As those of you following this blog will know Expensr was acquired last year by Strands and ever since the Strands team has been hard at work developing a next generation PFM (Personal Finance Management) site called moneyStrands.  We are happy to announce that last week, moneyStrands officially opened up its doors for user registrations.

Over the last year moneyStrands has been inspired by some of the more effective functionality that made Expensr the personal finance tool of choice for tens of thousands around the globe.  But it has not stopped there and in addition to covering Expensr functionality it has taken the user experience several steps forward by enabling automatic tracking of your financial accounts combined with a very easily customizable and refreshing user interface.  We’d like to invite all Expensr users to give moneyStrands a spin and tell us what they think.

Cheers,
– Strands Team

While we are all concerned about where our money goes; we should also be concerned about where our money’s value goes. Nowadays, everybody is talking about this financial crisis, levels that the US hasn’t seen since 1929.  As simple as possible, we would like to explain how it happened and what caused it.

In words; it all started with ideal market conditions for mortgages, banks and investment institutions. The FED rates were low, which created a high investment demand on the housing market. The financial institutions took advantage of it and the mortgage market of people with good credit were saturated.

But, financial institutions were not satisfied and the mortgage brokers were not satisfied. The mortgage industry was really working and because all was insured by tangible assets (houses); the financial institutions and brokers decided to utilize the sub prime market.

The term “sub prime” represents the group of people who are low income and generally have poor credit history or no history at all. Giving sub prime borrowers any kind of loan stands for taking a lot of risk. To cancel out that risk and also to get the sub prime borrowers initiated in the mortgage process,  “Adjustable Mortgage Rates” were pushed, which featured low introductory rates that rise over time.

As expected when some of the sub prime people began struggling to pay their mortgages, the banks decided to increase the “adjustable” rates. This increased the monthly payments of mortgages and more people started to enter into foreclosure. Because foreclosures make the mortgage owner lose money; and it may seem like bank are gaining even more out of process. This is theoretically true; but when a very significant amount of borrowers default; the banks incoming cash takes a hit and they have trouble paying their own debt. Now, they are literally in the shoes of the defaulting borrower.

Following economic principles, as banks get more desperate for cash, it was harder to lend any more money for mortgages.  This made the “insurance” of the loans: “the value of the houses” drop, which also meant now the investors are exposed to the negative returns of the risky investment they made. At the end, investment banks were not able to pay their debt and went bankrupt.

Now as the crisis climbs up the ladder, it’s the insurance companies’ turn to pay the debt of the investors they insured. The crisis has global effects because foreign investors want their return back; but there is no liquid assets to pay them; the decreasing home values are not sufficient to cover up the increasing debt.

In videos; I recommend watching this short Youtube videos; It is the shortest way to understand what is going on with the US economy now:
SubPrime Mortgage Mess Explained (with voice)

Hope it was useful
-Can

It’s that time again! (Again) as previously mentioned, Expensr was acquired by Strands thus, the team here in San Francisco (and at Strands as a whole) has been growing at a rapid pace. For those interested in trying the Beta moneyStrands, stay tuned! We’ll be signing users up very shortly… and Expensr users get first priority!

So, how big is the team now? Is the team being taken over by robot programmers to answer e-mails while we’re out on team getaways? Nope! So, here’s our second “Expensr Exposed” spotlight! This week, we want to focus on a key player that will help bring moneyStrands to levels above that of our competitors… (hint hint!).

Can Bayir (we call him “John”) is a recent new hire, and is a key player working on moneyStrands business analytics! Without further ado, here’s “Can, Exposed”:

What was most memorable at your first day at Strands?
Can: It was the first day, and I came in business formal format with complete set of buttoned-up shirt, tie, slacks and shoes, then I remember a few folks saying that “Hmmm he sure is dressed up!”… so I took my tie off at the next second.

What is one of the most interesting about the Strands (San Francisco) Office?
Can: When I meet people that work in the Financial District I make sure I converge them onto my “lunch buddies” list and occasionally have lunch them. That’s one of the advantages of working in the downtown, no one needs to drive, anyone can just meet downstairs for lunchtime chats or building business contacts.

What’s one of your secret talents?
Can: I have this uncontrollable, “number-holding memory.” If I see a number and a definition of it, It gets into my permanent memory and I never forget it. It has been like that since many many years now, for example back in high school our class consisted of 150 people and everyone had 3-digit student id-numbers, in a very short time I just learned everyone’s number (it was frequently used at school), and It has been 4 years since I haven’t seen most of my high school friends, I still remember their numbers… I think.

