What is one thing that you are most likely to have with you when you are buying something? Of course, you will have your wallet, but I’m talking about your phone. After a few months I would like to share with you what may be the most valuable information stored on my iPhone. Saver is a wonderful app for keeping track of your spending in any currency. It’s sleek design allows for quick input with the option of tags, which allows for easy reference to any specific kind of spending. It also gives you great visual breakdowns of your spending based on year, month, or week. Here are two screen shots of my information. One is my total expenditures this year and the other is my transactions today.
I mostly reference this app to make sure I’m not eating out too much or if I can afford a weekend trip to Osaka. In the beginning of my time here in Japan, I used this app to create a budget that was reasonable, yet allowed me to build savings and put away some money for school loans. It also provides a general level of relief. With everything becoming digital, this is my digital version of a check book.
On a quick note, this app is useful to someone who uses mostly cash. In the US, apps such as Pageonce and Mint.com provide all of your transactions and categorizes them automatically. So it may be safe to say that I find this app beneficial only as a yen spender.
FAULTS
This app has two faults in my opinion.
1. No recurring transactions. Everybody has a number of recurring transactions in life. Daily, weekly, monthly and even yearly recurring transactions would make this app even easier to use.
2. No data export. For someone who really wants to dig into the numbers and calculate ratios or sort data in different ways, data export to CSV or Excel would be excellent. It would make keeping track of your transactions invaluable.
So take it for what it is. I like this app, and it’s my suggestion to any expats living abroad with their iPhone!
I just watched “The Adjustment Bureau” on an HD tv from my iPad with an HDMI cable. This thing is much more versatile than a computer when it comes to different forms of input and output and it handles heavy work surprisingly well. It rendered HD for a few hours without getting hot or freezing up. I’m begging to prefer using my iPad over my computer in most situations and it’s a tough concept to swallow but I may becoming a real enthusiast! Now if only the iPad also had Siri and system wide voice to text…
I’ve already written one post about how much I love Google Voice. Since coming to Japan, I’ve grown to love it even more. Here’s why: I can make calls, send and receive texts, and listen to voice mails from my iPhone. The great thing is that My US contacts can still directly contact me through my US phone number as if I never left. This is convenient for everybody! Of course it’s super easy to keep in touch with friends through any of the hundreds of social networks like Twitter and Facebook, but there’s something about a text message and a phone call that brings us much closer.
If you live abroad and would like to use Google Voice, here is a quick guide!
1. Get an iPhone or Android-based phone. You will need to run the official Google Voice app and at least one other.
2. Sign up for Google Voice. If you are still in the US, this is cake. Just visit google.com/voice and follow the steps. If you are abroad, however, you must have someone login to you google account or create one from a US IP address. The website will not let you create a Google Voice phone number from abroad. There is of course the option to connect to a US IP via VPN, but that could get difficult just for a quick registration.
3. Download the Google Voice App here and install. The google voice app will let you do everything but make a phone call. You will even receive missed call alerts. Use this app to send text messages listen to voice mail and everything else. With alerts turned on, you will have nice real time alerts of text messages, including the name of the contact.
4. For making calls, you will have to download the app called Talkatone. You can get it here. It is a bit buggy, but use it only for phone calls and you’re set.
I find myself actually using the Google Voice app more than my native phone app on the iPhone. The great thing is that it’s like two phones in one device.
If you are not completely familiar with Google Voice, you can check out my previous post.
What is one thing that you are most likely to have with you when you are buying something? Of course, you will have your wallet, but I’m talking about your phone. After a few months I would like to share with you what may be the most valuable information stored on my iPhone. Saver is a wonderful app for keeping track of your spending in any currency. It’s sleek design allows for quick input with the option of tags, which allows for easy reference to any specific kind of spending. It also gives you great visual breakdowns of your spending based on year, month, or week. Here are two screen shots of my information. One is my total expenditures this year and the other is my transactions today.
