Windows Phone App of the Day: Budget Buddy

Why is there not a Snapple Fact app for Windows Phone 7? I was just drinking a Snapple and spent an hour searching for a Snapple Fact app for WP7 and (surprise, surprise…) only found apps for iPad and iOS. So, instead of compiling a comprehensive list of Snapple Facts that you can find on your own online anyway, you get to read a review about RD Solutions Development’s app, Budget Buddy, released this April. Let’s face it, I need a Budget Buddy way more than I need Snapple Facts…right? Please note that the picture below is not my receipt. I don’t drink unsweetened iced tea. Gross.

Pros

• Free!
• Streamlined, easy to use UI
• Full service budget manager
• Track expenses by snapping a photo of your bill, receipt, cash register screen, etc.
• Live tile shows how much you’ve spent and how much is left in your monthly budget (Crap…)
• Analyze your spending with the charts and analysis tools

Cons

• Occasional problems when deleting an expense
• Does not offer withdraw/deposit feature

How It Works

• Download from the “Personal Finance” section of your Marketplace
• Open from your app list
• Click “Setup your monthly budget amount or monthly spending limit” if it’s your first time opening the app; you will only have to do this once
• Enter your monthly spending amount in the text box on the next screen. This is the amount Budget Buddy will use to track your monthly spending
• Click on the “Save” icon at the bottom of your screen to save your monthly spending amount
• Click the “Back” button to return your home screen; This will not happen automatically, but your budget will still be saved
• Select “Setup the Budget Buddy Live Tile” then “Activate Live Tile”; This will automatically appear on your home screen showing your remaining spending budget
• Click the live tile to return to the app and open your camera
• Select “Take Photo” to record an expense by taking a photo of your bill, receipt, register, etc. or select “Enter Manually” to input your expense
• Select your payment type, expense category, date, and add a note if applicable; Select the “Save” icon at the bottom of your screen to save
• View pending expenses, track your status, or create a photo expense from your new home screen
• Scroll right through the pivots to view setup and edit your settings

Conclusion

You know when your parents used to give you that awful tasting cough syrup when you were sick, and you didn’t want to take it even though you knew it would make you feel better? Actually, that’s a bad example because I love(d) purple Dimetapp, but hopefully you get the idea. I guess it’s more like when I feel like I’m out of shape and decide that I’m going to drag my happy a$$ out of bed to go to yoga at some ungodly hour (10:00 a.m.) Well, that’s how I felt downloading this app. Forget the fact that it is so nice to be able to snap a picture of my receipts and have the app calculate how little damage I have left to do that month. Who cares that the UI is so easy to use that it would be out of pure laziness not to use it. I don’t want to track my expenses. Then how would I overdraw my account every month?? Thanks, Budget Buddy, for making it easy to act like a real, live grown up with little to no effort, but I’m still not fooling anyone.