Money In the News: 11 New Tools For Your Money

CNN Money just posted a new list of 11 new tools to help you manage your money.  I swear the first one is an idea I had last year when I got frustrated with the dollar balances on a few gift cards I had in my wallet.  A service that lets me consolidate them to pay bills?  I hope it is as good as it sounds 🙂

The Good:

1. Charge Smart – Pay bills with gift cards
2. Bill Float – Float a bill payment that you don’t have the money to pay, for an annual interest rate (seems like a good idea, but I am not a fan of programs that could potentially put you in further debt)
3. PayDivvy – A service that lets you divvy up various bills with friends or room-mates.  It even sends out reminders for everyone and is a free service.
4. ID Analytics – Alerts you of identity theft in real time via e-mail or text.  May help you prevent the transaction from going through.
5. enloop – If you have an idea or concept that you aren’t sure whether it will be successful or not, this tool creates a business plan and prediction for the success of your venture.
6. Money Messenger – Paypal is launching a new project that lets you send money to someone with just their e-mail address or phone number.
7. BancVue MoneyIsland – A website “game” that teaches children about money and parents/teachers can track the child’s progress.  I’m all about anything that teaches children and teenagers about handling money wisely.
8. Debt Coach – A service that will pull credit reports, organize debts, and create a plan of action for eliminating debt.
9. Clovr, Edo, and Bankon – Three free services that automatically let you swipe discounts onto your account with them or your own bank account.

The Questionable

1. EyeLock – I really don’t understand why this was added to the list of tools for money.  It’s a paid scanner that scans your eye in order to log you in to various services.  I don’t think I want to scan my eyeballs anytime soon.
2. Balance Financial – A service that pairs you with a bookkeeper from a network of screened professionals.  Again I am not sure why this service is in a list of tools for your money.  Paying someone to handle your personal budget seems a bit excessive, but perhaps this service is useful for businesses.

Visit CNN Money to see more information on these programs and companies.