Despite all the hoopla surrounding Facebook and how its new privacy policy will effect members, the public is still hungry for unique ways to share information about themselves. If posting photos and uploading videos is leaving you feeling a little ho-hum, then perhaps you should consider joining Blippy. Unlike traditional social networking sites that focus on sharing contact information, photos and status updates, Blippy lets users share their financial information.

What’s the 411

In a nutshell, Blippy is a service that lets members automatically share their credit card transactions as they make them. Not only will members see the amount of your purchase, but they’ll also be privy to the place of purchase and items included in the transaction. Signing up is pretty easy and actually similar to other social networking sites with one exception, you provide your debit card or credit card information. Once you’ve established an account you’re transactions are populated into the system and can even be cross-posted to Twitter.

Safe and Secure

According to a 2009 study conducted by Javelin Strategy and Research, there were 10 million victims of identity theft in 2008 in the United States. Nearly half, or 43 percent, of all identity theft observed was through stolen wallets and physical paperwork, whereas online methods had accounted for only 11 percent. However unsettling these figures are they haven’t stopped the thousands of people who are clammering to become members of Blippy. Founders insist that their state-of-the-art encryption will protect data from being stolen or reused.

So what’s the hook? Why would you want to share financial information with others? Details regarding our finances have always been considered taboo in social circles. People aren’t supposed to share what or where they’re plunking down their cash. But with the advent of Blippy, discussing personal expenditures is no longer off limits. Society has always been curious about the lives of others –  think about reality shows or rubber necking a traffic collision – so it seems only natural that the fascination would continue with a stranger’s personal finances.

What You’ll Get From It

The most interesting aspect of Blippy is its most unexpected one. Instead of gasping at prices or snickering at purchases, members are actually exchanging details about great finds and super bargains. Even more common, is discovering places to shop that are off the beaten path and alerting others to special discounts to be found. Blippy can really be described as something similar to a tweet-feed based on shopping.

As a tool, Blippy has a ton of potential. For instance, a competition was created to see who could spend the least amount of money for an item using their debit card. The winner was able to buy a single Tootsie Roll using a credit card for $0.03. Organizations have the potential to fundraise and challenge supporters to out-donate each other. Along these same lines, stores could alert shoppers about local deals and make recommendations based on items previously purchased. Marketing firms could review spending habits to understand consumers and deliver targeted products and services that would be more appealing to them. The possibilities are endless.

In the meantime, trend experts predict that Blippy is the next big thing. Giving the world a sneak peek inside your wallet is definitely a way to channel discussion on spending habits and connect with other people with similar interests by way of spend pattern. Blippy is worth watching to see how it evolves and how it can become the next social media tool that can be used to catapult your business, product or service to the next level.

Since we’re in the early stages of tax season and I’m pretty sure that all of us are scrambling through old files, receipts and papers, I thought that it would be helpful to share some information on a Mac application that I came across.

If being eco-conscious and getting organized were on your New Year’s list of resolutions for 2010, then Mariner Software’s Paperless product is just for you. Paperless is a program that uses OCR (optical character recognition) technology to translate scanned receipts, warranties, manuals, documents and other important paper-based items into an electronic library.

Once you’ve scanned in your items, Paperless allows you to enter customized and detailed information that can be used to create unique reports, export receipt images for tax purposes, access product manuals or reference important legal documents in the event of an unforeseen disaster. Not only is Paperless extremely multi-functional, but it’s exceptionally easy to use.

Paperless recommends using a TWAIN compliant scanner to ensure that functionality of its installed drivers matches up to the capabilities of Paperless. According to Paperless, Fujitsu and Pentax have the best drivers on the market. I will say that I’m using this program with an HP 6210 All-in-One and it’s been great. No problems to report at all.

Using Paperless has gotten me used to requesting electronic versions of receipts for purchases that I’ve made. It’s much easier to use the drag-and-drop feature instead of manually scanning receipts in. After my receipts are entered, I organize them using the Paperless Collection feature. What’s nice about this is that I have the option to assign my receipts to category names of my choosing and then viewing them in collections based on the category.

The Smart Collection feature makes it simple to organize and view receipts by category.

For instance, any office-related purchase falls into the category of ‘office supplies’. Next, I create a ‘smart collection’ that automatically filters my receipts looking for that category and voila! – I’m able to see all my office supply receipts in one easy place.

Although Paperless contains a report option, in my opinion, it’s one of the weaker features. Users are limited by drop-down boxes and pre-installed search parameters that make it difficult, if not impossible, to produce reports that evaluate accounting-level details. It would be nice if a set of pre-installed report templates were available to select. If Mariner is listening, I hope you might be able to add in your next upgrade.

Lastly, Paperless is marketed at a fair price point based on the applications functions, features and capabilities. Coming in just under $50 ain’t too shabby. If you’re still not quite sure about the program, do a trial-run before you purchase.

If anyone has discovered other Mac products or solutions for organizing receipts and finances please feel free to share.