The Geezeo community loves iPhones. But what about this huge cost?

The end of the movie Back to the Future we get a glimpse of a future where cars are run on biofuels and french fry grease. A place where hovering skateboards are the norm. And a future that takes a lot of design and fashion cues from the 1980s…

Still: you never see the characters talk about money except for one scene. That’s when Marty, played by Micheal J. Fox, is back in time. He pays for a coffee, and is amazed it’s sooo inexpensive. (Inflation: it will get us all!)

But let’s get back to the present. How should we deal with those old fogies who insist on paper checks? I for one don’t use checks — why should I pay postage to send a piece of paper when I can do it faster and more securely by sending it electronically?

Here’s the device I propose for Banking to the Future. It’s for times when you don’t have cash on you and need to pay your buddy. I confess: I haven’t put a patent on it yet so it’s wide open for you to cash in on…!

I propose a hand-held device called the “Marty-Meter” (after Marty in Back to the Future). Instead of giving each other cash (or worse, a check!), you just point your personal Marty-Meter’s laser at the other person’s Marty-Meter and Shhazzaam! Your cup of coffee or portion of the tab, or whatever, is sent directly to the other person’s account.

Like I said, I haven’t gotten around to the patents yet. But banking future, here we come!

In the meantime the next best portable banking is “Geezeo on the Go”. It’s another part of our service to you. Simply register your cell phone. Then you can check all your bank balances in one place, wherever you carry your cell phone.

That’s pretty futuristic, Marty.

Land line telephones used to be the number one thing that Americans would have a hard time giving up. However, times change, and people are becomming more dependant on their cell phones, with that becoming #1 instead.

And why would they want to give it up? Now-a-days, you can do pretty much anything you can think of with your cell phone - play games, take pictures, pay bills, text your friends…

Take Geezeo for example. Did you know, you can register your cell phone under your settings page and then all you have to do is text “Geezeo” to 41411 to recieve your account balances anytime you want, even if you aren’t near your computer?

Talk about easy money management!

Should you buy that cute outfit? After all, it is on sale! Or will that max out yet another credit card?

Can you afford that round of drinks? It is your best friends engagement, and you feel like you should… But what about the overdraft fees you will incur?

If our cell phones are capable of these great amenities, then why not use them to our advantage! Take control today, the Geezeo way!

Just a reminder about a really cool feature Geezeo has when it comes to managing a budget. Did you know that you can use your mobile phone to check your budget progress by sending your Geezeo account a quick text message? Oh yea…it’s cool. Simple register your mobile phone (if you haven’t already) with Geezeo. Once you’re cell is activated you can text the word “Geezeo” plus your budget/spending target item to 41411. For example, if you want to see how much money you have left to spend this month on Coffee, text “Geezeo coffee” to 41411 for an immediate update.

Know on the go!! and keep the Geez in your pocket!

Is there any alternative to Quicken? Quicken Online does just about everything Geezeo does with one key exception. Quicken charges you money to manage your money!

Why choose Geezeo, the Quicken Online alternative?

Well, for starters we share most of the features Quicken Online offers, but without fees:

A dashboard where you can see all your financial data from a number of different banking institutions.
Budgeting tools to effortlessly see where your money goes
Mobile phone TXT/SMS messaging to track your accounts using your cell phone
Like Quicken we’ve got robust and formidable security and privacy guards. In fact, we use CashEdge, the same security used by top financial institutions worldwide.

But wait — there are more reasons we’re the Quicken alternative.

Here at Geezeo we also have a bunch of cool stuff that Quicken doesn’t:

Money Confessions… where you can take a peek at how others handle their money
Groups… so you can find and connect with other people who share your interests or background. Your money is always private and secure but you can personalize a Geezeo profile to interact with others (here’s an example of my Geezeo profile).
Goals… so you can track your financial goals and be held “accountable” in a supportive environment
Peer Reviews…so you can voice your opinion on every financial product you use
Facebook integration… so you can share your financial and philanthropic goals with others
Or write our resident cranky expert, D.Expert, for personalized Dear Abby-like advice on your specific financial situation (if you’re brave enough!)
Don’t forget to check out the Geezeo buzz, too!

Finally, you’ve also got instant access to our entire team, including the co-founders! You have questions or suggestions? Hit us! (We’re guessing Quicken isn’t too quick to talk directly to you).

Is there a Quicken alternative? Yes — you’ve found it with Geezeo!

Joe knows budgets!

Quicken Online set up a facebook group asking what is everyone’s biggest financial challenge: (read Joe’s comment below):

Joe, Geezeo is for you. If Joe used Geezeo he could text “Geezeo Entertainment” and know exactly how much he has left in his Entertainment budget. Here’s a sample Geezeo budget with a real time text to “Clothes”:

So if you know Joe, let him know that Geezeo is here for him.

Geezeo Money Confessions

Ever make a bad financial decision? Want to get it off your chest? Check out Geezeo Money Confessions. A fun new feature that allows you to post money related confessions publicly or anonymously.

Simply log into your Geezeo account and you’ll notice a new box on the right side where you can post your confessions. Select to broadcast your confession either publicly or anonymously.

As an added feature we have also integrated Geezeo Money Confessions with Twitter. You’ll be able to post your public confessions to your personal Twitter Profile allowing you to share your posts with people following your twits. Anonymous confessions will automatically be posted to twitter.com/moneyconfession which should be a fun profile to watch.

Check your budget from your mobile phone!

Hopefully confessing your less then perfect financial choices will make you feel a little better. And just when you think you’ve made the biggest bonehead financial decision, we’re willing to bet that someone else has made one a little bit bigger.

Now in an effort to absolve you from your financial sins, we have also launched a new feature today that makes it easy to check how much money you have left in a specific budget category using text/sms on your mobile phone.

If you have set up some monthly spending targets for transactions like “food”, “clothes”, “gas”, etc. you can now simply text “Geezeo” plus the category you want an update on. For example, lets say you want to know how much you have left in your Clothes Budget, simply text “Geezeo Clothes” to 41411 and Geezeo will text you back with your progress and available money to spend in this category. Just our way of making it easier for you to stay closer to your money, your financial goals and monthly progress.

There are also Geezeo Goals and Groups to jump into. Create or join a good discussion with some of your peers that might be able to help you stay on the right track. There’s strength in numbers!

We hope you enjoy these new features! As always…more good stuff to come.

Thanks for using Geezeo!

The Geezeo Team

Thought we’d jump on the June 29th hype

53 Billion dollars. That is how much US financial service firms are expecting to rake in in overdraft fees this year. Repeat that number - 53 Billion dollars!

Why? 80% of consumers purchase items with a debit card that is linked to a checking or savings account. Unfortunately very few of us actually balance a check book or account for debit transactions.

What can be done? We are proud to launch Geezeo mobile which aims to put an end to overdraft fees.

The biggest problem is we typically do not have access to our accounts when we need them most - when we are out on a shopping spree or out for a big night on the town. Being that we are all eternal optimists we will gingerly hand our debit or credit cards over to a cashier… wait anxiously… and if the cashier accepts it… Yahoo! - we feel we are free and clear. There MUST have been enough money in the account. Unfortunately, the next day comes in - and bam… overdraft fees… for 3 different charges… $100 in fees down the drain.

With our free service you can send a text message to your Geezeo account and check ALL your financial account balances -in real-time- before you buy. BAM! no more overdraft fees. Only buy what you can afford and only use the cards and accounts that have enough money to cover it.

Sounds simple, huh?