One Money Design

Unbeknownst to some there is a new personal finance coach in town and his name is Web 2.0.  Web 2.0 you say?  Yep, that’s right.  Well, Web 2.0 has been around a few years, but maybe you haven’t quite thought about the use of Web 2.0 technologies in this way. 

With the plethora of Web 2.0 technology, people can now readily find new avenues to help them get on the path to financial freedom and learn about and thrive in personal finance. 

What is Web 2.0?  If you Google “Web 2.0” the first result is a definition provided by Wikipedia. 

“Web 2.0” refers to the second generation of web development and web design that facilitates information sharing, interoperability, user-centered design and collaboration on the World Wide Web. The advent of Web 2.0 led to the development and evolution of web-based communities, hosted services, and web applications. Examples include social-networking sites, video-sharing sites, wikis, blogs, mashups and folksonomies.

The key words to pay attention to in this definition are:  information sharing, collaboration and communities.  Web 2.0 technologies bring people together on technology platforms in which they can share information about topics of mutual interest, collaborate on ideas or problem solving, and join groups of like minded people in order to participate in discussions.

So where does Web 2.0 and personal finance intersect?  Probably one of the most commonly discussed topics is with transactional based personal finance software applications for budgeting, bill paying etc. Yes, there are many Web 2.0 personal finance software services emerging, but that’s not the purpose of this article.  Rather, I’d like to point out the value new personal finance information and collaboration tools bring to people interested in and needing help in the area personal finance.

In other words, I’m talking about the online coaching and counsel one can receive through these tools.  In the early beginnings of this blog, One Money Design, my perspective was greatly broadened to see how information sharing and coaching is taking place within many common Web 2.0 services such as blogging, tweeting (via Twitter), Really Simple Syndication feeds (RSS) podcasting and more.

I’m not suggesting technology has replaced the job of the financial counselor who can get into the details of one’s financial situation and help dissect problems and provide sound counsel, but these new tools simply enhance the learning experience and help people become much more financially astute. 

Up until Web 2.0, there were a few ways to seek guidance in making personal finance decisions.  For instance, if you needed help to determine which debt to pay first or whether or not you should pay cash for a car or finance a new one you might have  considered the following options:

• Talk to your wife’s best friend’s husband who just had to make the same decision.
• Seek the advice of a trained financial counselor.
• Purchase and read a personal finance book or magazine.
• Look at a content based personal finance website.

Today, Web 2.0 tools offer more options.  What are these technologies and which ones am I leveraging today?  To get started, I’ve provided a brief overview for the web 2.0 beginner for just a few of the well known tools. 

Personal Finance Blogs

A blog in basic terms is a weblog of content, ideas and opinions of the blogger.  In my mind there are two key benefits to blogs such as One Money Design. 

First, there is the content.  You can find content on a blog related to personal finance from the experience of family CFO’s, counselors, financial planners and more.  Most of the popular personal finance gurus such as Dave Ramsey have their own blog. 

Blogs can be great resource for learning.  They can provide a wide variety of personal finance information and content that can help you accelerate your journey to financial freedom.

The second great thing about blogs and possibly the most powerful is the commenting features.  Commenting brings people together and creates the discussion and community aspect of blogging.  The comments in posts are discussions readers and the blogger can have with each other related to the subject matter of the posts.  Many people are getting sound financial advice from these discussions that can help them get answers to their questions and get beyond their obstacles.

You do have to be careful and be a good judge of the content because sometimes, as with any web content, it might be inaccurate.  However, I think the best way to minimize this risk, in my opinion, is to find a Biblically based personal finance blog, such as One Money Design and also by following multiple bloggers.  I think following more than 10 can be difficult, but not impossible, especially with this next tool I’m about to discuss.

Personal Finance Really Simple Syndication (RSS)

If I’m going to mention blogs as a great Web 2.0 tool, I need to mention Really Simple Syndication (RSS) which is actually really simple!  Think about all of these content sources on the internet today.  There are millions.  I just did a Google search on “personal finance” and over 99,000,000 results are produced.

RSS allows you to bring many favorite sources of content together into one platform for viewing.  You can quickly catch the headlines or see the latest posts from your favorite bloggers.  Check out a portion of my Google home page that includes several bloggers I’ve come to follow and submit guest posts. 

How do you get an RSS feed?  Most blog sites will have a way for you to subscribe and add the feed to your Google or Yahoo home page.  Look for something similar to the below RSS subscribe link for One Money Design.  The icon is universal for RSS feeds.

 Subscribe to One Money Design via RSS

 Personal Finance Podcasts

Podcasts are a simply a digital media file which can be played back on a mobile device or computer.  They are a great way to listen to your favorite personal finance show based on your own time schedule.

I currently listen to two popular podcasts that have provided great counsel for me.  I recommend downloading and listening to both the Dave Ramsey Show and Money Life by Crown Financial Ministries.

Personal Finance Tweeting on Twitter

You may have heard of Twitter where people are constantly updating their followers about what they’re doing in everyday life.  I honestly hadn’t gotten into tweeting and following others on Twitter until I started One Money Design.  What I found out was that many personal finance bloggers are also tweeting about personal finance. 

Most of us bloggers are spending time throughout the week in the blogging community reading what others have to say about personal finance and joining in on the conversations.  When bloggers come across articles that stand out, or important news, you’ll usually see a tweet about it.  The point is that most bloggers provide a way to subscribe and follow them via Twitter on their blog home page. 

Twitter can be an excellent way to get top content delivered to you via a tweet.  It’s kind of like a daily magazine subscription.

Personal Finance Buzz

You may have heard about Digg which is a web 2.0 tool you can use to vote or Digg content you read on the internet.  Digg has content from A to Z.  The most popular content on the internet is at the top of the list for each category.

A great alternative to Digg that is focused solely on personal finance is PF Buzz.   Most personal finance bloggers I’ve come across are posting their best content on PF Buzz for others to read about and “buzz” if liked.  PF Buzz is a great source to get the latest and greatest content on personal finance.  It also allows you to get a good flavor of the different styles of the personal finance bloggers.

Need an answer to a question or want to learn more about personal finance?  You now can think about these additional avenues to find the answer.  Better yet, consider how you may be able to help others through your own experience by commenting after reading your next blog article.

What are some of the other Web 2.0 technolgies and tools you’ve found to be helfpul in learning about and managing your personal finances?

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