Wherever there is connected technology, there are armies of people who dedicate their lives to breaking-in, and stealing that data. In this episode of Consumer Tech Update, Kim looks at how birth control can impact your privacy.
Easy way to manage your finances in one place
One of the most difficult parts of life is managing our finances. Most of us do a pretty good job of not spending more than we earn, though there are times when that is not particularly easy to do.
No matter what the income level is, it’s never a bad idea to gain a better grasp of our money situation. Financial advisers can be very helpful, but their expertise comes at a cost. Do we really want to spend money in order to better see how we can save some?
Ideally, we could find a program or app that is easy to use and filled with features that will help us get a real handle on things and, maybe, lead to smarter decisions with our money.
Money management made easy
One app that fits the bill is called Mint. From Intuit, Mint is billed as a way to “effortlessly manage your finances in one place” by combining budgeting, bill payment and credit score tips.
But how, exactly, does Mint do it?
For budgeting, you input savings goals as well as other information, like your annual income, mortgage rate, property tax and annual insurance. Mint will then tell you how much you could save by cutting back spending in certain areas while showing you where your spending pace will leave you over the course of the year. Within this feature, you can plan for one-time expenses as well as those that happen on a monthly basis.
Saving money is indeed great, but the reality of life is that we all have bills that must be paid. The concept works against our efforts to save, but Mint helps in that area, too. Just input what bills you must pay, and when you must pay them by, and Mint will send alerts when one is coming due. That means no more late fees and penalties.
You can schedule payments through the app and, perhaps best of all, you will not have to go to various sites in order to do all of this since you could do it all from the app itself.
Mint can also check your credit score and provide tips to help improve it.
In short, Mint will:
- Improve your budgeting by looking at your expenses — recurring and one-time — against your annual income, and providing ways to save where you can.
- Manage your bills with ease, as you will get alerts to remind you when some are due and have the ability to pay them through the app.
- Get a look at your credit score and learn ways you can improve it.
Your TV is watching you
I don’t know about you, but when I sit down in my favorite chair to watch TV, the last thing I want to think about is the TV spying on me. While it might not actually be taking pictures of me in my sweats without my hair and makeup done, there are actually TVs out there that spy on you. How? It’s actually quite clever.
Get Firefox’s new browser that’s super fast
Our gadgets are constantly being upgraded to be faster and more powerful. Think about how much more advanced today’s smartphones, tablets and desktop computers are compared to just a few years ago. It’s been an amazing leap forward.
A simple new way to make money on YouTube
Google is making it easier than ever to make money on YouTube. If viewers like what they’re watching, they can now “tip” the video creator to support new content in the future. It’s like crowdfunding for YouTube!
3 Google Maps tricks that only the pros know
With the weekend upon us, here are some cool ways to explore – or work, with Google Maps. Google Maps is the world’s de facto navigation app so in this episode of Consumer Tech Update, we’re finishing up Digital-Life-Hacks Week with some tricks you can do with Google Maps that you may not be using but definitely should be.
Why dating apps often fail
Decades after dating sites and apps started to appear, we finally know the science of why most of them don’t work. More times than not users strike out, regardless of whether it’s for a one-night stand or the serious-minded. Kim will tell you what is attributed to the high failure rate.
Is the baby crying? There’s an app for that
Do you remember those times when you held a crying infant and couldn’t quite figure out why it was crying? Well, now you can! A new app claims to know what is wrong with your baby with a 90% accuracy. Too good to be true?
Many parents track their teens electronically - Do you?
We hear about the government tracking us but what about tracking our kids? A staggering 25% of parents already do. One app can make it easy. Do you or someone in your family track their kids? It’s an ethical debate that laments many.
Terms of service killed your privacy
Each time you “click here to agree,” a piece of your privacy dies. Most of us use smartphones, Facebook, Twitter, Google and dozens of other apps. Each one makes you agree to a contract that you likely didn’t read. Do you know what you’ve given up? Click here to listen to my free Komando on Demand podcast about how our need for convenience is coming at a very high price.
Hidden dangers of navigation apps
Using navigation apps in emergencies can be dangerous
Facebook's new app
Facebook rolls out an app for kids under 13