What are you working on right now?
Can: I am busy with the implementation one of the major moneyStrands features (can’t say what it is yet!) and identifying our online consumer market. Right this instant, I’m writing this from Corvallis, Oregon, “Strands Headquarters” where I spent this week working closely with a few technology teams here. I must say, we have a brilliant and very experienced team here in Corvallis…

Where did you grow up?
Can: I grew up in Mersin, Turkey. Yes I am not from the United States :). Mersin is a great city, populated over 1 million and a located at the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, You can compare the climate and physical appearance to Miami, very hot weather and being full of palm trees are two common features. I came to United States 3 years ago, for college at the University of Michigan. Another yes, It was a shock to live in that much cold after a very warm place, now I am in San Francisco, a balanced combination of those two, I believe I finally found the perfect climate…

Where does most of your money go?
Can: Currently it goes for food, shelter, and entertainment… three things San Francisco is known for!

Thanks for sharing with our users, Can!

Expensr was originally created to help track down exactly how much and where your money went each day. Hopefully, you’ve been able to track how your daily expenses have been changing each month - akin to our last post - related to gas, food, and other daily necessities.

Our last post was geared towards how much gas prices has affected your daily commute to work (or commuting habits). So now, how much are you actually paying for gas each month? Have you compared it to the previous months using expensr’s nifty Analysis tab? The West Coast (especially in California and in Hawaii) has been quite accustomed, unfortunately, with paying some of the highest prices for fuel in the US.

But by how much compared to the Midwest?

So, this week we wanted to show you a really neat feature that Gas Buddy has come up with! It’s a nifty graphical representation of just you’ve been paying! Try checking out Gas Buddy’s customizable gas price-temperature map for the US (Canadian users can try the Canadian version out). Here’s a nifty visual map from the Gas Buddy website!

______________________

This week’s poll:

 Loading …

______________________

With moneyStrands, one major feature that is being brought with our acquisition by Strands is the capability to bring users helpful and relevant recommendations on how to save money in various ways! Stay tuned and get ready for moneyStrands! It’ll be bringing really neat money-saving recommendations based on information (such as gas price information from Gas Buddy) we gather from all sorts of places!

     Over the last year, prices for all types of commodities have gone up at extreme rates. Gas, rice, corn, bottled water, and even recycled paper have had noticeable changes in prices. The most obvious of all these prices changes (not just in the US) are the insane gas prices. With the gas prices going up, it is becoming ever more painful to drive a car these days, and there’s no end in sight! It’s painful to see a Honda Civic require US$60.00 for a fill up, so a few of us in the office have started changing our commuting habit to try and stretch all the pennies.

Luckily for a few of us in the office, we actually live in San Francisco, making coming into the office somewhat bearable. Take a look at one of our analysis charts (though we can’t say who…) on what we spend on gas/transportation while both living and working in San Francisco. One thing to note is that the apartment complex which the person is renting from includes a shuttle to the Financial District in San Francisco (where our offices are):

So, without further ado, our second (non-scientific, but very very informative) poll!
___________________________________________

 Loading …

___________________________________________

Again, we’d like to thank everyone for helping to make Expensr so successful so far! E-mail us at contact@expensr.com if you’ve got any other questions or concerns (or, follow us on Twitter/Expensr). We’re looking forward to seeing the poll results!

Finally, we’re just about to start openly accepting moneyStrands Private Beta invitation requests, so hang tight! In case anyone is wondering, Expensr users will get first priority to our limited private beta - we really value your feedback (especially when you can readily compare it to how Expensr is right now!). We want to make sure things are how you expect (or better, hopefully!) - so we have to limit the private beta a bit to make sure we can address everyone’s concerns. For those who are evaluating expensr but do not have an account yet, don’t worry - we will have an open public beta soon after the private beta session!

-phil @ Expensr

For those waiting for some “sneak peek” information about moneyStrands, we’ve got a great post for you today!  The Finovate 2008 Conference video’s are finally published! A little while ago, we attended the Finovate Startup 2008 Conference here in San Francisco. (Finovate is a fast-paced conference specifically geared towards bringing light onto personal finance-focused start-up companies.)

So what happened at Finovate? We made our introductions, saw some very cool ideas, and met some very cool people. But then we got to the good stuff… we demo’ed moneyStrands! Right now, all that’s available on the moneyStrands website is our Beta Sign Up form - but rest assured, there is ALOT of work going on behind the scenes! We’re wanting to launch the website as quickly as possbile, but still maintain quality control :).

As you’ll soon see, demo is being run by the Expensr Founders (Shawn Gupta and Reman Child). However, we’re limited to about 5-minutes of presentation time - the demo is run through very quickly (please forgive us!). Hopefully you guys will enjoy what you see there :).

(Windows Media Player) http://www.finovate.com/startup08/expensr_wmv.html

(Quicktime) http://www.finovate.com/startup08/expensr_mov.html

We’ll be providing Expensr users “primetime” access to the moneyStrands Private Beta, so stay tuned for details! (You can follow us on Twitter for our most up to date information also!)

… maybe some more “sneak peak” screenshots…

As many of you may know, Expensr was recently acquired by Strands thus, the team here in San Francisco (and at Strands as a whole) has been growing at a rapid pace. Due to the influx of employees here at Strands, we wanted to highlight some of the key folks working on Expensr and moneyStrands, so we can prove that we’re not just robots answering e-mails and bringing cool new features to everyone!

