Comments on: The Simple Dollar Weekly Roundup: Wesabe Discussions Edition

By: Linda

Linda — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 16:24:55 +0000

Thanks for the review and also reader comments. I have considered Mint but was never comfortable with them enough to sign on –

I’ll definitely take a look at this.

By: hattie

hattie — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 23:50:30 +0000

Trent…I went to Wesabe and started to sign up for cashcrate.com. But the registration just went on and on forever and they asked for my phone # a lot of times. I have only a cell phone and made the mistake of giving it out online once and was thereafter charged outrageous fees for incoming text messages from some company. So I never give it out online now. Is there any way to joint cashcrate.com or other sites like that without giving a phone # ? Thanks a lot.

By: allsubstance

allsubstance — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 14:23:22 +0000

Thanks for recommending Wesabe. This is the fourth or fifth excellent link I’ve gotten from you. Great blog!

By: Matt

Matt — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 12:51:28 +0000

I signed up for Wesabe under your recommendation. I originally had a Mint account, but after constant E-mails to them about bank additions, and changes, etc…. and them NEVER listening, I closed that account down. I hope I have better luck with Wesabe, because Mint’s idea was great, but their execution was very poor.

By: Jan Gordon

Jan Gordon — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 22:34:58 +0000

Concerning the idea that early retirement is unpatriotic…How about being forced into early retirement by the Federal Government when you really wanted to continue working? I was an Airline Pilot for 38 years and was forced to retire at age 60. This was a completely arbitary number put in place in 1958…not based on any studies…in fact subsequent studies showed a better safety record for pilots over 60 than some younger age groups. At the same time, many foreign countries had much higher retirement ages and those pilots who were well beyond 60 were allowed to operate in and out of the U.S. regularly carrying U.S. citizens.

Finally in December, 2007, Congress raised the retirement age to 65, but part of the law was that you could only return to your previous airline as a “new hire”, thus forcing one to start over and placing you at the bottom of the seniority list.

By: gr8whyte

gr8whyte — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 22:30:52 +0000

My place of employment was privatized at the whim of Congress so I took early retirement. Want me to un-retire? No problem — if Yarrow can undo it and put everything back the way it was, I’ll go back to work. Otherwise Yarrow can go pound sand.

By: Michael

Michael — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 17:48:57 +0000

I’m glad to see you found a relevant sponsor that adds value to itself, TSD and your readers.

By: James

James — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 17:18:19 +0000

Interesting because I just started using Wesabe this morning. My daughter in another country and I are using Wesabe to share our bookkeeping tasks. Hope it works, really too soon to say…

By: Laura

Laura — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 17:09:56 +0000

When I first read the article in MBH, I thought it was a joke. Who could even fathom that argument?

I tutored for a while in school, but after I started my internship I didn’t really have time. Now I’m thinking of getting back into it.

By: ChristianPF

ChristianPF — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 15:49:54 +0000

Trent,
that is good to hear… I could never get enough confidence in wesabe or mint to become a full-fledged user… But I love that you made the suggestion to Wesabe and Marc took it and ran with it. That speaks volumes to me and shows that the company is really looking to make the best product possible for it’s customers… I will check them out again. THanks

By: Marc Hedlund

Marc Hedlund — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 15:42:09 +0000

Thanks much for the post and the kind words about the site. I remember your original post about Wesabe and remember thinking, “I want to bring this around — we seem to be aiming where Trent wants us to go.” I’m glad that Wesabe has drawn you in over time.

I definitely agree that one of the strongest parts of our site is the Groups tab — the stuff we don’t do, but our members do. I’m amazed at how often and how well people respond to others in need, and to others looking to share their experiences. I feel like we’re extremely lucky to have the members we have.

Thanks again.

By: Amanda B.

Amanda B. — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 15:21:19 +0000

Suggesting that it is unpatriotic to retire early is such a crock of poo. Heck, you can serve in the military (the definition of patriotism) for twenty years and retire at 38. So the logic is totally twisted.

By: Erin

Erin — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 14:37:05 +0000

I think it is great that you are totally upfront with who your sponsors are. I am delighted if the Simple Dollar is making you some dollar! The site is great and is helping a lot of us.

By: jim of Blueprint for Financial Prosperity

jim of Blueprint for Financial Prosperity — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 14:27:28 +0000

I tutored in high school for a year or so in math, there was something very rewarding about teaching people to succeed in something they weren’t succeeding in. I remember helping a kid go from like a 40% in the Math Regents exam to getting a 75%. That kid was more excited about that than anything else he’d ever done.

That and I tutored some cute girls. :)

By: Jake

Jake — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 14:11:59 +0000

I believe you had once said something to the effect that when personal finance writers begin to endorse products that are advertised on their website, it is time to take what they say with a large grain of salt given the very obvious conflict of interest.

Given that Wesabe has a very prominent listing on your website and is going to be around for a while (as you state), you are doing exactly what you once heavily frowned upon. Just thought I should highlight the hypocrisy.