Here in the United States we take our independence seriously. So I took offense to a claim of independence made by HelloWallet in a recent Fast Company article that also mentioned the demise of another competitor, Wesabe and left a comment.
I suppose it’s all about perspective. HelloWallet aims at differentiating itself from its primary competitor Mint, which arguably became a bit less independent when it was acquired by Intuit, more than HelloWallet desires to irk the founders of an upstart like BudgetSketch but be cognizant of the fact that in making their claim, HelloWallet is speaking about their company not you. In contrast BudgetSketch was founded to secure financial independence for its users. Period.
Let’s be frank, most “for profit” personal finance sites are interested in two things, your financial data and the ability to sell access to you to the highest bidder, or in this case often the lowest interest rate bidder. BudgetSketch has always maintained that while the folks at Mint have proven such an approach is very lucrative for site creators and their backers it is less helpful to the site’s users. Again speaking frankly, we hope to stand that model on its head. We aim to make you wildly successful financially while proving that you can make a living helping others first. More on this in a future blog post.
Profit driven personal finance sites focus on tracking your spending because that’s the data they’re most interested in. We believe that this “water over the dam” approach is not only wrong but counterproductive. We believe that the solution to most personal finance problems begins by looking forward, not back, with the creation of a budget. Budget in hand you can then track your performance against the plan by tracking income and expenses. Sites that generate what they call a “budget” from past spending data only ensure the persistence of bad habits.
Ironically, the failure of Wesabe boiled down to finances. BudgetSketch operates by the principals under which it was founded and the counsel it provides to its users, and has been built patiently, via hard work, using commonsense, with an eye on the bottom line. We are beholding to no venture capitalists and no creditors, only ourselves and our users, and we’re very proud of that fact. So goodbye Wesabe. Good luck HelloWallet. As for BudgetSketch and our users, we choose hardwork and commonsense as we work toward our personal independence days.
