the next action steps already laid out for you…
For example if you have a pile of papers that you haven’t evaluated what needs to be done with each the uncertainty of not knowing how long they will take to process causes us to do nothing. But, if we spend a few minutes going through it and deciding what that next action is it will be clearly defined. Once it is clearly defined, we can estimate how long it will take and fit it in to our schedule like a puzzle piece. If you have 15 minutes to spare, just squeeze in the next action for something that will take you 15 minutes.
I have found in my life that the uncertainty of not knowing how long something will take to process has paralyzed me. In the example above, I would have not done anything in that 15 minutes, except feel overwhelmed while looking at the pile. I would have looked at the pile and just assumed that each next step would take more than 15 minutes, causing me to take no action. But if I knew that the next step for one task would take 15 mins or less, I would have done it.
- The big question is to ask yourself - WHAT IS THE NEXT ACTION to move this project along?
- If the item doesn’t require ACTION, then it needs to move to storage or trash. Making this decision can be difficult, but is absolutely necessary.
- If the next action can be done in 2 mins or less do it as soon as you pick it up, if longer then delegate if possible, or defer it to a later date.
- Don’t waste time thinking about things more than once, make a decision about something when you think about it rather than leaving the loop open and coming back later to think about it again
- The reason something is on your mind is you want it to be different than it currently is and you haven’t clarified exactly what the intended outcome OR you haven’t decided what the very next action step is AND/OR you haven’t put reminders of the outcome and the action required in a system you TRUST. Until this takes place, your brain will continue to think about it!!
If you have read Getting Things Done or have other ideas to increase productivity, please share them in the comments below
Related posts
I know that the whole “Mac vs. PC” debate can get almost as heated as the Obama vs. Clinton race, but nonetheless I will share my story…
I have had PCs since the early 90s and really didn’t ever consider a Mac as an option. I had heard that they were good for video and graphic work, but other than that all I knew was that the vast majority of computers purchased were PCs.
I figured that is was safe to be on the side of the majority, I mean if (almost) everyone else uses PCs they must be fine. I defaulted to following the crowd. Without getting into all of the reasons why you need to tread cautiously when following the crowd, I will just say that some of the greatest things that have happened to me have been a result of NOT following the crowd. I have to admit that I think my decision to switch to a Mac can be added to the list.
My frustration with PCs
There have been 2 main sources for my frustrations with my PCs:
- Lack of stability - crashing at random and often inconvenient times
- Lack of simplicity - I often had to take 5 steps to accomplish something that should be able to be done in one or two steps
Lack of Stability
As the Apple commercial eloquently puts it, “it’s not PC’s fault.” I actually feel bad for the PC guys, because with the thousands of new pieces of software being created each day - how can they possibly keep up with it all to make sure that it “plays nice” with the rest of the computer? Apple on the other hand has worked hard to keep tabs on the software designed for it’s system. This has resulted in a fewer options, but a better assurance that it will function properly.
Lack of Simplicity
I wrote about my interest in minimalist living and my longing for a simplified life. I don’t know how to describe this other than by comparing the two against each other. In less than one week of Mac ownership I looked at three tasks that I do on a regular basis that require only a push of a button on my Mac. On my PC, these three tasks require many more steps and ultimately a lot more time to complete the task. Things like setting up a wireless network took me hours of frustration with my XP and Vista machines, but was done with no effort on my part when I got my Mac. There are so many processes that I had just adapted to on my PC that I didn’t realize how difficult they were until I saw how simple they could be on a Mac.
The Mac Mini purchase
I ended up purchasing a Mac Mini mostly because it was the cheapest option and I was still a little skeptical of whether it was worth the extra money. But the other reason was that I could still use my PC monitor, keyboard, and mouse.
Once it arrived, it was just like you would expect from Apple - simple. It came with the Mini itself, a remote control, a power cord, and a monitor adapter. I plugged my old monitor and keyboard in and powered her up. It walked me through a quick and easy set up process that lasted maybe 2 minutes and that was it.
If you have more questions about switching check out this page - it will likely have some answers for you.
The Cons of Macs
Just to be fair and give both sides of the coin, here are some of the downsides of switching to a Mac…
- Macs are more expensive for the same level of performace as a PC. Apple products are generally more expensive than their counterparts. The thing I noticed as I compared the specs of my Mac to comparable PCs is that Apple seems to include more bells and whistles than low end PC makers do. For instance I mentioned the remote control that came with the Mac I got and it also came with a built in wireless card and Bluetooth. All things that don’t come with many PCs in that price range and no you probably don’t have to have it, but it is just a nice touch.
