Geezeo joins the ranks of Mint.com, NetworthIQ.com, and Wesabe.com as a social personal finance site. The USP (unique selling point) of the site is their mobile accessibility.

It works like this:

Henry’s walking down the street. He stops and wonders if he’s got enough for a Big Mac. He sends a text message to the ether and waits. Moments later a text message comes back with all of my account balances that he setup at the website. Welp. Looks like Henry will have to go another day without food.

It’s targeting students or recent graduates for their service but anyone can use it. They target them because they’re more “connected”. It’s also US-only. Sorry Canada. They have compatibility with 6000+ institutions.

Here are a couple of improvements I would make:

1. Instead of texting the word “geezeo” to get current account balances, make it a common word that I can enter without switching to “abc” mode.
2. Instead of texting the word “geezeo update” to update my balances, it should already be updated when you retrieve your current account balances (see item 1).  Why would anyone want non-updated information?  Deprecate this.
3. Send a pie chart or graph or something via MMS if possible.

There are more things but here’s the one sentence summary: “Geezeo tracks your money automatically and there’s also discussion boards as well.”

Is it useful?  Sure.  Consistent awareness of your financial situation is very important for building wealth or getting out of debt.

Will I use it?  Probably not.  Calculating my net worth at the end of the month is good enough for me.

-h

PS - Sorry about the absence.  I was doing pull-ups this entire time.

[Read more →]

Finance Findings is Binary Dollar’s periodic link dump.

• My Personal Saving and Investing System [Sun’s Financial Diary]
• What Have You Got Against Credit Cards? [Tao]
• Curb Appeal: One Of My Best Investments Yet Or How I Turned $80 Into $5,000 With Minimal Risk [Digerati Life]
• Understanding the Fine Print of a Loan Can Save You Money and Grief [Generation X Finance]
• Alternative Income Streams Progress - June 2007 [Lazy Man and Money]
• Are Real Estate Agents Worth the Money? [Money Smart Life]
• The Best Online Brokers [Free Money Finance]
• Eight Things To Consider When Buying Someone Out [Mighty Bargain Hunter]
• Four Reasons You Should Get A Payday Loan [Blueprint]
• Eco-Friendly Energy Savings [Five Cent Nickel]

Send your submissions for Finance Findings to henry@binarydollar.com.

[Read more →]

Fidelity offers Age-Based 529 investments. Just pick a year.

The best time to save for your children’s college tuition is when your child is born. A small investment now will help them cover their college costs in the future. Say you invest $10,000 when they’re born. Assuming a 12% annualized return, it will grow to about $80,000 by the time the kid’s 18 years old and ready for college. $10,000 investment to pay for $80,000 in school costs? Not a bad price to pay for college at all.

Watch out though: You don’t want a bear market to challenge your kid’s future. You’ll want to secure that fund as cash as the child gets older. Use an age-based 529 investment to save for college.

Age-Based 529 Plans automatically adjust from aggressive (mostly stock investments) to conservative (mostly bonds and cash) as the child comes closer to their project college years. All you have to do is pick a projected year and the fund will handle the rest. The downside is that you pay a bit more in management fees since it’s an actively managed funds. The upside is that you get to spend more of your time playing with your kid instead of balancing their investments.

[Read more →]

Finance Findings is Binary Dollar’s periodic link dump.

• Zecco IS Cheap [Sun’s Financial Diary]
• Traditional Jobs For Men And Women And The Gender Divide [Digerati Life]
• Practicing Basic Tax Diversification [Tao]
• How to Talk Your Way into Debt [Money Smart Life]
• Lazyman’s Prosper Update [Lazy Man and Money]
• Don’t Be Fooled Into Thinking an Oil Change Every 3,000 Miles Is Necessary [Generation X Finance]
• Are Inflated Shipping Charges On eBay Bad? [Mighty Bargain Hunter]
• Why You Need a Budget [Free Money Finance]
• Are You a 0% Credit Card Daredevil? [Five Cent Nickel]
• GEICO Paid Out A Fraudulent Claim [Blueprint]

Send your submissions for Finance Findings to henry@binarydollar.com.

