Money and Finance #59

I read the info about credit scores. I already know alot about them. I did learn however that your score can change as quickly as every month. I also learned what FICO stands for ( the originator's name). I took the quiz and scored 9 out of 10. (I missed the FICO question.)

I write out a monthly budget on a form I develped based on our common bills. It is mainly used to help me pay our bills on time. I do not save them. It might be interesting to start saving them and compare them, noting trends. I should also be a little more accurate and include things such as food costs, and other incidentials. It might be eye-opening!

I am not covered by the county retirement plan. However, I am vested in a plan in the state of Florida and I make a point of checking their website about once a year.

Money and Finance part 1

This is an interesting exercise. I am really old school and this exposes me to the "new stuff".

My bank does offer on line banking for free but I do not participate. It took me a long time to get brave enough to shop online so it's not surprising I am not online banking. They provide great services such as round the clock access, electronic statements and bill pay features. Their security measures appear strong. They use Pass Mark images, specific types of passwords, challenge questions. In their down loadable brochure they give tips for safeguarding your information when using the Internet. These include never providing your user name or password to anyone who asks, using encrypted websites and using unique passwords and changing them regularly. This is a service that I actually might try in the near future.

I looked at the budgeting websites and they do not interest me at all. To me it is too complicated and time consuming. I prefer paper and pencil.

I like reading articles on saving money. This one gave many ways to cut costs. Ones that I might try include:
buying non-grocery items a discount stores, I tend to buy these items at the
supermarket only because it is convenient
install a few more compact florescent bulbs, I have already changed a couple
but have more places that could be changed
investigate switching my TV provider and bundling it with my phone and Internet
(which is already bundled)

All in all, this was an interesting module. I look forward to the second part.

Facebook part 2

I forgot to answer a couple of questions in my first post. Yes, it was easy to sign up for Facebook. I tried a couple of applications: Flair (I love reading) and Library gifts. I sent a library gift to my daughter but have not heard back yet on if she liked it or not. I am really not into applications. They seem to be just little time wasters.

Facebook

I have just completed enrolling in facebook and playing around with it. I must say it is interesting. I added four friends, including my daughter (in college) and heard from all to them. My daughter laughed at the fact that I was on facebook; after all I am a parent and soooo old!
A pleasant surprise came in the form of reconnecting with a relative I lost track of. You know how all those potential friends pop up? Well Robert's name and picture popped up. Our families have not seen each other in a couple of years (and we both live in Houston) so I emailed him. Lo and behold it is "Bobby Lee". We hope to get together soon.

I will probably keep this facebook account for at least a couple of months, despite my daughter's objections! It is a vast networking site and there is a lot to learn.

Twitter

I checked out Twitter today. It is interesting but I don't think its for me. I made myself a profile and invited my kids to join. I don't know if they will but I wanted them to see that their mom is not totally computer illiterate.

I did a search on Twitter and it kind of reminded me of Wikipedia. I was viewing people's posts and would click on a highlighted word in their post and it would lead me somewhere else (ie started with libraries, ended up in London!)

I think it's good to know what is out there but I don't think it is for me.