- It is still going down in value: fast. If you think cars depreciate fast , computers can become near worthless (in resale value) in just a couple of years. Again just like cars the more it costs, the more expensive ones go down in value quicker. That said, I would liken Apple to Honda. They still depreciate but not quite as fast as a PC (Chevy) and there seems to be a decent enough demand for them in the secondary market (craigslist.org).
- You will not have as many software options as with a PC. This seems to be gradually changing as Apple gains market share, but still needs to be considered. Although, I should mention that you can now run Windows on your Mac.
Ok, let me have it - Tell me why I am wrong and why I just wasted my money on a half-eaten apple
Related posts
I first heard of Hypermilling when I was writing a recent post - 75 Gas Saving Tips. It seems to be a trend among drivers that is increasing in popularity in reaction to the rising gas prices.
What is hypermiling?
According to Wikipedia Hypermiling is:
“Fuel economy-maximizing behaviors (and) techniques that drivers can use to optimize their automobile fuel economy. The energy in fuel consumed in driving is lost in many ways, including engine inefficiency, aerodynamic drag, rolling friction, and kinetic energy lost to braking (absent regenerative braking). Driver behavior can influence all of these. The city mileage of conventional cars is lower than highway mileage due to: 1) a high proportion of idling time, 2) operation mostly at very inefficient low-output engine operating points, and 3) more frequent braking.”
AKA being fanatical about saving gas by using traditional and non-traditional means to get better fuel economy. To see a pro in action, check out this video.
Apparently anyone can do this with any car. Of course, some cars are going to have a better chance for better MPG gains, but any car should be able to see improvement if the proper techniques are used. At last year’s Hybridfest the Hypermilers, “put on a clinic to help attendees practice what the hypermilers preach. In one exercise, (a hypermilling pro) guided a driver through some basic techniques in a standard Honda Accord, and the driver extracted 51.2 mpg from a car that the EPA rates at 24 mpg city and 34 mpg highway.”
While I was gathering information for the gas saving tips post, I contacted a Hypermiler (he got 69 MPG in his Geo Metro) for suggestions. He said that the most important aspect to his great fuel economy was all in the driving technique and knowing which techniques are most beneficial. I will go over some of the techniques that I found that some of these guys use, but first let’s look at some of their toys.
Tools of the Hypermiller
Scan-Gauge
This was the tool that I was encouraged to get by the Hypermiler I contacted and I have also seen it touted various other places as well. It is a digital display that plugs into your car and calculates gas mileage in real time. This information then allows the driver to see what he/she is doing that is using a lot of fuel and what techniques are very efficient.
The Scan-Gauge seems to be the standard for the Hypermilers, but there are others out there.
Run your car on water Kit
I have heard mixed things about kits like these. Basically, (from what I understand) you create HHO gas by assembling a contraption that then feeds into your engine. Your engine then burns the HHO gas as well as gasoline. They promise that your car will become at least 40% more fuel efficient with testimonials of even better rates. I haven’t tried it yet, so I am not sure.
Fuel Clinic
This is a useful website that tracks all of your fuel usage. You have to save your gas receipts and enter them online, but the site provides a wealth of data. It provides charts and graphs and detailed analysis of your fuel consumption. Best of all, it’s free.
Gas Price Map
This tool allows you to enter in your zip code and find the best gas prices in your area.
Hypermiling techniques: worth the risk or not?
Some of these techniques were mentioned in Gas saving tips post, but some are a bit more extreme and I don’t recommend doing them. I mean, is it really worth getting in an accident or making everyone on the road hate you so you can save a few bucks? So I am going to look at a bunch of common hyper-milling techniques to see if they are worth doing or not.
Calculate and record your MPG
Tracking your progress seems to be a big key to your success. Calculating your MPG is a simple equation (Miles driven / Gallons used), so the best way to do this would be with the Scan-Gauge mentioned above, Fuel Clinic, or you can just use this calculator.
- Worth it.
Watch the real-time mileage display
Some newer vehicles come with computers that compute your real-time fuel use on a miles-per-gallon basis. As mentioned above, the Scan-Gauge seems to be the after-market tool of choice by the pros. They watch this and adjust throttle inputs based on the readout to maximize their fuel economy.
-
Worth it - if you drive a lot.
Overinflate tires
Some hyper-milers overinflate their tires by 15-20 pounds. I have heard that this can be dangerous (blow-outs) and lead to uneven tire wear, but some of them, “consider it safe because most of my driving is around town and under 50 miles per hour.” They say, putting less rubber on the road gives them an edge in beating the EPA’s rating by decreasing rolling resistance.
