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The other area in my life thats getting a makeover this month is my finances. Starting this month I’ve developed a budget and a course of action for my debt. I’ve been using wesebe.com to keep track of my money almost daily. Wesebe hasn’t been perfect but its been what I need for now. Hopefully as the site matures, new features and bug fixes will be added. Only thing I’d really like to see is automatic updates of my accounts instead of the chore of downloading each statement then uploading them.

One of the first things I did this month was to give myself an “allowance”. I tend to get carried away with purchases and I’m a sucker for impulse buys so instead of doing the “envelope” method, I went with a more forceful approach.

I’ve given myself $100 allowance a week to live on. On Friday when my paycheck gets direct deposited, I transfer $100 to my Paypal account right away. I only carry my PayPal debit card with me instead of my bank’s debit card. Actually I have my bank card stashed away so its hard to get at. The $100 has to keep my cars gas tank filled, keep me feed and any purchases I’d like to make for myself during the week. Another advantage for me is that it takes 3-4 days to transfer money into my PayPal account from my bank. This curbs the thought of just transferring money onto my card if I want to make a purchase and don’t have enough in my PayPal account at the time.

Due to my work schedule, I tend to eat out ALOT. This was a big money hole for me that I’m trying to fix. Due to my “allowance” I have to be careful when and if I eat out now. If i want to pick up the newest game, comics or DVD this week, I’m going to have to pass when the guys order a pizza at work. To get me eating better, I allow myself to use my bank card if I actually go shopping at a store. This gives me incentive to make a shopping list and try and find the best deals so I don’t have to dip into my allowance.

The second thing I did was to setup an ING Direct Savings account. For the past few months I’m been trying to put money into a savings account at my bank. Problem with that is I always saw what I had in savings which gave me a false outlook on my money situation. I could always move money out of my savings account immediately if I needed extra money. With ING the money is deduced automatically and it goes into a different savings account that I don’t ever have to look at. Plus it offers 4.5% interest. My plan is to forget about that savings account and just let it keep growing and adding interest.

I got a lot of financially rebuilding to do but these are just the first few steps I’m taking. Next month I plan on calling all my creditors and get a “state of the union” from them so I can devise a debt reduction plan.

Paypal has a beta program that allows you to order an RSA token from them for extra security. Anyone can head over to Paypal and sign up for it. Right now there is a one time fee of $5(free for Business accounts) that comes directly out of your Paypal account.

Naturally I ordered one. In the package was the key itself, a wallet card, packing slip, Top 10 safety tips and an “Activating your Security Key” card. Setup was pretty painless. Login to Paypal and click the Activate Security Key link. From there it asked for the serial number and then the current code from the key and finally another code from the key 30secs after the first one.

What happens is when you login to Paypal using your login and password, your taken to an additional page were you type in the current number displayed on your Security Key. The key changes every 30secs. If for some reason someone knows your login/password they still need to have that code to access your account. “Something you know and Something you have”. Its very seamless and adds an extra layer of security for the paranoid.

I’ve actually just started using Paypal as my main debit card leaving my bank’s debit card at home. I move what I will need into my paypal account and this keeps me from those impulse buys I always fall for and helps keep me on a budget. It is a little weird reaching for my keys everytime I want to login to Paypal but I do feel a little safer with all the phishing going on with Paypal and eBay.

You can also link the key to your eBay account but I haven’t gone as far as that yet. One other nice feature is you can attach the 6 digit number to the end of your password. This bypasses the secondary screen and logs you right in saving you some time.

[The PayPal Security Key]