The Lifestyle Accountant - Most Recommended Resources

Everyone needs great resources to manage their finances and life. Here are some that I personally use and recommend. Hopefully, they'll help you as much as they've helped me.


Personal Financial Management

Personal Capital - I love using Personal Capital to get a snapshot of my investment situation. One of my favorite features is the 401(k) Fee Analyzer that shows how much of your retirement is lost to 401(k) Fees.

Mint - I am a huge fan of Mint because, unlike Personal Capital, it connects to more of my accounts and gives me a more accurate picture of my finances. I can get low balance alerts, credit card payment due date alerts, and a ton more features. This is the website I recommend to personal finances newbies. I find that it doesn't automatically connect with some of my accounts such as Loyal3. For a free personal finance manager it does the job.

Credit Score & Credit Report

CreditKarma - I've been using CreditKarma to track my credit score since 2009. I've seen them add a lot of features and most recently, a FREE full credit report. This is my go to source for checking my credit score (weekly) and I receive various credit alerts as well. I can't recommend this website enough. 

Online Banking

Capital One 360 - I've been using Capital One 360 (formerly ING Direct) since 2007 and I can't imagine switching banks because I've had nothing but a positive experience with this bank. There savings account rate is pretty competitive and they don't have fees.

Investing

Betterment - I recently signed up for a Betterment account to make my investing dead simple. You can set up auto deposits, tax loss harvesting, and best of all, your portfolio automatically rebalances. This is online service is great for the lazy investor who wants to pay very little in fees.

Frequent Flyer Miles Tracker

Award Wallet - I use only one website to track all 40+ of my various points/miles earning accounts. They have a smartphone app that I use to check balances on the go and even receive weekly email alerts to see what programs point balances have changed during the week. I also get alerted when some programs points/miles are going to expire soon. I don't know what I'd do without this website as I'd probably log in to each program's respective website and track in Excel! A basic account with AwardWallet is free but with limited program detail. I pay $10 every 6 months to upgrade to receive all of the benefits.

Accounting Software

Xero - Xero is beautiful accounting software. It's the only accounting software I recommend to small business owners. I use Xero for my business and my personal finances.

Tax Return Preparation

H&R Block Online - For the last couple years, I've filed my tax returns using H&R Block's online software. It's an easy to use program and having previously worked at H&R Block as a Master Tax Advisor, I am familiar with the service and have several years of data with the company.

Paperless Life

Virtual Post MailVirtual Post Mail is an online mailbox service. I use it to outsource my mail so I don't have to deal with junk and I can get access to my mail when I'm traveling or on the go. This is the perfect solution for lifestyle entrepreneurs who don't have a permanent address or simply don't want to deal with going through piles of mail.

Scannable by Evernote - Scannable is a smartphone app that scans paper and converts it to your format of choice. No need for an expensive scanner, this app is FREE and easy to use. Just take a photo of your paper and you get a high quality scan ready to save or share.

Other Stuff

My everyday carry as a globetrotting #CPA • #everydaycarry #accountant #mobileoffice

A photo posted by Jeff 🌎 TheLifestyleAccountant (@lifestyleaccountant) on

Mobile Accountant Toolkit - Some of the tools I use to be able to run an online accounting business from anywhere in the world. 

Metromile pay-per-mile insurance - I've been using Metromile for almost a year and love how much money it saves me on car insurance. I don't like to drive much so it's ideal since I only pay for what I use. Plus there's cool features like being able to see where you last parked, how much you spend on gas, and deciphering those pesky check engine codes.

4 Powerful Books That Changed My Life - A collection of the most important books that have helped shape my life and my mindset on living.