- Not worth it - but definitely inflate them to the maximum rated PSI
Removing outside mirrors
I read about one hypermiler who removed his outside mirrors, replacing them with a video camera mounted in the left rear turn signal. He has it connected to a small video display mounted on the dash that enables him to see a wide-angle view of what’s behind him. He figures it adds another one mile per gallon.
- Not worth it
Pay attention to wind conditions
Certain cars will be more susceptible to this than others, but some have found that fuel mileage is significantly impacted by favorable wind conditions. “On long highway rides, having a tailwind has made a big difference in my fuel economy.” If you know it’s a windy day and you don’t have to take that trip, then don’t.”
- Not worth it - If I have to wait around for the wind, I might as well get a sailboat
Place cardboard over the radiator
One guy I read about does this and says that a cold engine reduces fuel-efficiency. He uses Office Depot’s silver-colored cardboard to warm up the engine faster. He covers his radiator with cardboard to block the wind, thus retaining heat and keeping the engine running at a warmer temperature. Knowing that this could cause his engine to overheat, he says, “I’ll take off the piece of cardboard if I know that I’ll be driving a long distance, say 100 miles, but it’s fine for my daily commute.”
- Not worth it - what if you forget about it and your engine overheats?
Avoid stoplights and stop signs
Many hyper-milers plan and map out their route before departing to ensure that their pathway has the fewest stops possible.
- Not worth it - I think most people’s time is worth more than the potential gas savings
Ride the ridge
This means riding along the painted white line on the road. Hyper-milers now use this white line to increase their fuel economy, a tactic that’s especially useful in the rain when puddles form in the grooves of the road, which significantly increases rolling resistance.
- Worth it - as long as there isn’t a safety issue with other cars
Drive without A/C and keep windows closed
In the testing that Edmunds did, they concluded that there is, “no measureable difference,” when choosing windows or A/C. However, if you choose neither, there is quite a difference. So now you can save gas by sweating
- Maybe Worth it - if you look at it as a free sauna
Timing Stoplights
If you can’t avoid the stoplights, determine the optimal speed for the timing (making sure they are green when you get there) of the stoplights. “Taking this small step has a marked effect on your fuel economy.”
- Worth it in moderation - just don’t ruin everyone’s day who is stuck driving behind you
Minimize brake usage
I always hate to have to come to a, “full and complete stop,” at a stop sign, but it is the law. Many hypermilers treat stop signs as though they are yield signs - and slowly glide through. They also are constantly planning and anticipating for what’s ahead; thus minimizing use of their brakes. And of course some of the down-right dangerous (dare I say irresponsible) hypermilers tailgate or take corners at speeds that aren’t truly safe, all in the hopes of never having to touch their brakes.
- Worth it in moderation - but breaking the law and putting others in danger isn’t cool
“Potential parking”
According to Wayne Gerdes, winner of the 2006 Hybridfest MPG Challenge, “Park at the highest spot in the parking lot and face out.” This technique allows you to exit by rolling forward in neutral without turning on the engine, thereby saving gas. The technique does away with the backing up and braking required by nose-in parking, while also reducing the time the engine runs.”
- Worth it
“Pulse and glide”
Generally this technique seems to be reserved for the hybrid owners, but I think some non-hybrid owners have found ways to apply this principle as well. The “Pulse and glide” method involves accelerating the vehicle to about 30-40 mph and letting it coast. The 30-40 mph point is where some hybrid’s do not use the engine or the battery. They let it coast for a few seconds, then repeat. Over and over again. Sounds like a fun trip to Disney Land, doesn’t it kids?
- Not worth it - unless my kids were mis-behaving (I can’t wait to be a dad)
Tailgating (”Drafting”)
Just like the Nascar pros, hyper-milers have realized that they can save fuel by getting right behind big trucks. I drove past an accident where a car was sandwiched between two 18-wheelers. Without looking closely you would think that the one 18-wheeler rear-ended the other. The remains of the middle car were difficult to spot. After seeing that I am much more careful when driving around 18-wheelers.
- Not Worth it
More about gas and hypermilling
I have been trying out some of these techniques as I learn how to become a hypermiler. I will compare my MPG numbers and see how I am doing and let you know - soon.
And here are a few more articles if you are interested in learning more… How to be a hypermiler, Hypermiling Tips, How are gas prices determined?
What methods do you think are worth the effort?
