p>Naturally in a world where just about everything is at your fingertips, there are dangers involving how you spend your money. Recently released devices and software platforms, however, have introduced a wrinkle into this problem: microtransactions. Iphones, iPod touches, Kindles, Nooks, Steam (a gaming platform for the PC) all give us what we want when we want it and often at very small amounts of money at a go.
Think about it. When you purchase your average song on iTunes it’ll cost you about a buck. No big deal right? Until you open up your Kindle and the latest Twilight book is out (it was a prequel I think?). No problem! One click and it’s yours at just under $10. Hop on your PC and you notice that your retrofavorite game Golden Axe is available to download right now so you can play with a friend! What’s a few bucks, right? Unfortunately all of these seemingly insignificant transactions can balloon into a digital version fo the latte effect.
My Solution:
While I love downloading books and old games as much as the next guy, I have a very simple way of making sure it keeps under control: I link these stores to my spending account. Since it has a finite amount of funds allocated to it each month, I can go ahead and blow my money on music and books if I want to, I just won’t have anything left over to do much else. In the end it works itself out, and I’ve found a happy medium. If I run out of money well, that’s it. No more spending until next month!