Comments on: New Year, New You (Same Mike)

By: Molly Minturn Wolfe@facebook

Molly Minturn Wolfe@facebook — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 18:31:47 +0000

As someone who just impulse-adopted a puppy, let me tell you, they are expensive. So sweet, but so expensive.

By: redheaded&crazy

redheaded&crazy — Sun, 06 Jan 2013 15:51:45 +0000

Impulse moving across the country!

By: highwaysofgold

highwaysofgold — Sun, 06 Jan 2013 02:39:22 +0000

please don’t impulse buy a puppy! anything but a puppy!

By: EVA922

EVA922 — Sat, 05 Jan 2013 15:29:37 +0000

yes! Smartypig gives 1% APY (and it’s got that adorable pig and colors — yes, I’m a sucker for the cartoonish thing, but as Mike says, let the tricks help you. If the cartoon pig helps me want to use the site, so be it. I’m saving!).

By: Andrew

Andrew — Sat, 05 Jan 2013 05:30:19 +0000

Impulse Save seems to have a pretty low interest rate (0.4% APY)… there are definitely better (if less fun) options out there.

By: readyornot

readyornot — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 23:49:18 +0000

On opposition to little tricks: what is the new year and its associated resolving mayhem but a little trick? January 1st is just an arbitrary day, the only thing that makes it feel clean and fresh and new is our collective mind. I prefer making resolutions on the first day of spring, which seems to me to be a generally more optimistic time. Who could keep a resolution through the grays of February? Not I.

And also: the idea that one needs little tricks comes in play a lot in behavioral economics. Logan’s point that if the egg timer worked for her, she ought to have been productive anyway: that’s a rationalist orthodox economic theory. I used to be against the stupid little workarounds to cheat my brain, too, until I read a whole bunch of stuff proving how everyone needs them. Even extremely highly educated people with sharp analytical tools do not behave rationally. Almost ever. And that made me feel OK. We’re either hardwired in or nurtured to end up irrational, so might as well beat that brain at its own game. Whatever works, man.

By: Dancercise

Dancercise — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 22:03:13 +0000

I mentioned this in an earlier post, but I really need to be better about budgeting this year. For the last 18 months or so, I’ve been logging all of my expenses in a spreadsheet, but now I finally need to actually give myself limits to my spending so I don’t get to the end of the month and go, “Oops, I spent $300 more than I made this month.”

Other goal for the year: Refinance my car loan.

By: EVA922

EVA922 — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 21:55:02 +0000

Instead of ImpulseSave, I have used smartypig for a couple of years and love it — I used it to save for my honeymoon, my friend’s wedding, and a new car…and “just because.” It’s user-friendly and has a handy option to auto-withdraw on certain days of the month (i.e. the day my paycheck comes in!) so that the money is basically out of sight, out of mind as soon as I’m flush with cash (the two days a month that happens…). I thought I heard about smartypig on this site, but I guess not if Mike didn’t mention it in this post!

By: littleoaks

littleoaks — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 21:47:53 +0000

Mike’s goal makes me think he’s probably the one person on earth who could use that “my greatest weakness is working too hard!” line in a job interview and the interviewer would actually believe him.

By: eagerber

eagerber — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 21:44:43 +0000

Yes to goal-making and yes to ImpulseSave! 2013 is going to be solid.

Yes also to this post’s funny tags. :)