Mint.com

In this kind of economy, where people turn out to be stealing left and right, it's really important to have a eye out for your money.

I have been using Mint.com's service of collecting all of my banking information to a single, easy-to-view location. Yesterday, it finally released the iPhone app I was waiting anticipating since I started using the iPhone. The app allows me to check up on my balances with a touch. I must say, it is a slick little application.

Mint.com does more than just track your current balance and recent transitions, as you might expect. With safety and security in mind, Mint.com allows you to see the big picture of where your money is going and where it is coming from, and it automatically categorizes your purchases and income. It even offers budgeting tips and ways you can save money. As a matter of security, just about the only thing you can't do is transfer funds.

I was originally hesitant to give some of my information to a web-based service. But after reading their terms, and after reading positive reviews for the budgeting service from the likes of PCWorld, PC Magazine, and The Wall Street Journal, I thought I'd give it a try.

(Photos from Mint.com's website.)

Playing Monopoly in 2008

Last week, I had purchased the official Monopoly Here & Now: The World Edition game for the iPhone and iPod touch. It currently sells for $7.99 and probably will for some time to come. I don't see a major discount to be likely, so get it now! It's worth it. (App Store Link.)

The game's biggest features, according to Touch Arcade:

Give your iPhone/iPod touch a shake to roll the dice or animate the movers
Use your touch screen to flick and drag property cards and simulate real-life game experiences
3D view of the board and movers
Select full-board view or zoom in for a close-up
Play solo against the computer or Pass n’ play for 4
Wi-Fi Multiplayer Mode allows 4 players to connect via the same router on a Local Area Network
Automatically replaces players who leave with AI

Besides being an amazing time killer at work and fun game during the commute, the game was something very interesting. Having been familiar with only the original Monopoly as Charles Darrow had intended, with Ventor Avenue and Reading Railroad, I was excited to see the "Here & Now" world edition of this classic game. Check out the Wikipedia page on Monopoly for a very insightful read. In 2006, the "Here & Now" properties were decided with an online voting process. Wikipedia outlines the results. (I'm glad to see that Taipei made it on the map!)

What makes this edition of Monopoly interesting is that its scope covers actual world cities (albeit, superficially) as opposed to neighborhoods of Atlantic City or fictitious places of themes in other editions of Monopoly. And playing this game in one of the worst recessions in recent history is an attempt to bring this game back to its roots. Or at least, to get you thinking about money and what it means not to have it as you traverse the playing field, a kind of metaphor for life. When money comes into the picture, events and people's decisions can change drastically. In the game of Monopoly, the goal is not team building and not reaching out to your peers. Its premise: bankruptcy of others through competition. Its goal: to win and to cheat one's way to victory through any legal means necessary. The next time you sit around a table in a dimly lit room playing Monopoly with your friends, try to experience Monopoly for what it is and for what was meant to be.

I have dug up a few more interesting articles on Monopoly. (I do not necessarily share the opinion of their author.)

Before the October 2008 "Crash": Is The Monopoly Game Teaching You To Go Broke?

During the October 2008 "Crash": High Anxiety: We went from playing inflation-era Monopoly to playing depression-era Monopoly in mid-game.

After the October 2008 "Crash": The Economic Crisis Hits the Markson Family Monopoly Board

Life Lesson: Money

Two nights ago, I had a conversation over dinner with someone I'd like to call "Grandpa". He is well into his 80's and, fortunately for me, has much to say about a lot of things. We talked about investing in the stock market, thinking about retirement options, and operating a small business. We talked about money and how it is possible to start with very little and end up, as he has, with more. He said something that struck a chord with me:

Money is only good for making more money.

I have learned over the past few years that, for me, money is merely a means to an end, rather than be the end itself. That is not to say we do not need to have it to live. Life situations may vary by the way we are brought up, by what I call indirectly inherited wealth, whether it is physically given to you or not. This inhereited wealth includes food, a dinner table to put it on, a place you can call home, and even life lessons taught over time. We should never lose sight of what we generally take for granted. There is not enough appreciation and gratitude these days. (I am at fault as well.)

P.S. ... which brings me back to photography. In the end, I do not expect to be a professional photographer. In the end, it does not bring food to the table and pay the bills. While it is definitely an art worth practicing and is not a waste of money, I realized there is no reason to jump into such an expensive hobby so quickly. Paraphrasing what my father told me just this weekend, spending and indulging on things that make you a better person and a more effective worker is okay in moderation. More importantly, do not spend money that you don't have. Do not count on the money of others.

P.P.S. Since I have thought about this topic of money more carefully, I have gotten better at Texas Hold'Em on my iPhone. Having money is a great feeling when you are able to pressure the poorer players to elimination. But at the same time, every hand is, to some degree, a gamble.