Sometimes, it feels like my money is flying out the window. So I’m using the Google Pay app on my phone, which tracks spending. So does Mint.

I ignored Mint when it first came out in 2006. But now that I’m assured that the info is encrypted, I decided to give it a whirl. Mint is owned by Intuit, the same company that owns QuickBooks. I still prefer Google Pay. Mint has too many ads.

The free Google Pay app, nicknamed GPay, for iPhone or Android, showed me how much I'd spent since the beginning of the month, and what I'd spent it on. It discreetly offers discounts from merchants.

Getting a new phone

A reader said she rarely used her cellphone until COVID hit. “Now texting is constant,” she said and she wants a new phone. She’d like one with a better camera than the one on her $60 Tru Blue. But she doesn’t want to spend much.

PC magazine gives high marks to the Moto G Pure from Motorola, which Tracfone is selling for $60. I love Motorola phones because the battery lasts for days. A reviewer at TheVerge.com gave the PureG good marks too but criticized its camera. He said it got the colors wrong in a pumpkin photo. But I thought it looked great. On the other hand, it got a few nasty reviews on the Tracfone site. But I trust the professional reviewers in this case.

The web is good for you

The press is always saying that online activities are bad for our health. Actually, the reverse is true.

According to the Journal of Public Health, broadband access is a “super determinant” of health. COVID deaths are many times greater in areas with dial-up or spotty connections, even if you take age, income, race, education and preexisting conditions into account.

Silencing Google or Siri

If you ask Siri something embarrassing, she might blurt out the answer in front of your friends. How about getting a text response instead? All you have to do is turn down the volume on your iPhone if you don’t want to hear her. Unfortunately, her text doesn’t show every word of the answer. To get it all, go to “Settings” and tap “Siri & Search.” Choose “always show captions.”

Next I tried out Google Assistant. I asked: “Am I pretty?” “Well,” she said, “I just looked up ‘good looking’ on MerriamWebster.com and all they had was a picture of you. So that’s a definitive yes.” Fortunately, I was alone.

To get a text instead of a vocal response on your Android phone, tap “Settings,” then “Apps,” then “Assistant,” then “See All Assistant Settings.” Now choose “Assistant Voice & Sounds.” Look for “Speech Output” and tap “Phone.” Then choose “hands-free.” I tried it for a while but missed hearing the Assistant’s voice. I also tried changing her accent to British, but she sounded snooty.

It’s a boat, it’s a bike, it’s a house!

A Chinese company said they’d send me a $2,500 eBike for review if I was willing to devote the whole column to it. No way. I don’t like eBikes. I want to use my legs, not electricity.

Or so I thought. I just read about an eBike that’s part boat and camper. It would be difficult to peddle that baby without an assist. To see it in action, go to mashable.com and look up “It’s a boat, it’s a bike, it’s a house!” The “Z-Triton 2.0” can fit two people in its cabin. When it’s not in the water, it’s an electric bike with 1,000 watts of power and a seven-gear internal hub. It has a solar panel roof.

Driverless trends

Until a couple of weeks ago, all driverless cars required a steering wheel, a brake pedal and a dashboard for a human driver. But the U.S. National Highway Transportation Safety Administration just decided that human controls are unnecessary.

Driverless cars with steering wheels for human drivers are almost old hat. You can hail a driverless car 24 hours a day, seven days a week using the Waymo One app in Phoenix or San Francisco. Or try “Cruise” from General Motors (only in San Francisco). Google says its riders get the same clean vehicle every time and a driver with over 20 million miles of experience on public roads. Google has also developed a car without any human driver components. It should be coming soon.

What about those awful Tesla-crash headlines? According to TeslaDeaths.com, Tesla’s human drivers have experienced 12 driverless car fatalities. That’s a lot fewer than the 274 deaths caused by Tesla-driving humans.

Google says that traffic collisions in the U.S. kill over 35,000 people a year. Around 94% of those involve human error or choice. Their Waymo cars haven’t yet injured anyone.

Avoiding scams

A reader wrote: “Two days ago my wife was nearly in tears after falling for a scam email that looked exactly like it was from the SAS Shoe site.” She was out $45. Others are being scammed by phony vaccine surveys.

One reader said he was nearly taken in by a fake Pfizer survey, but hovered over the return email, which revealed sketchy-looking characters. If you do a Google search on “PSA post vaccine survey scam,” the U.S. government at ICE.gov will show you exactly what the scammer’s email looks like. Don’t worry if you’ve already opened one. Just don’t click anywhere or open any attachments. There’s still time to panic.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Track spending with Google Pay, Mint