Three Things Thursday: Tech Edition

Hello, September! :) I don't really consider myself a Fall/Winter girl... I tend to gravitate more towards warmer weather, but this year I'm excited for Fall. I'm ready for a change. It's time pumpkin spiced lattes, layering up with cozy sweaters, and feasting around the dinner table with family and friends. I think every season is a great time to re-boot and freshen things up a bit...from my home, to my closet, and even my computer.

This #3ThingsThursday, I thought I would share some ideas to freshen up the technology in your life.

One: Re-format & Re-organize

I have had my Macbook Pro for over 7 years now. It was the first major purchase I made for myself after graduating pharmacy school. I absolutely love it. It has never once crashed on me and has severed me well. However, last year I did notice that it was starting to get a bit slower. So, I decided to back-up all my important files, purge my pictures, and get rid of any and all files or applications that I had never used. Then I totally re-formated my hard drive. 

It was a nice clean slate and my computer felt like new! It was running faster, smoother and I was able to stretch it out for another year. However, last week Chirag surprised me with my brand new Macbook Pro and I'm so excited. Right now there are some great deals for students looking for a new computer or laptop. I also recommend looking for coupons you can stack on to make the most of the savings available.

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I already have a new game plan for organizing my files, pictures, etc. I also spent a few hours the first day and went through all my contacts. I deleted people I hadn't spoken to in years or couldn't even remember, merged additional profiles I had on the same person, and also added notes and categories for groups of people. For example, for my in-laws, I added notes like husband's/kid's names, addresses, and birthdays! Sneaky ways to impress the in-laws. ;) I also recommend making it a point to review your photos. I love taking pictures and just in the last 10 days I have a ridiculous number of pictures of my little nephew. So, I've been deleting duplicates and being very selective on keeping just a few. I also synced my google calendar, photos, and in-boxes. This way I can keep track of everything, no matter wether I was updating it on my phone or on my laptop. 

If you are not in the position to purchase a new laptop, I think re-formating and re-organizing your computer is a great idea for a fresh new start. 

Two: Mint

I can almost remember the day I was first introduced to Mint. It was like angles were singing in the background. It wasn't very well-known then and I was very nervous about entering all my information in one place. Since college, I have been very good about documenting my spending habits and keeping track of student loans, etc. I would do this by using an Excel file on my laptop, but it was a very tedious job and yes, I would get lazy and not always keep up with it like I should. That was until Mint. 

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I absolutely love Mint. I like how you can set budgets for different categories, roll over your savings or spending, and have a safe place to track all your finances. Every quarter, I like to re-visit my budget categories and make adjustments for upcoming events (i.e. Christmas shopping). 

I would highly encourage any college student to start their school year using Mint. It's a great tool to learn and take charge of your finances as well as your future.  It's also a great way for couples to have everything tracked in one place so that both parties can be involved in their finances together. 

Tip: The best advice I can give when using any sort of on-line program like this is to keep your password complicated and change it frequently!

Three: Unroll.Me

Speaking of Christmas shopping... I'm sure many of us having our email boxes flooding with Labor Day sale notifications from our favorite stores. I use to get very overwhelmed with the amount of emails I would get from stores. There have been times in the past where I have unsubscribed from all of them, but only to resubscribe when I needed a coupon or needed to know when something on my wish list was coming on sale. 

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Un-roll.me as totally solved my problem. I have been using it for a few weeks now and I think it's a genius service. It basically takes all your subscriptions and rolls them up in one easy to navigate newsletter.  You can choose the at the exact time you would like to receive your Rollup each day. When you're done you just have to one email to delete. It keeps my in-box looking clean! If I need to re-visit an email or newsletter I just log on to Unroll.me and search my archive for that email. It's so easy and convenient! 

Although I'm still burning up in this Dallas heat, I hope you're having a wonderfully cool Thursday where ever you are! Be sure to checkout Salma, Raj, or Nisha's for blogs to find out more about how you can link-up and share what's on your mind this Thursday.

What's your favorite tech tool or app?