Monday, September 17, 2007
The Joy of Being a Globetrotting UW Co-op Student
Money is a giant pain in the ass - why can't it all be a lot smoother?
I'm writing this because I'm sitting down to pay the month's bills. Comcast, Rogers, Puget Sound Energy, BRE Trails, Visa cards, and ISTA, oh my! And, of course, Rogers's website is down. Again.
When (if?) I successfully pay these bills, I will get to go forth and scatter bills for the amount paid via social money management tools, such as my favourite, BillMonk.
In the two years that we've used BillMonk to track the shared expenses in our households, I've racked up $46,723.83 of "stuff". That's not necessarily $46,723.83 of expenses, mind you. Some of it is, of course: rent, utilities, entertainment, food, furniture. But some of it is just paperwork to shuffle debt from person A to person B to make settling up easier -- these line entries can add up, as person-to-person lines of credit often get close to four figures during a semester. Some of it is neither expense nor accounting acrobatics: BillMonk is currently tracking multiple security deposits that I jointly hold with four other people totalling $1,921.16.
Why do we even have to think about this stuff? Where's the infrastructure to allow multiple people to commit to expenses jointly and seamlessly? Failing that, where's the infrastructure for people to autoapprove bank transfers to specified individuals (not corporations) up to specific dollar amounts?
The Pareto principle likely excludes me from getting the kind of banking and money management scenario I want, since I suspect my experience is pretty far outside the bell curve of normal. Relocating (with new housemate, nonetheless) every four months has its downsides. I can't wait for this to be over.
I'm writing this because I'm sitting down to pay the month's bills. Comcast, Rogers, Puget Sound Energy, BRE Trails, Visa cards, and ISTA, oh my! And, of course, Rogers's website is down. Again.
When (if?) I successfully pay these bills, I will get to go forth and scatter bills for the amount paid via social money management tools, such as my favourite, BillMonk.
In the two years that we've used BillMonk to track the shared expenses in our households, I've racked up $46,723.83 of "stuff". That's not necessarily $46,723.83 of expenses, mind you. Some of it is, of course: rent, utilities, entertainment, food, furniture. But some of it is just paperwork to shuffle debt from person A to person B to make settling up easier -- these line entries can add up, as person-to-person lines of credit often get close to four figures during a semester. Some of it is neither expense nor accounting acrobatics: BillMonk is currently tracking multiple security deposits that I jointly hold with four other people totalling $1,921.16.
Why do we even have to think about this stuff? Where's the infrastructure to allow multiple people to commit to expenses jointly and seamlessly? Failing that, where's the infrastructure for people to autoapprove bank transfers to specified individuals (not corporations) up to specific dollar amounts?
The Pareto principle likely excludes me from getting the kind of banking and money management scenario I want, since I suspect my experience is pretty far outside the bell curve of normal. Relocating (with new housemate, nonetheless) every four months has its downsides. I can't wait for this to be over.