[Read more →]

The sooner you and your spouse can agree on where the family money goes, the better. The best time to figure out finances is before you’re married when both of your money is separate.

I’m getting married in November. The shared finances discussion has begun. It will continue for the next few months until we’ve covered all of the ground rules. These premarital financial discussions should minimize the fights while we’re married.

[Photo Credit]

[Read more →]

Today’s open mic question:

Completely subjective question: How much money do you personally need to retire?

Leave a comment. The commenter’s URL doesn’t have the “nofollow” tag. That means Google juice for everyone!

Here are the rules:

• No spam.
• I reserve the right to delete spammy or trolly comments.
• Comments close at the end of the day (or whenever I feel like it).
• Say anything about anything.

[Read more →]

Beginner budgeters like to tighten down their spending too much. They end up blowing their budget and reverting back to their old ways. If you’re a beginner budgeter, don’t budget your money down to the penny. Tighten the screw slowly.

A successful budget is a flexible budget. It should be able to help you during tough times and it should also allow you to reward yourself if your financial situation becomes better than expected. A looser budget that’s easier to keep is better than a tight budget that’s impossible to maintain.

Check out the Binary Dollar 3 part series Effective Budgeting: Why Budget? Building A Budget. Tracking a Budget.

[Read more →]

Finance Findings is Binary Dollar’s periodic link dump.

• Tenant Troubles: Update [Lazy Man and Money]
• Mutual Fund Review: Fidelity International Real Estate (FIREX) [Generation X Finance]
• Bank of America’s New Online Banking Interface [Sun’s Financial Diary]
• 5 Money and Currency Facts Your Banker Never Told You [Digerati Life]
• My Almost-All-Cash Portfolio: Cautious? Or Under Accumulator Of Wealth? [Tao]
• How To Avoid Losing Your Paycheck [Money Smart Life]
• Free Summer Movies for Kids [Raising 4 Boys]
• Net Worth vs. Net Investable Assets [Five Cent Nickel]
• Ignore The Allure of ‘New’ [Blueprint]
• Companies I Promote for Free [Free Money Finance]
• Debit, schmebit! [Mighty Bargain Hunter]

Send your submissions for Finance Findings to henry@binarydollar.com.

[Read more →]

Just read an article on MSN Money about selling plasma (and other bodily fluids) for cash. It reminded me a lot of my college days when I was a regular plasma donor.

I used to go to the plasma donating place almost every Friday afternoon. It was a great way to make some fast cash; it only took a little over an hour and they paid $25 every time you donated. Then after I got my $25, I’d walk about 30 yards to the nearest bar and drink lots of $2 Happy Hour pitchers. Was it a good way to spend my plasma money? Probably not. Did I almost pass out from the combination of alcohol and lack of plasma in my blood? Yeah, occasionally. Did I ever lie to any attractive (and naive) girls about the bandage on my arm, saying that it was the result of donating blood for a transfusion for my little brother who had leukemia? All the time.

I miss college.

[Read more →]

Finance Findings is Binary Dollar’s periodic link dump.

• Airlines To Start Charging You Money Per Checked Bag. [My Two Dollars]
• The Perfect Hobby: One That’s Cheap, Makes Money Or Becomes A Business [Digerati Life]
• Tenant Troubles: What Would You Do? [Lazy Man and Money]
• Loaded Up Altria and More Gold [Sun’s Financial Diary]
• The Simple Secret of Investing [Money Smart Life]
• What Is The Worth Of *Net Worth* If It Is Not Usable? [Tao]
• Carefully Choosing When to Buy Propane Could Save You Hundreds of Dollars [Generation X Finance]
• Roth IRA Conversion Limits Going Away [Five Cent Nickel]
• Even more stuff on eBay pricing information [Mighty Bargain Hunter]
• Save Money by Going Back in Time [Free Money Finance]
• Cash, Cheques, or Credit When Traveling Internationally [Blueprint]

Send your submissions for Finance Findings to henry@binarydollar.com.

[Read more →]