by Adhvith Dhuddu, Collegiate Times Regular Columnist
Wednesday, September 18th, 2007
Lisa owes me $14 for groceries. Pay electricity and rent by Oct. 5. Split the $24 pizza bill by three and collect money. Pay Shaun $45 for books.Is this how the back of your notebook looks? Or maybe your refrigerator has sticky yellow notes all over with these reminders. It is unavoidable that in a cohabitating situation you will have financial entanglements, but there is a much better way to manage finances between your friends and roommates.
One solution lies in a Web site, www.buxfer.com, developed by two graduate students in California. Short for "Bucks Transfer," this Web site was developed specifically to alleviate the confusions faced by students in sorting out money issues amongst friends and roommates. This online resource essentially helps you track where you spent your money, who owes you money, how you should split bills, when you should pay your bills and many more things. It also analyzes all these aspects and has incredible pictorial and graphical representations of the same.
Besides being tremendously user-friendly, the Web site is simple and straightforward to use." We have tried to keep the site very simple and devoid of any financial jargon," said Ashwin Bharambe, one of the Web site's co-founders. Created by students for the students, you can navigate the Web site effortlessly, and understanding the workings of the Web site is extremely easy.
The application's versatility can be felt from the beginning. You don't even need to create an account and can log in with your Google, Yahoo!, Facebook or AIM accounts to use Buxfer. The straightforward interface immediately allows you to add a new transaction for both individual and shared accounts.
There are also features allowing users to invite friends and colleagues to share an expense, remind them of a payment, etc., and also keep track of all your transactions. Buxfer's direct link to Amazon payments makes it easier to settle debts between friends.
The Web site even has excellent mobile support. You can interact with Buxfer using SMS text messages, twitter or the mobile optimized http://m.buxfer.com/. This keeps you informed of your on-the-go cash expenses, which are very easy to miss out on.
Another great feature Buxfer boasts is the real-time budget alert system to help you be more prudent.Using this you can set up budgets in order to control your expenses, helping you make an informed decision when you are out in an electronics store trying to quench your compulsive shopping desire.
It's important to learn the significance of budgets, and budgeting early on in life. Using tools like these, you can devise lenient spending plans and prevent yourself from getting shocked when you see the bank statement at the month's end. People may think they're being confined by using budgets, but spending money prudently is vital to being financially successful. Remember, wealth is accumulated; it's not produced overnight.
Like most personal finance management (PFMs) applications, you can also import bank and credit card statements to your Buxfer account. This could make Buxfer a one-stop-shop to manage all your money matters, be it saving, expenditure or budgeting.
To top it all off, Buxfer has an application on Facebook itself. By adding this widget on to your Facebook homepage, inviting friends to share expenses and making timely payments becomes even easier. The founders stressed the importance of this essential appeal to a younger audience they would attract by having a Facebook application.
"One of the important benefits of Buxfer is that it removes the guilt out of friendly borrowing. It also makes finances transparent and as a result, removes money as a source of arguments between friends," Bharambe said. As students, this is a great tool to use to simplify our financial worries and better manage our money. Spending a few minutes analyzing and planning our expenses could help in the long run.
Next week, read about critical issues currently facing the U.S. economy and how they affect our lives here in Blacksburg.
Wednesday, September 18th, 2007
Lisa owes me $14 for groceries. Pay electricity and rent by Oct. 5. Split the $24 pizza bill by three and collect money. Pay Shaun $45 for books.Is this how the back of your notebook looks? Or maybe your refrigerator has sticky yellow notes all over with these reminders. It is unavoidable that in a cohabitating situation you will have financial entanglements, but there is a much better way to manage finances between your friends and roommates.
One solution lies in a Web site, www.buxfer.com, developed by two graduate students in California. Short for "Bucks Transfer," this Web site was developed specifically to alleviate the confusions faced by students in sorting out money issues amongst friends and roommates. This online resource essentially helps you track where you spent your money, who owes you money, how you should split bills, when you should pay your bills and many more things. It also analyzes all these aspects and has incredible pictorial and graphical representations of the same.
Besides being tremendously user-friendly, the Web site is simple and straightforward to use." We have tried to keep the site very simple and devoid of any financial jargon," said Ashwin Bharambe, one of the Web site's co-founders. Created by students for the students, you can navigate the Web site effortlessly, and understanding the workings of the Web site is extremely easy.
The application's versatility can be felt from the beginning. You don't even need to create an account and can log in with your Google, Yahoo!, Facebook or AIM accounts to use Buxfer. The straightforward interface immediately allows you to add a new transaction for both individual and shared accounts.
There are also features allowing users to invite friends and colleagues to share an expense, remind them of a payment, etc., and also keep track of all your transactions. Buxfer's direct link to Amazon payments makes it easier to settle debts between friends.
The Web site even has excellent mobile support. You can interact with Buxfer using SMS text messages, twitter or the mobile optimized http://m.buxfer.com/. This keeps you informed of your on-the-go cash expenses, which are very easy to miss out on.
Another great feature Buxfer boasts is the real-time budget alert system to help you be more prudent.Using this you can set up budgets in order to control your expenses, helping you make an informed decision when you are out in an electronics store trying to quench your compulsive shopping desire.
It's important to learn the significance of budgets, and budgeting early on in life. Using tools like these, you can devise lenient spending plans and prevent yourself from getting shocked when you see the bank statement at the month's end. People may think they're being confined by using budgets, but spending money prudently is vital to being financially successful. Remember, wealth is accumulated; it's not produced overnight.
Like most personal finance management (PFMs) applications, you can also import bank and credit card statements to your Buxfer account. This could make Buxfer a one-stop-shop to manage all your money matters, be it saving, expenditure or budgeting.
To top it all off, Buxfer has an application on Facebook itself. By adding this widget on to your Facebook homepage, inviting friends to share expenses and making timely payments becomes even easier. The founders stressed the importance of this essential appeal to a younger audience they would attract by having a Facebook application.
"One of the important benefits of Buxfer is that it removes the guilt out of friendly borrowing. It also makes finances transparent and as a result, removes money as a source of arguments between friends," Bharambe said. As students, this is a great tool to use to simplify our financial worries and better manage our money. Spending a few minutes analyzing and planning our expenses could help in the long run.
Next week, read about critical issues currently facing the U.S. economy and how they affect our lives here in Blacksburg.
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