Money management seems to be a phrase whose meaning is getting lost with the times. Technology, as impressive and convenient as it is, some times takes away from the true intention of a thing. With direct deposits, automatic drafts, online bill pay and debit cards, we barely have the need to look at our bank accounts.

Gone are the days when we had mental awareness of our finances because we actually pulled cash out of our wallets and purses. We felt the burn of “breaking” a $20 bill because we knew it started as a $100, and it’d soon be a nothing but a couple ones and some change clinking around in your car. Technology has put the jingle of change in it’s place… in your bank account. However with this shift, has come a dangerous state of unawareness with our spending. We just swipe the magical card and your purchase is complete. Ah, that’s a breath of fresh air from fiddling with paper and coin currency. But with this convenience comes a price. It will cost you awareness. How many times has your bank made you “aware” of your spending by sending you that lovely overdraft notice?

If it has never happened to you, God bless you. For the rest of us, we’ve been bitten by the naive stuper that our beloved technology induces. I mean this doesn’t happen with that antiquated paper with presidents on it, but we wouldn’t dare go back to that relic… So what do we do? We need to be more aware of our spending, so we turn to our good friend technology, the one that got us here in the first place. We start using the newest, most advanced bit of technology we can find. It automatically records my transactions, creates my budget for me and sends me reports on how I’m doing? Yes please, sign me up! But fast-forward a few months and how much more in tune are we with our finances? Slim to none. Technology has struck again, disabled us, it’s taken the work out of our hands and further put us in a state of passive money management. Oxymoron anyone? Passive management.

So now what? We can’t go back to check registers and spreadsheets. We need to actively manage our money but with the aid of technology. This is the line we want to dance with Coinage… Technology where it’s needed, not just because we can.