You can check out the whole set, but here are some of the highlights:

I’d really like to make a 5 minute video that shows off our nicer pictures and videos, but I don’t know what software is best for the job. Does anyone have any recommendations?

Fortunately, I was wearing a helmet.

I think the bat wasn’t.

There were bees.

Wesabe’s support team introduced me to XL2QIF, an excel macro that converts CSV files (or any excel spreadsheet) to QIF format. Once you open the CSV containing your transaction list in excel¹, select the interesting fields in your statement:

Then open up the XL2QIF window:

Next, check the fields you’ve selected in the order in which they appear. (i.e. I choose Date first, Memo second, Debit third, and Credit last). I check “Separate Debit/Credit”, since my bank statements have separate columns for debits and credits. These options will all be saved the next time you run XL2QIF. Choose an output file and click convert to save your transactions to a QIF file.

Now you can upload your QIF file to Wesabe. You’ll be asked for your account’s current balance, because we’re not using one of the more advanced file formats. Wesabe should now show new untagged or unedited transactions in your bank account:

Once you’ve used Wesabe for a little while, it should start automatically tagging your transactions. I edit my new transactions and rename them to something meaningful:

Together with your cash account, you should now be able to track almost all of your spending with Wesabe.  Be sure to mark your cash withdrawals as transfers so you don’t double-count your spent cash.

¹ European CSV (Comma Separated Value) files are separated with semicolons, not commas. My current workaround for this is to rename the CSV file to a txt file, open the txt file in excel, and then change the delimiter to semicolon in the Text Import Wizard.

Lifting our bikes may have slowed us down a little (not actually a weekend photo):

I never figured out how this guy mounted his bike:

The bike polo was definitely a good way to end the day.

To start a new cash account, click “Add an Account” on the left side of the site, and then find the tiny “Create a Cash Account” link on the right. Once you’ve chosen an account name and currency, click Create to finish making your new account. (Click on an image to see an enlarged version)

I start by writing down all my cash expenses. Since I have a horrible memory, I usually jot down the details in my cell phone (26/3 – 1.30 – food @ VHS) within a few seconds of the money leaving my hands. I sign in to Wesabe a couple of times per week to update my spending. If you have a twitter account and text message to burn, you can also tweet your spending directly to Wesabe and save yourself some time.

When you want to update your cash spending, click on your cash account and enter your transaction data:

Picking good tags for your transactions allows you to look back later and easily analyze your expenses. Normal tags are applied to every transaction from a merchant (all of my amazon.de transactions are tagged “shopping”), and one time tags can be used to add more detail (textbooks, lunch, birthday, etc).

When you save the transaction, it appears in your account activity:

If you’re tracking your cash account’s balance, you can refresh the page to update your balance:

If you guys are interested in reading more, I’ll show you how to manage your bank account on Wesabe in another post. Your bank account (or credit card) probably provides a more useful picture of your spending, and Wesabe only gets better when you feed it more crunchable numbers.

Hell, I even wrote a blog post to create LIMITLESS SHAME if I don’t sign up for a bank account by the end of the month. Now, I don’t have to read those webpages, but I’ll sure feel pretty dumb if I don’t.

Last week I submitted an application for a DKB account after reading the last of the poorly-translated pdf’s, and gave myself a pat on the back for meeting my deadline of March 31st. For bonus points, my roommate delivered the mail with an hour left in the day:

3.8% interest is a definite improvement over < 0.5%, and the free Visa card is a nice touch.

Isn’t shame awesome?

Ramit recently wrote a fantastic guest post on get rich slowly about barriers, like these German webpages, that influence the way you think. I’m a notorious procrastinator, so I know that this roadblock will always make me want to read “later”. So I make the roadblock smaller: I keep the translated pages open on my work machine, so they’re always in my face when I’m waiting for my machine to build. I also emailed them to myself, and they’re sitting ugly and bold in my inbox. Even if I only read a couple of paragraphs a day, at least I’m reading something and getting a little bit further.

Ramit focuses on how barriers can get in the way of doing what you really want. But since barriers have such a shockingly strong effect on our beheviour, why not use them for good instead of evil? This is why I launched my secret weapon: I run my mouth. I create a passive barrier for myself when I tell everyone who will listen that I’ve found these awesome banks, and that I’m signing up right away. Once I’ve told people I’m about to do something awesome, fear of looking bad gives me all the motivation I need. Hell, I even wrote a blog post to create LIMITLESS SHAME if I don’t sign up for a bank account by the end of the month. Now, I don’t have to read those webpages, but I’ll sure feel pretty dumb if I don’t.

Schedule a homecooked meal with your friends to avoid eating out. Put a bowl of fruit on your desk, and put the chips and chocolate in a box behind the washing machine in the basement. Put your workout clothes on top of your laptop. Record your impulse buys on a public webpage for all of your friends to see. Make it physically or emotionally taxing to slack off, and make it painfully easy to stick to your guns.

All of us are lazy procrastinators. We’ll get tempted, we’ll forget our priorities, and we’ll just make bad decisions. So accept it, plan for it, and use your weaknesses to achieve things you used to only daydream about.

When I pass under the gauntlet, I’m usually in a rush, or I’m dead tired, or I’m just particularly fascinated by yet another hole in my dwindling supply of socks. But it catches my eye once a day or so, and I become locked in gravitational combat with my unyielding foe. He drops me to the ground, a lifeless husk, my arms reinforcing the stereotypically geeky physique I so rightly deserve.

But I’m gaining ground. A month ago I was shaking after one pull. Yesterday I did 10 after showering and 5 more with a backpack before heading downstairs for breakfast. I’m still not in shape, but it’s a great way to regain the strength that parkour demands.

When my roomie and I eventually part ways, I gotta get me one of these:

My life’s to-do list just got a little bit shorter.