My Debt Blog

I have to pose this question because I was thinking about it. Almost anywhere we go technology has changed things. I almost feel guilty about not having to do some things I used to do.

Online banking seems to be taking hold pretty strong. Very rarely do I ever have to even go into the bank to deposit my paycheck. It is already electronically deposited for me and available to do stuff with right away. When I ordered checks, I only got two boxes because it is getting to the point where checks are not necessary. Electronic draft of the account using the routing and account number is much quicker. The debit card has in a way almost replaced having to use cash, and not resorting to credit. At least I had the advantage of knowing how banking used to be prior to this era.

What is sad is the new Monopoly game coming out with the kid talking about how fast they do things. They’re playing the classic game of Monopoly, the dad lands on a property with a hotel, and instead of handing actual cash over, they just punch numbers in the little machine and swipe a card. Is the kid learning about money or how to swipe the card in the machine? Life is also doing this Visa card version of the game, because Life takes Visa you see.

I remember being a kid and actually saving up money to buy something. Granted $20 is not much money, holding Mr. Jefferson in my hand, buying something I wanted and handing the money over, you do feel the money leaving. Now the kids can have prepaid cards that don’t even look or feel like money. Swipe it through that machine like the adults do and they feel empowered and older. I understand how my Grandma feels about money now because back in her day metal change had a lot more value.

Part of me likes the convenience of paying bills online though. The old method of writing out the check, putting it in the envelope, putting the stamp on there, finding a place to mail it, and waiting a week for it to cash from the account feels so cumbersome to me now. Autopay makes it even worse because you don’t even need to think about paying a bill anymore, it’s just handled for you. I still feel lazy that technology has replaced so much of what I used to do.