Do You Owe Me Money?
Evan Xu knows how money issues can ruin roommate situations. When Xu was a freshman at the University of Washington, his friend got into a roommate dispute over money for a fridge. The dispute dragged on for years, as the roommate dragged his feet, claimed he didn't have the $500 to pay him back, then disappeared during their sophomore year. Finally, Xu's friend got reimbursed right before graduation nearly four years later!
Whether you're owed $5 or $500, asking friends and roommates to pay you back for rent and restaurant tabs can be a major drag. You don't want to nag, but you need that money for textbooks and other expenses. Now you're starting to wonder if you'll ever see those crisp Benjamins again, because your friend claims he already paid you back. Luckily, there are a few new websites that make it easier to keep track of what you owe and who owes you what. Meet Buxfer.com and BillMonk.com.
Three grad students at Carnegie Mellon created Buxfer to track expenses amongst themselves without accumulating large scraps of Post-Its and papers. They quickly realized its potential to help college students and professionals around the world, so they launched Buxfer.com three years ago. Now the free site tracks over $10 million in transactions, and 60 percent of Buxfer's users are college students.
Buxfer.com allows you to log in using your existing account with AOL, Google, Yahoo!, or Facebook. Alternatively, you can create a separate Buxfer account. Once logged in, set up groups to divide expenses evenly (or manually if people owe different amounts), track expenses using easy to read color charts, and create automatic transactions for monthly expenses like rent and utilities. When someone owes you money, Buxfer will notify them via email so you don't have to leave an annoying note on their dry erase board or a Post-It in the fridge. Tags for each transaction make it easy to search your account history and sort transactions to see where all your hard-earned money is going.
Another free money management site, BillMonk.com , allows you to track who owes you money and also who's borrowing your CDs, DVDs, books, and so on. Like Buxfer, it will do the math for you, if say, you pay the rent, but your roommate lends you money for dinner and cab fare. You can also auto-split bills and set up regular transactions for rent or utilities. As an added benefit, BillMonk also interfaces with Amazon.com (the two founders are former Amazon software engineers) so that you can electronically keep track of all your books, movies, and music. Then download an inventory list to back-up the data.
BillMonk has a short, easy to understand privacy policy, and the site is available in seven languages. Obopay recently purchased BillMonk, allowing users to settle debts instantly using mobile phone technology.
So which site should you use to manage your money? That depends... If you're concerned about keeping track of money and possessions, then BillMonk lets you catalogue your entire DVD and book collection, as well as pay bills via cell phone. If you're more focused on money management and budgeting, then Buxfer's color charts make it simple. You see can how much you're spending each month on entertainment, food, rent and so on to figure out where your budgetary black holes are.
Of course, if you're really struggling to stick to a budget or just want help tracking your expenses, then you might try out Mvelopes.com. This online budgeting system offers a free 30-day trial, and membership prices start at under $8 per month after that. Named one of PC World's Best Products of 2006, Mvelopes builds on the classic concept of putting your take-home pay into envelopes labeled "food" or "savings" and adapts it for the 21st century. Sync your virtual envelopes with your online bank account and allot funds for utilities, groceries, and more. The comprehensive list of categories ranges from "clothing" to "car expenses." (However, Mvelopes is missing a category for "rent," so students and other renters have to use the "mortgage" envelope instead.)
Once you've divvied up your dollars, Mvelopes will automatically track how much money is left in each category, so you don't have to enter the information manually like a traditional spreadsheet program. Also unlike a spreadsheet, Mvelopes allows you to access your account information anywhere using an Internet-enabled cell phone or computer. You can also pay bills online and calculate your net worth. Mvelope's video tutorials walk you through all the steps so that users of all levels can effectively manage their money.
With so many online options for tracking loans and expenses, students like Evan Xu and his friends have plenty of ways to keep their lending and spending in check.
© 2008, Young Money Media, LLC. All rights reserved.
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This article is very interesting not beacuse it talks about young people but because the information is GREAT! I wouldve never guess that these kind of site even exsist. I do plan to attend college so I will most likely be visiting the sites listed. Andrea Bean,
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