Review: Organize Your Financial Life With The Adaptu Wallet

Posted on December 14th, 2011

Adaptu, the money management and financial literacy site, just launched an iOS app to help you budget your finances and organize your wallet. The timing’s great, since it’s the spendiest time of the year, and Adaptu makes the bold claim that you’ll never go over budget again. The app is free and cleanly designed.

If you’re already a member of the Adaptu community, downloading The Adaptu Wallet is a no brainer. If you’re not yet an Adaptu member, the app makes a compelling argument for joining.

adaptu wallet 1

How it Works

The Adaptu Wallet lets you see all of your bank and credit card accounts at a glance. As a big fan of financial literacy and my iPhone in general, I was excited to see what Adaptu had come up with. One feature I love is the ability to add in accounts manually, in order to account for the gold you have buried in the yard, or the checking account from the bank with no online access.

adaptu wallet 5

Pros

The other big perk is that the app allows me to take pictures of my infrequently-used rewards cards (like a Preferred Falafel Buyer card that gets you 10% off at your favorite falafel stand) so I can bury the cards in my backyard, along with my gold. Now my wallet can finally close again. Success!

One concern I had was the safety of entering in all my financial info into my phone. Adaptu has done a good job of addressing this issue. Every time you log in you have to enter in a PIN code and Adaptu uses TRUSTe and VeriSign for security.

adaptu wallet 3

You can easily track your spending with nifty graphs and adjust spending limits and expected income with the swipe of a finger. It’s stripped-down version of budgeting where you can see if you went over or not. The app can also send alerts to warn you if you’re going over what you can spend for the month.

Cons

The app has a few limitations. I’d recommend inputting all of your account information with an actual keyboard just for convenience’s sake, and the photos I took of my insurance card wouldn’t orient correctly. Also, I would’ve liked a way to adjust the spending limits by inputting a number instead of messing with the slider. But these are quibbles. Adaptu has put together a remarkably powerful and free tool.

Bottom Line

It felt good to know, with one look, where I stood financially for the month. Adaptu Wallet is a great way to easily take stock of your finances. Download the app from the iTunes stores.

Filed under Financial Planning, Reviews, adaptu, apps, budgeting, iphone, money management | No Comments »

Teach Siri to Manage Your Finances

Posted on October 21st, 2011

siri

Have you talked to Siri yet?

Beyond being your smartphone slave personal assistant, she could be the next generation’s personal finance planner in your pocket.

Siri is the iPhone 4s Intelligent Assistant that stole the limelight at the iPhone 4s launch. When your hands are tied, or you’re just feeling lazy, this voice command tool can make a phone call, search the internet, and check the weather at the touch of a button.

Beyond the practical applications, Siri’s artificial (and sassy) intelligence also lends itself to some smart financial guidance at the tip of your fingers. Think of her as a mash-up of Suze Orman and a more benevolent Auto from the film “Wall-E,” all in the palm of your hand.

Here are a few ways that Siri can help you manage your finances right now.

Siri helps you pay your bills on time. Next time your bills come, ask Siri to remind you of each bill’s due date and she’ll set an alarm so you never miss a payment. TechCrunch shows how to sync Siri with iPhone app RememberTheMilk so you can add the financial reminders to your to-do list. Plus, you’ll feel pretty important asking your “personal assistant” to jot down important tasks, ASAP!
Siri helps you find the nearest bank or ATM. Siri is all about location-based services, which is especially handy when you’re in a new area. Ask her, “Where can I get cash out?” and she’ll direct you to the nearest cash point. Ask “Find Bank X” for directions to the nearest bank branch. However, she won’t be able to tell you if you’ll be charged fees for using an out-of-network ATM; you’ll have to rely on your own street smarts to figure that out.
Siri tells you if your stocks are up. While she can’t divulge any insider trading tips, ask Siri, “How are Company X shares doing?,” and she’ll answer with some stock prices. It’s like having a stockbroker on hand, without paying hundreds of dollars per hour.
Siri can help you tip. If you’re not a fan of busting out a calculator at the dinner table, Siri can help you figure out how to split a dinner bill among multiple people, and how much to tip. Just be okay announcing to the whole restaurant that you need to figure out a 15% tip, not 20%.
Siri can help you brush up on personal finance. Want to know what APY means, or the difference between a fixed-rate mortgage and an adjustable rate mortgage? Siri’s search capabilities help you find information on tricky financial terms. Siri searches Google by default, and can also search Bing or Yahoo when prompted; just make sure they are credible sources.

Once Siri is out of beta and developers are given access to a Siri API, there are unimaginable capabilities of what financially-savvy Siri can do. Here are a few cool things we hope to see soon:

Siri as your personal finance conscience. If Siri syncs up to your mobile banking accounts or third-party sites like Mint.com, she can warn you when you’re near your spending limit or over your budget. Sure, people might overhear you’re $200 over your Fast Food budget, but hey, it might keep your spending in check.
Siri as your frugal shopping guide. Shopping with Siri might mean scouting better deals and prices. Integration with barcode-scanning apps, deal-finding apps, and comparison shopping apps means Siri could tell you that the 3D TV you want is cheaper at the mall next door.
Siri as your credit advisor. If Siri can be integrated with CreditKarma.com’s website, she can update you on your credit score, identify credit areas to work on, answer your credit questions, and even offer personalized savings tips. Of course, you can access all of this at CreditKarma.com now, but wouldn’t it be cool to have Siri tell you all of this in her icy-cool robotic voice?

I asked Siri,

“How much do you cost?”

She replied, “If you have to ask the price… You can’t afford it.”

Now there is some surprisingly wise, financial advice. You left one hell of a legacy, Steve Jobs.

Keep up the Karma,

Justine Rivero, Credit Advisor

Image source: Katherine Welles / Shutterstock.com