It’s time to start week 5 of Money Management by Personal Finance Bloggers! Today, we’re speaking with J. Money, who runs Budgets are $exy.
Previous interviews: Blunt Money, Mighty Bargain Hunter, Financial Freak Show, PT Money, Moolanomy, No Debt Plan, ToughMoneyLove and Gen X Finance.
How do you spend: cash, debit or credit?
As much as I can on credit card baby! I find it an excellent budgeting tool as long as you pay it off in full every month (which I do). I spend roughly the same every month, so I might as well eek those cash rewards while I’m doing it.
Do you bank online? How about use a financial aggregator (Mint, Wesabe, Yodlee, etc.)?
I bank online at USAA.com aka the best bank e-v-e-r. Since most of my 10+ accounts are there, I find a trusty excel spreadsheet & google doc is the only other thing I need to manage it all and stay on budget.
What recurring bills do you have set on autopay?
Oddly enough, only a few things: Comcast, condo fee, and insurance. My income gets staggered so I like to manually pay the rest to make sure all is on point.
How are your finances automated?
Currently, they’re not as automated as I’d like. I deposit my paychecks, xfer out the money to the right accounts, and then manually pay a chunk of the bills asap to make sure I don’t forget.
Do you write checks? If so, how often?
Checks? What are those? 🙂 They only get the pleasure of my bad handwriting when it’s time to give a wedding present to somebody. All other times they stay in my drawer sobbing, knowing the end is near.
Where do you stash your short-term savings?
In a regular ol’ savings account. I like the freedom to xfer out at a moment’s notice, and having your accounts in one spot makes it even easier to manage it all.
Want to find out more about J. Money? Check him out at http://www.budgetsaresexy.com, follow him on Twitter @budgetsaresexy and subscribe to his RSS feed.
