Personal Finance: Moving it to the Cell Phone

Mashable's link to free finance apps (for the iPhone) leads us to two major considerations for the near future:

1 - Conducting our finances online will be routine. I do not mind confessing that it took me years to move my mortgage payment online. I did not know if I would be able to make extra principle payments. There were no screenshots to allow me to preview the system. I obviously didn't feel comfortable asking. (Logic need not apply.) I finally took the big step after deciding that I would just mail in the additional check, if necessary. (Again, logic need not apply.) Of course, I found a multiple-option screen that allowed me to make any kind of payment I wanted to. (Even extra interest payments. Yep, logic need not apply.)

2 - Computing in general is shifting to the ultra portable. I remember when laptops started proliferating. They were heavy little things (mainly the battery, I think). Then they got lighter and bigger. And now they're getting smaller and more powerful. And now there's a computer in my cell phone.

While the boomer in me cries out that I would never conduct financial business on a cell phone, I remember the shifts I have already made (1 and 2 above). So, I'm going to work up to actually banking on the phone. A nifty calculator or two to start. Perhaps my trust will build before the dome is paid off. Or I could use the cell phone for the last payment. Yes, I like the lack of logic in that idea.

© 2009 Mary Bold, PhD, CFLE. The content of this blog or related web sites created by Mary Bold (www.marybold.com, www.boldproductions.com, College Intern Blog) is not under any circumstances to be regarded as professional, legal, financial, or medical advice. Or education advice. Or marital advice. Or even a tip.

Personal Technology: Transit on Your iPhone

I'm apps light. That means my iPhone has very few apps (small applications or programs) on it. I am reluctant to load the phone up with applications that I won't be able to recognize or remember a week after download. Hopstop, based on the popular Hopstop web site, is the exception.

For one thing, the icon for the app is the circled H that looks a lot like a transit sign in a big city. I have a good chance of recognizing that. As to remembering the purpose? Oh, that's not hard at all. Transit maps and platforms have always confounded me. And the printed schedules? Murderous. But I have previously found help at the Hopstop web site and the iPhone app mimics that resource. So, I've downloaded the app and I'll put it to the test in San Francisco this month.

© 2009 Mary Bold, PhD, CFLE. The content of this blog or related web sites created by Mary Bold (www.marybold.com, www.boldproductions.com, College Intern Blog) is not under any circumstances to be regarded as professional, legal, financial, or medical advice. Or education advice. Or marital advice. Or even a tip.