So, we’re going to start our very first “Expensr Exposed” spotlight! This week, we want to focus on a key player that will help bring Expensr and moneyStrands to the next level… (hint hint!). Some of you may know that along with Expensr, Strands also acquired a company called NetworthIQ for personal finance, investment, and net worth tracking.

Ryan Williams came from that team, and is a key player working on moneyStrands now! Without further ado, here’s “Ryan, Exposed”:

What was most memorable at your first day at Strands?
Ryan: The most memorable thing from the first day was not having a desk to sit at. Strands has grown tremendously this year and the Corvallis office (which I believe has been a church, courthouse and even a morgue in its past lives) was busting at the seams. I finally found a spot right in front of the bathroom door (well, there was a hallway in between), so I was able to meet many people that day as they noticed the new guy on their way to and from the bathroom. Needless to say, they were quick introductions.

What is one of the most interesting about the Strands (San Francisco) Office?
Ryan: For a small-town guy, I’d often day-dreamed about life in the big city, with high-rises, action and people all around. My trips to the SF office have definitely fulfilled those thoughts. Being in the heart of the Financial District is a fascinating place to be with all the big banks and many technology companies all around. That and the thought in the back of mind thinking, if there’s an earthquake, I’m dead. I’m happy to visit.

What website are you guilty of constantly hitting F5 to read during your days?
Ryan: I’m going to go with twitter, at least when it’s up. I know what you’re thinking, “who cares what you’re doing,” but twitter is like one big public group IM chat, it’s a conversation that never stops and constantly goes in interesting directions. You can find me at twitter.com/ryanwi.

What are you working on right now?
Ryan: These days, I spend most of my time planning features, additions and improvements for moneyStrands. This involves a lot of research on personal finance, talking with people about the money struggles, and exploring other applications to see what works and what doesn’t.

Where did you grow up?
Ryan: I grew up in the pre-WWW era (didn’t get my first email address until college) in Elmira, Oregon, a small town about 15 miles outside of Eugene. I spent most of my time playing sports, with baseball being my favorite. One of the great things about small towns is space. Growing up on 8 acres allows for lots of opportunities to explore outside without getting run over by a car. But, I still prefer being a little closer to civilization and having a grocery store and restaurants just a couple minutes away.

Where does most of your money go?
Ryan: I’d have to go with house here. When are we going to see those 4.5% interest rates again? Hey, if I was perfect at my own finances, I wouldn’t be working so hard on building a better way to manage them.

Thanks for sharing with our users, Ryan!

A few folks have e-mailed us asking what we do on a daily basis - anything from “What’s San Francisco like?” to “What’s going on at Expensr today?”.

Well… we’ve been pushed to our limits of requests to join Twitter (finally, we’ve joined 2008)! We’re still updating the website (stay tuned for some major changes…) and as well, we’ll be using the blog to describe these larger changes and give you updates about how we’re growing. But, for smaller more day-to-day things, please follow us on Twitter!

You can follow us on Twitter HERE. Also, be sure to take a look at the Strands Twitter to hear about what’s going on with Strands (and maybe sneak peeks for moneyStrands!).

We’ve gotten a small handful of e-mails wondering about our website security and privacy practices, especially since you’re putting some important information on here. I just wanted to formally announce that we’ve gotten some very cool certifications that will hopefully put a few minds at rest! I’m happy to announce that we have FINALLY finished a very long process (well, long for us) of formally receiving TRUSTe and HackerSafe certifications!

While this may not seem like a very large update (visually), there have been several changes in the back-end which often go unnoticed. So, if you’re wondering what we’ve been slaving away at, check out the changes in the privacy policy as well as our nifty security logo’s at the bottom of the homepage:

Everyone here at Expensr (and moneyStrands) take security, and your privacy, with the utmost importance!

So what’s next? A handful of you folks have e-mailed us over the last few weeks, giving us very good feedback and suggestions for ways to improve the website. We’ve got a few things up our sleeves coming soon…

One of the cool features about Expensr (which hopefully everyone uses!) is the tagging system. You can use this tagging system to tag and compare yourself anonymously on how you spend your money. Do you know how much people in your age range spend on food? Do you know how much people in your location spend on rent?

Based on a chart we saw today, users in their “30’s” spend significantly more on Entertainment than users in their “20’s”. The folks in the office today had a good argument about where we “waste” money these days depending on your age… (for those wondering, the Expensr office is comprised of about half “20’s” and half “30’s”)

Whenever you log into Expensr, we’ve made it a point to try and bring you a random/interesting fact on the “Home” tab (the first screen you see when you log-in). Hopefully we’ve brought you an interesting fact for water-cooler talk!

What neat piece of information have you learned, if any, from your daily clicking on Expensr?