A nomad's financial life

Some people have asked me how I take care of finances while on the road. It's easier than it used to be, but there are some hidden problems.

Back when my lovely wife and I were first on the road, the only Internet was dial-up and there were still payphones everywhere. My monthly check was deposited automatically in the bank. I'd use prepaid phone cards to call the bank to check up on my finances. A number of my bills were paid over the phone. I actually memorized all those phone numbers and access codes. One of main things is that I'd seriously simplified my finances back then. There were just not a lot of bills that had to be paid. Since my mail was going to one of my daughter's, she was kind enough to let me know when bills I had not planned for came in. I'd write and mail her a check then she'd pay the bill.

Now everyone has a cell phone, free wifi is common, and most businesses have on-line payment options. I take care of on-line business about twice a month. In the beginning of the month most bills are paid. There are a few that don't become due until later in the month, so I get to those about the second or third week of the month. Easy enough.

Before leaving I used to have my mail forwarded to my dad's place in Florida. He'd just toss it all into a box. When we'd be in his part of Florida, we'd stop in for a visit and would also catch up with our snail mail. Even in the days of on-line payment, there are a few odd bills that I write paper checks for. They tend to be things like small quarterly payments to my lovely wife's life insurance. Now that dad has passed, I'll have to figure out another way to deal with those odd bills. Maybe by now they've added on-line payments?

So we have Internet access, plus debit and credit cards for traveling money. In general, I'm a big believer in dealing with small local banks. That's great -until you have a problem with your debit card. I've discovered that the post office will not forward debit cards. If your card expires when on the road, you are out of luck.

There are a couple of ways around that. My lovely wife's debit cards have different expiration dates than mine. We might have to stick together when shopping but at least one of our cards usually works. Another way is to have an account at a nation wide bank. While my local bank would not ship a new card to me, the big name International banks have no problems doing so.

Of course, having some cash is pretty handy too. There are few problems with carrying big wads of cash. Okay, first you have to get a big wad of cash. Your cash could be stolen. It might get stolen by the police. In some areas they routinely confiscate cash as evidence of wrong doing. Also it's nearly impossible to rent a car just using cash.

I've had some other issues come up on the road. Back when I had medical insurance, they did not cover me out of their service area, which only included New Hampshire and Massachusetts. Not much good in Florida. That's one of the reasons I dropped it. No sense paying for insurance I could only use half the time.

Some people have asked me what I'd do if the Internet went down for a long period of time and I could not pay my bills. Well, if that happened, paying off a credit card while on the road would be the least of my worries.

-Sixbears