Wesabe


 * [|Wesabe]** is a social-networking finance site which helps members track their money. In addition to tracking finances the site provides members the opportunity to share tips and ideas on money management. Wesabe provides consolidation of financial account information by allowing members to upload and manage up to 12 bank accounts. Members are encouraged to identify saving and spending goals, then they share their knowledge about businesses and institutions.

=What's cool about it?=

A key feature of Wesabe is the tagging of expenses. This appears to be a robust tagging system, allowing the user to change the bank's mumbo jumbo into an intelligent tag. The tag then provides the user the ability to sort, catgorize, analyze and receive information from other members about the merchant or spending category. To see a demonstration of tagging [|click here].

Another neat feature is the way Wesabe matches the places the members shop with advice from the Wesabe community. The community offers ideas on ways to improve spending habits or saving. This saves the members a lot of time in reducing the amount of surfing necessary to complete spending and consumer reseach.

=How easy is it to use?=

Well, based on how quickly I've navigated around the site, I would say this is pretty easy to use. I'll qualify this statment by noting I did not download any financial accounts.

=What does it cost?=

Wesabe membership is free. Registered users are allowed to upload and manage up to 12 bank and credit card accounts. The community features are all available at no cost. Wesabe is planning to introduce "Pro memberships" in the future which will offer extended features, however the free membership will still be available.

=Stengths=


 * Ease of use
 * Tagging which allows the users to analyze their spending and receive specific feedback from the community.
 * Consolidation of financial information.
 * Non-affiliation with any financial institution or business which maintains the site's objectivity.

=Limitations=

Privacy may be a concern to some users. Wesabe stresses their security measures are in place, however I am still hesitant to place my financial records on a third-party site.