Related posts
Money Market accounts only allow six withdrawals per month
It doesn’t happen too often to me, but since I use my ING sub-accounts for budgeting I occasionally make more than six withdrawals per month. When this happens they send me a kind, but firm email informing me that if I make that mistake again they may be forced to close my account.
What you will get in your inbox from ING if you are bad…
Based on recent activity in your Orange Savings Account™, we want to remind you that you cannot make more than six withdrawals from your account each month. This is a federal regulation that all banks are required to follow for savings accounts like this one, so if this type of activity occurs more than three times in any 12-month period, we will have to close your account.
Since this is not the first time that you have made too many monthly withdrawals, we will be required to close your account if you do this again - and we don’t want that to happen!
So here’s what you can do to prevent your account from being closed:
Take a look at your statements or go to ingdirect.com and review your account activity. Keep track of how many times you transfer money out of your Orange Savings Account, including transfers to other ING DIRECT Accounts, and make sure you’re not making more than six withdrawals each month. Make one or two larger transactions rather than moving money numerous times. This will reduce the number of withdrawals you make each month.
Having worked closely with Money Market accounts earlier in my career I am very familiar with these restrictions. As the email mentions, the six withdrawal per month limit is a government restriction on the accounts, the bank itself can get in trouble for allowing customers to make more than six. Some banks will be more strict about enforcing this policy than others. But, if it comes down to it most banks will eventually close your account if you continue to abuse it.
I was frustrated about not being able to withdrawal my money once I reached this limit, and then the simple solution dawned on me…
The ING Hack to get around the six withdrawals
My wife and I budget for gifts and some months (i.e. December) we may be transferring a lot from the Gifts fund to our checking account. Once we reach five withdrawals for the Gifts account and we know we will need to do more that month, we simply transfer the remaining balance of that account to an unused (or a new) account. Then we just rename the new account “Gifts”. Viola, now we have another six withdrawals that we can make that month.
Renaming and opening new accounts (once you have opened the first one) takes about 20 seconds. So, really it is a very quick and easy process. I wouldn’t want to have to do it often, but it is better than getting your hand slapped or having your account closed.
A phone call to ING
I was also curious about what exactly they meant when they say they will, “close your account.” Did this mean just the individual savings account or did it mean the ING user account as a whole?
So, I called them and they confirmed that after exceeding the limit three times within 12 months, they will close the individual savings account. They did also mention that if a user does it multiple times for multiple accounts, they may consider removing that user’s profile from the system.
Just FYI.
Does anyone have any other ING helpful tricks or tips?
Related posts
I am a subscriber to the Gmail blog - because I am a moderate Google nut and like to stay in the loop with what they are doing. Well, I saw this tip on their blog and actually on another productivity blog, and it is just too good not to share.
I guess I will remind you what my favorite Gmail tip is before I get into the second one: Gmail is an email management system. I wrote about this before, but it bears repeating for those who have multiple email accounts and are in desperate need of organization or simplification.
What this means is that you can have all of your email from all of your accounts going directly into your single Gmail account.
You say, “great. I already knew that.”
Okay, but the good part here is that you can also SEND email from your other accounts WITHIN your Gmail account. So, if your email address is Billy@hotmail.com you can now send emails from that address within the comfort of your Gmail home (as well as any other accounts you have.)
So, what is your 2nd favorite Gmail tip?
Ok, so on to the 2nd favorite Gmail tip.
Say my Gmail address is Ihatespam@gmail.com. I can send emails to Ihatespam+bob@gmail.com or Ihatespam+anything@gmail.com and they will all go to my inbox.
You can add a “+” sign to the end of your Gmail id (Ihatespam in this case) and add anything you want after it.
If you think about this just a little bit, you will be able to see that this opens up a lot of possibilities for organizing your inbox.
- You can have work or school emails come to separate address and then filter them to go into different folders in your inbox
- You can have newsletters etc. filtered in to different folders as well
- You can easily weed out spam by using this technique. If, whenever you offer up your email address on a website you add the “+somewebsite” you will always know how spammers got your email address. Then you can quickly filter all of these emails into your spam folder. Problem solved.
My experience with this Gmail tip
I have tried this and really like using this tip along with the filters in Gmail. It really can help organize your inbox.
However, I will say that not all websites allow you to enter an email address that includes a “+”. I was a little bit bummed about that, but hey it is better than none, isn’t it?
Related posts
As promised in a previous post where I talked about how I started watching HDTV on my PC for under $70 I said that I purchased a remote control to switch channels rather than using the keyboard.
Just to clarify, my ultimate goal is to have an entertainment center fueled by my computer. I want to be able to watch HDTV, record TV shows, watch DVDs, play streaming radio, and listen to my music all from the comfort of my couch (without needing a keyboard or even worse: having to get up!!)
