"Online Financial tools can help manage money"

Ever wish for a financial adviser you could consult anytime, day or night, for an up to date picture of your finances, along with a pointer or two on how to improve them? Oh, and since money's tight nowadays, could you make it free, to boot? Well thanks to the Internet, such help is available or at least an automated, digital version of it. Online personal finance tools are rapidly gaining popularity as a way for the wired generation to keep track of their money. As cash usage declines and debit card spending increases, having a tool that brings all this data together can be incredibly useful. The principle players in this brand spankin' new genre Geezeo.com, Mint.com and Wesabe.com all operate in roughly the same way. Users create a secured account and then enter their online banking usernames and passwords, which the Web sites use to access a feed of information from their financial institutions. The sites then sift through this information to give users a real-time picture of their account balances, financial activity and categories they're spending in.

Here's a Perfect Scenario:

You go out to eat on Friday night. You order $15 worth of cheeseburgers, fries and beer and pay for it with a debit card. The next time you log onto your online finance tool, it downloads your new account balance, notes your $15 transaction and classifies it under "food & dining." Then, depending on the site you use and the settings you choose, it might scold you for going over your food budget for the month, offer advice from other members on how to save money when eating out, or display a pie chart showing what percentage of your income went to food during the last year. Users can set up automated budgets that notify them when they've overspent on one category, or overall. They can create e-mail alerts to let them know what's going on in their accounts. In short, these Web sites offer a powerful, free set of tools to help you see how your spending (and saving) patterns contribute to your overall financial picture.