The New Rules of Personal Finance: Put it Out There For The World To See

Many members of Generation Y are no longer as hesitant as their Baby Boomer parents to discuss personal finance in public forums. From social networking sites with a personal finance bent to the abundance of personal finance blogs on the web, talking money isn’t in bad taste with 20-somethings. The Washington Post discussed this topic in the article: Wanna Talk Money?
With the bottom falling out on shady home loan practices and the ensuing credit crunch, budgeting and managing debt are more important than ever. Here are just a few of the money management and investing websites that are out there:

Mint.com "is fresh, intelligent online money management. Not only is Mint free, it saves you money. Mint is virtually effortless. In addition, Mint goes beyond visibility and analysis providing personalized money–saving and money–making suggestions. Plus, Mint is proactive—alerting you when you are exceeding your personal budget, have a low balance, need to pay a bill, and more. Mint is safe and secure and provide bank–level data security." Check out their website for more information: http://www.mint.com/.

Networth IQ "was inspired by the personal finance bloggers who feel liberated enough to share their net worth with the world, and the wonderful sharing sites (Flickr, 43things, del.icio.us, upcoming.org), NetworthIQ was conceived as a place where people can track, share and compare their financial status. We like to think of it as a social personal finance tool." Check out their website for more information: http://www.networthiq.com/.

Geezeo "helps people make "Educated Financial Decisions." The team at Geezeo believes that cutting edge financial tools and services don't need to come with a high price tag. Geezeo is a free web-based personal finance application that makes it easy to track all your finances, see where all your money is going, set financial goals and learn from others." Check out their website for more information: http://www.geezeo.com/.

Wesabe "is an online community of real people just like you, with real financial goals and concerns." Check out their website for more information: http://www.wesabe.com/.

Covestor is "a real-trade sharing service for proven self-investors. To share your real investment decisions, gain recognition and earn fees by helping others. All data is private, normalized and anonymous, and membership is free. Check out their website for more information: http://www.covestor.com/.

I am a Mint.com and Networth IQ user and find both of these sites helpful in tracking my spending and to see my progress in turning my networth from negative to positive (those darn student loans...). All of these sites are good for people who don't want to spend hours poring over numbers on spreadsheets and to also share their personal finance experiences with others. PF for the younger generations these days are all about accountability and no one can hold you accountable better than your peers, so get your social networking on and track your money at the same time. Social networking isn't relegated to just Facebook and Myspace any more...