I am now well on my way to my goal - the PC remote control was a crucial piece of the puzzle that has been added.
The StreamZap PC remote control
I picked the StreamZap PC Remote
The StreamZap review
Let me start by saying the remote does seem to control every program that you would want it to, just like it promises. However, this is a universal remote to the extreme. Universal remotes rarely work as simply as the original remote and this remote is no exception.
It took me a few minutes to figure out what each button does in each program - some are not what you would expect - i.e. to make the TV program screen full size you need to press the MENU button.
The buttons are little bit sensitive - you only need to tap each button for the command to execute, any longer and it may dupe (go up 2 channels instead of one).
That said, it does everything I wanted it to do:
- It turns on the TV program on the computer. It changes the channel, volume, records, and goes to full screen.
- It works with iTunes - skips songs, selects play lists, even allows me to search for songs by name
- It closes the programs and shuts down the PC with the touch of a button.
Final thoughts on the StreamZap Remote
All in all, I am happy with the purchase. I think there is some room for improvement, but I think the average good (but not great) reviews on Amazon paint an accurate picture of what the remote is and is not.
Related posts
Have you read “Zen to Done”?
Leo Babauta from Zenhabits.net has graciously donated a copy of his eBook “Zen To Done.” to the readers. His book is a simple system to help you become more organized and productive. It teaches you:
- The key habits needed to be productive, organized, and simplified … and no more than that.
- How to implement these key habits … tips on forming a habit.
- How to organize these habits into a simple system that will keep everything in your life in its place.
- How to simplify what you need to do.
- Minimal ZTD. Also includes an even simpler version called Minimal ZTD.
“Zen to Done” eBook giveaway
“Zen to Done” eBook by Leo Babauta (click to find out more about Zen to Done) There will not be any hoops to jump through in order to win. You won’t have to link back to this site, you won’t have to digg or stumble anything (although it would be appreciated), you won’t even have to say anything nice about me!!
So what do I have to do to win “Zen to Done”?
If you would like to be entered for a chance to win the “Zen to Done” eBook, just type “Zen to Done” in the comments below before 11:59pm CST on December 24th, 2007. A few more notes about the Zen to Done giveaway…
- From those comments entered I will randomly select a winner using random.org.
- Go ahead and enter for each of the prizes, but only enter once (per household) for each one. (Duplicate entries or IP addresses will be disqualified)
- Make sure you enter your email address when adding your comment so I can contact you if you win.
- The winner will be announced on Christmas morning!!
Check back tomorrow for another giveaway!!
Technorati Tags: Zen to done, Leo Babauta
Related posts
This is the fourth and final entry of a series I am doing about How to save time on your PC. These are a few of the ways that I try to shave off minutes or even hours of wasted time on my computer each month.
8. Google toolbar
The main reason I use Google Toolbar is for the bookmarks. It has a few other features that make it useful, but I think the best part is that my bookmarks are right at my fingertips at all times. The Google toolbar also allows you to TAG your bookmarks, rather than putting them in folders like most browsers. Tags are more versatile, because you can add multiple tags to any bookmark. Del.icio.us is another great bookmarking tool as well.
9. Firefox Quick Search
If you are a Firefox user you will have a quick search box in the top right corner. You can add all kinds of searchable websites to the list. You can search within Google, Yahoo, Ebay, Amazon, Various dictionaries, Flickr, Wikipedia and many others. Rather than going to the individual sites themselves, you can search many sites from your browser.
You can download Firefox with Google Toolbar, if you aren’t using Firefox yet. If you are still using Internet Explorer, I recommend using Firefox. There are a bunch of reasons why Firefox is better, but the safety factor with Firefox was a big one for me.
10. Google Homepage
My Google homepage is where I tie a lot of these tools together. Google homepage is basically a dashboard of whatever you would like. They have thousands of different widgets to choose from so you can create a custom homepage that can have just about anything you could want or need all on one page for you.
This is a quick snapshot of my Google homepage…
I have my email, calendar, stock quotes, weather, to-do list, feedreader, Jotts, bookmarks and a few other things all accessible on the same page. I love the ease of being able to get updated information from various different pages all in one place. And who knows how much time you save by having it all together rather than going to one site to check weather, another to see if you have any new emails, another to check your stocks, etc…
You can find out more about Google homepage here.
Check out the previous posts in the series…
How to save time on your PC - Part One
How to save time on your PC - Part Two
How to save time on your PC - Part Three
Related posts
