We’ve been pleasantly surprised by the friendships that have developed between Geezeo users. First you’re talking money, and then you’re talking about everything else…!
With that in mind we decided to make it easier for users to get in touch. We’ve affectionately referred to this in-house as the “Gary Ploski” feature set — named after one of our first, and friendliest, users. (For more on Gary, check out his interview!)
Introducing our new Feed and Friend features! Log into your dashboard to see them in action.
To friend someone: Navigate to any Groups or Goals you share with one of your Geezeo friends. Click on your friend’s name to send a request. If they accept you’ll be instantly connected.
Once you’re connected you can share select information. Did you just buy a great pair of shoes (on sale)? Find a deal on an apartment? Or just want to share your latest Money Confession? You control what information you’d like to share with your friends.
Take it for a test drive! You can befriend any of the Geezeo staff, too! Happy friend-ing!
Friday I wondered which cost the Geezeo community more cash - iPhones, or iPods?
One could simply argue that iPhones cost more. This would be true. IPhones initially cost more. Plus, they cost more to “feed” each month thanks to cell phone fees and other subscription charges.
So how much does the Geezeo community spend on items tagged “iPhone”? The lowest spent per month was January, 2008. The average spent was $126.53. The highest month average was the previous month - December, 2007. The average Geezeo user spent $469.07/month. Could this be due to gifts purchased for themselves or others?
Contrast this with the lower-cost iPod. Specific spending habits tagged with the phrase “iPod” had a low of $12.78/month (October, 2007) and a new high of $112.25/month (April, 2008).
But is this the whole story? Probably not. For instance, how much do Geezeo users tag as “music” spending?
I was surprised. Spending was lower than I imagined — an average of $27.72 spent each month on “music”. Of course, the “music” category could represent money spent on either device. What about other digital music players? Surely some Geezeo users prefer other brands. Or maybe they tag their spending “tunes” instead.
Also, what does this say about user-generated tags? Chances are good that items tagged “music” means downloaded music. Live events might be tagged “concert”, “goingOut”, or similar. They probably would be higher averages, too. In order to get a really accurate account you’d have to wrap together multiple personalized tags. What about money spent tagged “Apple”?
Curious about the broad spending habits of others in the Geezeo community? We’ll be featuring more factoids. Remember: we cannot see your specific account. We can only see the frequency of specific, personalized tags.
We’re waiting for the weird ones. If we see something tagged “TomCruise”, we’ll do our own sofa-jumping with statistical joy. Keep personalizing your accounts!
Geezeo members do a lot of talking with one another. Members can be found chatting in Groups, discussing Goals, or sharing secrets in Money Confessions. So, it’s natural we strike up conversations with some of them, too.
Meet one Geezeo user named Eve. You may have seen her on Boston’s Fox 25 discussing how she uses Geezeo. (Missed it? Check it out here). We wanted to know a few more things about Eve in part because she does NOT take advantage of the social aspects of our site. Eve only uses the Geezeo tools on the website. These tools exceed her needs — proof that you can use Geezeo for it’s social (as well as private!) financial functions.
How did you initially find Geezeo?
Geezeo was recommended by a friend.
What are your favorite tools?
I love being able to gather all of my financial information in one place. I use the tags and budgeting. I also use the goals. These tools have allowed me to see progress in sticking with a budget and helped us pay off our credit cards.
Do you belong to any social Groups or Goals? If so, which?
No social groups yet. I have set goals - pay down credit card, control cash flow, reduce incidentals…
How has Geezeo changed your financial life?
Geezeo has changed my “financial marriage”. It has married our two financial personalities. My husband is a numbers, line-by-line guy, and I just want the big picture. Geezeo allows all parties involved oversight of the overall health of our finances. I do not have to go line by line in each of our accounts to know where we stand. This is intuitive and approachable.
Before Geezeo, he was in charge of the finances. Initially, I was happy to let him take on this chore. However, this leaves me in the dark and this created a lot of stress for me. And, leaving him in charge was an unfair burden for my husband. Going to 10 different sites to keep track… he started doing a complete inventory less and less often.
