Going digital in your RV opens up a host of conviniences. One of them is doing your banking / bill paying online.

Over the past month I’ve eliminated all of my paper billing statements. Everything now comes to me in e-mail. Once I receive my bills I can look through them on my laptop, save them to a file for reference down the road, and avoid filling up my trash can with paper I need to shred.

On top of not having to deal with tons of paper, there are other great benfits to doing your banking and bill payments online. Now, with a sign in on my financial management software I automatically “sync” my accounts from the financial institutions. All my transactions are saved to my computer and I can sort through them at will. What does all that mean?

That means budgeting gets a whole lot easier. Check book balancing becomes simple. And that means I can quickly see where my money is going on any trip.

Sicne I’ve setup my accounts this way, I can get a real time view of all my expenses. For gas ups I use my credit card. The online statement makes it easy for me to classify fill ups and get a gague of what I’m using when traveling. The same can be said for groceries (which have gotten expensive due to my dietary requirements), campground stays, and other store trips. A great deal simpler than having to remember to write down ATM and credit card transactions after the fact!

Sounds great, but is it secure?

Yes, the whole thing is fairly secure. You can have your identity stolen with simple information that comes in the mail. Doing your business online doesn’t mean you’ve just upped your chances of identity theft. Plus using the right software helps too.

There are some things you can do to protect yourself further if you’re really concerned about identity theft, or someone getting access to your current accounts. While these things won’t guarantee 100% security, you should take every precaution you can.

  1. Use a credit card when traveling, not your ATM card. I’m a big fan of Dave Ramsey (financial talk show host). He’s against credit cards, period. This is where I differ from him. With a credit card, you can stop a transaction quick, and money isn’t out of your pocket. If someone pilfers money from your ATM it usually takes time to fix it.
  2. Use a secure web browser. I’d recomend FireFox. There’s a link to it on the sponsor links to the right. CNET advised it’s the most secure browser available last year. It’s the only one I use.
  3. Do your banking on your network. I wouldn’t do my banking while on a hotspot at Pannera Bread. I’ll stick to my network. On a WiFi hotspot that’s not yours, there are ways to take a look into your system.
  4. Make sure you use anti-virus software on your computer. If you’re not doing this, don’t even go online.
  5. Always have a firewall on your computer. Both Windows and Mac systems come with built in software firewalls now. You should be using it.

What should I use for online banking?

Well, most banks now have Internet access for customers. At minimum, you can look at your records through any web browser. If you just want to keep track of your account, that’s the simplest answer.

If you’d like more, you’ll need some type of financial management software. There are two big ones out there currently available. Microsoft Money and Quicken. I’ve used both over the past decade, and don’t really have a preference between the two. They both work well, and have more options than a person will ever use.