Open Source Banking, Social networks

Wesabe – brief review of their ‘goals’ and ‘tips’ section

I am trying to keep up with evolution of social aspects of sites, and in particular financial one, so I spent a little while looking around Wesabe again today. 

The social aspect is designed around goals and tips. 

Goals

You can create your own goal, or you can read others goals, and search for one that matches what you seek.  These are the most popular goals.

What immediately struck me is the normal, and quite predictable nature of these goals.  People are genuinely seeking advice from others who have been there, or still there, and working through it.  Its interesting too that the #6 goal is “make Wesabe better”.  Its also the most active with 84 discussions going on.

Popular Goals

goal badge  Pay Off My Credit Cards (508 people, 18 discussions, 1 tip)

goal badge  Create Emergency Fund (377 people, 4 discussions, 19 tips)

goal badge  Lower Spending (310 people, 4 discussions, 3 tips)

goal badge  Buy A Bigger House (211 people, 7 discussions, 19 tips)

goal badge  Stop Paying Late Fees, Overlimit Fees, Nonsufficient Funds Fees, ATM Fees, And Any Other Fees I Can Find! (130 people, 11 discussions, 14 tips)

goal badge  Make Wesabe Better (124 people, 84 discussions, 2 tips)

goal badge  Spend Money With Green Values In Mind (108 people, 15 discussions, 8 tips)

goal badge  Contribute To My IRA (96 people, 2 discussions, 17 tips)

goal badge  Buy A MacBook (72 people, 7 discussions, 4 tips)

goal badge  Don’t Panic About Money (69 people, 1 discussion, 12 tips)

 

Tips

The tip section is quite active, and people make longer posts here, explaining their tips.  The discussion seems more active than the financial goals section, and there is something there for everyone, with enough conversation on each to decide if its relevant for you.

Most of the tips have a financial or budget component associated with them. 

Most Popular Tips

Active Discussions

2  Save on long distance with VoIP by someoneelse

4  Save your Bed, Bath & Beyond coupons by Muggle Galleons

2  Avoid the “Soda tax” by Me and I

3  Free MyAccess Checking a BoA not so free by MattKo

2  Stay away from restaurants! At least fast food… by Amadeo

2  Buy Spices Online by gnubbs

2  Get a free credit report every four months by Muggle Galleons

0  Rent from Greencine instead of Netflix by someoneelse

1  Sneaky trick for cheaper electronics by Dragon Maze

1  Buy (Trader Joe’s) natural cleaners. Save money. Save the world. by jay.laney

 

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5 thoughts on “Wesabe – brief review of their ‘goals’ and ‘tips’ section”

  1. I’m also really fascinated by Wesabe, and how “The Wisdom of Crowds” can apply to how people manage their money. It was really useful to compare (for example) what I was paying for cable vs others in my zip code.

  2. Thanks for that Ed. I don’t have access to that part of the site yet, although I note I can do that now (Canadian Banks are included now), and will follow up on that. This is a key component of their model.

  3. I too have been following Wesabe with interest… I think they need to be cleverer about bill itemisation — I have a bunch of South West Trains ticket purchases, but it sees them as unique entities and it’ll never be able to get any kind of collective view.

  5. Julian,

    Colin is right, this is very useful feedback. It would be a great help if you could email jason@wesabe.com and give a little more detail about the problem you are having. It sounds like we aren’t matching the merchant, but I’d also like to know if the tags aren’t being applied properly.

    We’d be interested in any other feedback you have – what works and what doesn’t. Help and feedback from people like you is what makes the product better.

    Ed, I’m happy to hear the service is working for you…when people ask I’ll say you are a fan 🙂

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