We often calculate how many miles per gallon our vehicles travel, but have you ever wondered how many miles per dollar your car gets?  Check out the nifty “Miles Per Dollar Calculator” to find out.   The calculator creators state,

“…It’s time that we add a new weapon to our arsenal of thought, a new way of seeing the economy and our shiny new Web 2.0 world. Believe me–when you start thinking about how much money it costs to drive one mile it changes your whole perspective on life. You start to question reality–the world as it really is versus the world as it has been presented to you. And with this changed perspective you might one day even hope to understand “supply and demand.”

While this calculator is very useful, be sure and visit “Cost 2 Drive” as well. This website has a sleeker interface and assumes the gas prices based on real time data to help you to determine the cost of driving from point A to point B.

Enjoy!

How would you like to take control of your finances and clean up your life?  The first step to securing your financial future requires you to thoroughly analyze your finances.  This is much easier said than done.  It will take some time to analyze your finances properly, but thankfully, there are multiple resources to help conquer this task. 

Gone are the olden days when all you had were a pen, paper, adding machines, or even spreadsheets.  Today we have the internet and websites that connect directly to our banks.  Not only are these websites able to track our spending and help balance our checkbook, they can track our investments, provide instant charts and graphs, and even send text messages when we have exceeded one of our budget categories. And if you have a hard time remembering all your account numbers and passwords for each of your checking accounts, savings accounts, 401(k)'s, IRA's, these websites will instantly simplify your life and save you time.

Personally, I use Quicken's 2007 paid for software.  It does the job, and more.  However, there are plenty of free services that appear to do an excellent job of helping you organize your finances.  I have not given any of these a test run just yet but wanted to let you know that (free!) help does exist:

Mint.com
"Mint downloads, categorizes, and graphs all of your finances automatically every day— so you don’t have to.  Know where you’re spending, without spending any effort."  The list of features seems endless and their layout and visual appeal is the most pleasant of the bunch.  Mint.com lists quotes from some major publications on their homepage:

• "Best Free Finance Software" PCWORLD
• "Editor's Choice Award" PC MAGAZINE
• "A pleasure to use" WALL STREET JOURNAL

QuickenOnline.com
As I previously stated, I have been using Quicken 2007 for about a year and paid close to $80 for this version.  There is definitely a learning curve for some of the more advanced features, and I expect to spend many more frustrating hours trying to figure out how to transfer my year's worth of records to TurboTax.

However, Quicken recently offered the "basics" for free.  The free online service gives users the option to connect any time, a feature that I lack.  They even have an iPhone optimized version of QuickenOnline.

Moneycenter.yodlee.com
I wasn't able to see what this website looked like without registering.  After registering, I was immediately turned off at how boring everything looked.  Since I haven't actually tried any of these services, I can't attest to which is better or why.  All I have to go on is the look and feel.  Mint.com, Quicken, and Wesabe were more visually appealing then moneycenter.yodlee.com.

Wesabe.com
From the looks of their homepage, Wesabe seems to offer the same features as the other three websites.  One interesting aspect that jumped out to me was their online community.  Users post questions and answers, their personal goals, and even tips for others to read.  I enjoy reading other pf blogs and find this to be an attractive feature.

Do you have experience with any of these services?  If so, I'd love to hear from you!

If you haven’t decided whether to fly or drive this coming holiday season, visit cost2drive.com to help you make your decision. By entering your start point, end point, your vehicle’s make, model, and year, you will learn the cost to drive to your destination. In addition, this website will inform where the cheapest gas is located along your route.