11:16 am, 14 Nov 06
billmonk is good software
Friends of mine have occasionally mentioned BillMonk for over a year now, but I finally sat down to settle my debts to my roommate with it last night. I'm pretty pleased with it. It has a sensible and intuitive interface, a hint of DHTML but it's not conspicuous about it, and they seem to have gotten the details right.
Some bits I've liked:
Some bits I've liked:
- When I registered, it included instructions on how to associate my cell phone with my account (one of their usage models is that you can report who paid for dinner directly from the restaurant).
- Someone submitted a debt I owed them via my work address. The "you have been invited" email included a note saying "if you already have an account, here's how to merge this debt/email address into your existing account".
- The EFF loves their privacy policy.
I use GNU Cash for my money balances (transaction journals make so much sense for keeping money), but for those simple debts or restaurants and what not, I love it.
An even better option
Billhighway.com offers a premium platform for shared bills. Catered primarily to college students, clubs, groups, etc. - my roommates and I have been using their APH for Roommates service for alittle over a year. Its great, because it not only lets us keep track of bills, it actually manages the money. As with most college students, money from bills comes from several places, roommates, parents, etc - their system lets us link several accounts and schedule transfers as needed into our "shared" or even individual accounts. We simply pay bills with our pooled money. Another example of a simple tool that just does its job. I also understand they're working on a web 2.0 version to be launched early next year at billhighway.net.