When I - a non numbers gal — put everything onto Geezeo, he thought it was going to be a passing event. But, when he saw everything we have online, in one place and up-to-date - - Who wouldn’t be excited?! Then we had to get honest about our bottom line. This is where budgeting comes in. My husband still pays all the bills. We don’t need two people doing this.
Anything else? Final words?
Geezeo has enabled me to participate in the family finances without pulling my hair out or blowing off an entire weekend figuring it out. We have an accurate picture of our financial health and control of our finances. Now we BOTH have ownership of the process.
Thanks for speaking with us, Eve. I think it’s great that you and your husband can finally monitor all your financial accounts in one place. Thanks for being part of the Geezeo community.
I think Eve is proof that you don’t have to use Geezeo for it’s social aspects. There are tools and resources here under one roof. Use the site in whatever manner you wish — after all, it’s your money!
Longtime Geezeo members have noticed some new changes around here. For starters, what’s up with the ads? Well, friends, we want to keep this site free. Advertisements keep the lights on around here. (We like to think of it as prudent financial management of our business!)
End result? Those little ads keep Geezeo free for you to use. Cool. Click on!
Speaking of ads, we know that our attitude is a lot different than most financial sites. (Thank God!) Our aim here is to offer online tools of real value — while at the same time “keep’n it real” and having some fun. If you like what you see and use at Geezeo, please let others know. We’ve designed a series of banners for you to stick on your website, blog, Facebook page, or anything else.
New things on the horizon: One of our most ambitious additions to the site is the upcoming Geezeo Marketplace. This will allow you to do several things all at once without losing your balance. First, you can openly rank all your existing financial products. (Hate your bank? Luv your credit card?) Finally — you can speak out! Tell everyone exactly what you think. Help others find (or avoid) certain financial products or institutions.
Secondly, Geezeo Marketplace will allow you to shop and compare financial products. You’ll be able to evaluate similar products side-by-side. Add in the collective wisdom from other users — suddenly it’s a lot easier to find exactly what you need for YOUR financial goals.
That’s not all! Order now and you’ll receive-
Actually, that isn’t all that’s coming up. Stay tuned. There are plenty more cool things on the way. As always, we’re keeping everything free for you to use. Thanks for being a part of the Geezeo community!
Today we are very excited to announce that TheStreet.com (TSCM) has made a strategic investment in Geezeo. You can check out the full press release here.
Having TheStreet.com as a strategic partner/investor is hands down the best next step in Geezeo’s evolution. Along with the capital needed to take Geezeo to the next level, our relationship with TheStreet.com will also help us reach millions of new potential users and expand our content offerings in the areas of personal finance and investing
There is so much alignment between Geezeo and TheStreet.com’s properties it’s easy to see why we are so excited for the future of our product. From their flagship site, TheStreet.com that will help strengthen our investment education and tools to the recently launched MainStreet.com “where life and money intersect”. MainStreet.com focuses on life events and takes a light informative approach to helping people address financial situations at different stages in their life. Two other fantastic Street properties that we look forward to aligning with include Stockpickr.com, the social investing site created by author and investor James Altucher and BankingMyWay.com, the nations leader in providing consumers with the largest collection of banking rates online.
We are also fired up to be working with the talented team over at Promotions.com (recently acquired by TheStreet.com). Promotions.com works with many of the world’s largest brands and online publishers to create, build and execute online marketing promotions. We are working very close with their team on a number of initiatives. Check out this recent project they worked on for Verizon and you’ll get an idea of what’s to come.
We are totally confident that we are now partnered with the absolute best company to help us gain exposure, enhance content, and make Geezeo the very best free personal finance management site on the web.
Okay: we’re biased. We think Geezeo is the strongest tool you can use to reach your version of financial success — and best of all, it’s free, too!
