Baring your finances

The Washington Post has an interesting story on why people go online to share their poor money management skills.

Thanks to the many financial Internet sites and the penchant of users to share everything, says the article, money talk is no longer taboo — at least not when you use an alternate online ID instead of your real name.

I, too, share some of my personal fiscal decisions and even mistakes. Remember my electronic tax paying problems or when I almost overpaid the electric company $6,900?

But mostly I believe that discretion is the better part of valor. Plus, I have the hubby to think about. It’s his money, too — some of it, anyway! — so I want to respect his desire for privacy.

I can see, though, how sharing is cathartic and reassuring. Sometimes it’s nice to know you’re not the only financial dunce out there. The key, however, is knowing when enough is enough.

I’ve been getting a taste of financial tell-alls via the Money Confessions on Twitter and in some cases, "too much information" immediately comes to mind. Or to borrow a phrase from my mother, sometimes you really shouldn’t air your dirty laundry in public.

And in this day of con artists and ID thieves, I’m just a bit leery of putting everything out there on full display.

Debit vs. credit: One section in particular of the Washington Post story caught my eye:

Too many people in their 20s and 30s have become addicted to their debit and credit cards, no longer carrying cash in favor of the convenience of plastic, said Peter Glyman, who co-founded Geezeo about a year ago.

That has made them "detached from their finances," he said. "They’re not balancing a checkbook, which in some ways forces people to look more closely at their finances. It creates a problem for the consumer in that they’re becoming further removed, but it allowed products like ours to get them closer."

Hey, I’m a tiny bit beyond that demographic, but I also prefer my credit card. I use it for almost everything and pay it off in full each month to avoid interest charges.

But what got my attention here, and in many other stories previously, is the lumping of credit and debit cards as cash alternatives.

I can see not wanting to have a wad of bills in your purse or pocket, but debit cards are cash.

Unless something’s changed since the last time I swiped my debit card, these transactions come right out of your bank account. So why in heaven’s name aren’t people balancing their checkbooks? Don’t debit overdrafts carry the same high fees as bounced paper checks?

I know another online money management site, Mint (which I’ve blogged about here and here), even goes as far as to say that with its services, checkbook balancing is not really necessary.

Sorry, maybe I’m a geezing (as opposed to a Geezeo) money control freak, but I don’t buy that approach. You can’t save, or increase, your money until you know exactly how much, or little, you have.