Track Your Monthly Expenses with Pageonce Bills!

The big companies have accountants and endless assistants to take care of their finances, so why not you? Sign up with Pageonce Bills financial-tracking services and turn your iPhone into a personal bill reminder! I need to stipulate that you have to enter real personal financial information into the Pageonce on-line system, which I am assured is well-protected (but you should read and understand the user agreements on the site first). Pageonce provided a test account so that I could write a review...

Pageonce is a pretty svelt app at only around 6MB, so no issues with grabbing it over the network on your device. Remember to reset your iPhone (or touch) after installing new software. I did have one issue when I first started the app, but other than that, it ran fine on my 2nd generation iPod touch (still running version 3.1.3). The program does require a network connection to work, as it is a cloud-based service. I think it would be a good enhancement if Pageonce had an off-line mode for checking bill status (say from locally cached data).

The first time I started the software, and entered the test account profile info, I shortly received an "error 10". You can submit issues directly to support from within the app. I received an auto-reply almost instantly in my e-mail, but it was about 4 days before I received a human response. The error evidently is related to a problem with my internet connection. After the initial config, it did not repeat so not sure what it could have been..?

Pageonce Bills can track just about any financial-related account information required, provided it has an on-line transactional aspect to it. Another enhancement I think would be beneficial would be the ability to add custom items like personal loans, taxes or other regular transactions that don't have an on-line or formal account component.

The main Pageonce menu is a basic category list of the types of various financial accounts you are likely to configure in the system. The account setup is wizard-based, and adding a new tracking item is easy and quick. The app did not have a landscape-viewing mode, which was annoying (esp when entering text), but I understand that the latest version now includes it. Once you have everything entered into the system, the magic begins. Pageonce has several products that can help you keep your finances in order...

Pageonce Service Benefits include:
    * Always have a clear financial picture of bank balances, credit card limits and investments
    * Avoid late fees by knowing when bills are due and paying them on time
    * Enjoy on-the-go access to all your personal information with Pageonce on your iPhone and Blackberry
    * Cure password amnesia forever by linking directly to all accounts from Pageonce
    * Defend against identity theft & online fraud by being aware of account statuses in real time
    * Never exceed cell phone minutes or text messaging limits thanks to Pageonce alerts
    * Manage all family members' frequent flyer accounts from one place
    * Track purchases from Amazon, eBay and Costco
    * Know what's coming next from Netflix and be the first to get the latest new release
    * Increase the security of your Internet accounts by assigning different usernames and passwords to each account and managing them directly from Pageonce
    * Have the ability to call customer service for any account provider with a single click

Many people don't have time to keep track of their finances in a comprehensive way, which is often one of the reasons they get into trouble. With Pageonce Bills you can monitor how much you have going out in a variety of ways--cable, phone, utility bills (gas, electric), the list goes on--to make sure you stay in the black with all your accounts!

The software allows you to keep tabs on just about all of your Bill info on your iPhone (or as in my case, iPod touch), and can alert you when payments are due. Because I was not using  real accounts, it was not possible to test all aspects of the system, but I got a good feel of the power of this product through the test account.

The various displays allow you to drill down into your monetary output in useful ways. There is a report generator that can either present a charts and graphs view of your expenses, or you can switch to a detailed table view. There is also a calendar view, which gives you a quick look at your upcoming payments.

If you are a busy person (like me), find yourself paying bills in a robotic haze every month, and do not have the benefit of a trustworthy mate to assist in keeping account info straight, then you should consider this product. Pageonce Bills has received multiple awards and accolades from other respected sites, so I have no doubt they will do everything in their power to keep your data secure. From my perspective, this kind of program is exactly why I have gadgets like the iPhone or iPod--to make life easier. Still, it is always important to read carefully all terms and service agreements before signing up for on-line services. The sad truth is that many people will voluntarily reveal more damaging personal information on Facebook, MySpace or Twitter than will ever leak out of an encrypted service like Pageonce, but many internet vendors do reserve the right to share your user info (say e-mail address) with interested third parties. They also often add protection clauses in an attempt to shield themselves from huge damages should your info somehow leak out anyway. The point is to read the user agreements carefully and to understand the implications. You can grab Ponce Bills at the iTunes link below...