Want proof? Here are some recent improvements to the Geezeo homepage:
Goodbye, piggies! We loved our pig mascots “Frank” and “Beans”. But we thought you’d appreciate seeing new content and all the action on the site. Find popular goals,active groups, or recent Money Confessions. Use each of these features to target your spending, investing, and saving. And hold yourself “accountable” to the larger group.
Hello, Money Motion! This is a new feature that gives you an insider’s look into spending trends across the Geezeo community. Why should you care? You can view how others manage their money and consider spending adjustments of your own. Three categories open now are Coffee Wars, Retail Madness, and Pump-o-licious (if you have to ask what that is, check it out here…)
As always, you can also find our FAQs, latest News, or an in-depth explanation of Geezeo’s Security features.
Remember, Geezeo is your free financial tool — and the home page is just the beginning!
Financial success can be a variety of different things for different people. It could mean managing your income in order to take care of your needs. It could also mean having enough to pay for reasonable wants and/or save for goals.
One thing to remember tho is that financial success is not an accident, and it will not happen overnight!
In order to gain financial success, you need to have a plan. This plan, though, does not have to be complicated, high tech, or require the help of a professional.
Just like the definition of financial success, a good plan can include a variety of things.
Your plan could include ways to:
~live within your income
~save money for emergencies
~pay your bills on time
Obtaining financial success is a journey, and your financial plan will act as your road map. Just as you make choices in preparing for your trip, you also have choices to make in developing your successful financial plan.
A good place to start in making a financial plan is to get advice from those in similar situations. This way you can see what did - and what didn’t - work for them. Check out It’s Time To Budget and Personal Financial Tips. Get and give advice in the group sections so that everyone can define and achieve financial success for themselves.
What can a community of like-minded people do for your finances? How does Geezeo help you “get a grip” on your money? Geezeo user Andrew Young asked, and posted the results on his blog. But who is Andy?
Andy is a student at University of Dubuque. He’s a double major in Flight Operations and Aviation Management. His interest in trading stock lead him to Zecco.com, and eventually Geezeo. Congrats, Andy, for getting a grip on your personal finances early in life!
Says Andy of using Geezeo: “What I like the most, my life is just a little more simple now that I can have all of my financial stuff in one place.” Cool. That’s one of our favorite parts, too.
Thanks for your interest in writing for Geezeo! We love to hear different points of view from members of our community. Before submitting an article to Geezeo, please take a moment to peruse some of the entries posted here (http://blog.geezeo.com) to get a feel for the writing style. At the moment we are not paying for articles; this is just a way for our members to discuss various financial topics outside their smaller, individual Geezeo Groups.
Please use the following as a checklist before submitting your piece:
1. Blog articles should be a maximum of 700 words. If you can tell your story in fewer words, please do! (Please do a word count before submitting if you are unsure.)
2. Blog articles are to be written in first person, leaning heavily toward op-ed style with a thesis and supporting arguments. Any relevant or referenced links should be embedded. The article can be short, long, funny, topical … anything goes, but be sure to clearly communicate the purpose of your submission. Be BOLD in your writing style and share your point of view. We love humor!
3. The purpose of the blog is to share a meaningful point of view about money in your life that will open the minds of the readers; it is not for self-promotion or business promotion.
4. Blog articles should be submitted by copying and pasting into the body of an email. NO ATTACHMENTS WILL BE CONSIDERED OR READ.
5. List the following information at the top of your blog article: name, website, e-mail, Geezeo Group.
Blog articles will be selected for best content, cohesive writing with a strong point of view, and adherence to the guidelines noted above. Once an article is selected, an introduction is written by Katie McCaskey, our editor-in-chief. Send your submissions to Katie via Geezeo mail (you’ll need to create a Geezeo account to access, then click on Katie’s profile to email her).
Mixing money and politics? It’s not always an easy discussion. That’s why we love our Groups because you can find others who share your views and can help you achieve your Goals.
I’ll leave you today with this inspiring video from MY candidate of choice, Barack Obama!
