X-Pens: The Stationary Addict’s Budgeting App

Introduction:

While I love my hobby, I have to admit that it’s a little expensive. It didn’t start out as much, but now that I think about it, the costs are adding up. I have always had trouble knowing what to save for. While I always save for a Nakaya, I always end up losing focus, and spending my hard-earned savings on something else (this is a really bad habit of mine). I realized that this had to stop, and I needed a way to set a goal, and keep track of it. I needed something to help get my purchases in order, and to prioritize what I save for. I immediately started using an Excel spreadsheet, and it worked for a couple of months. I had a whole list of every single pen, ink, and notebook I purchased. As time went by, I slowly stopped updating the list, and my finances were thrown into chaos (again). I got distracted and it happened once more.

Concept:

It was the final straw for me, and one afternoon, a lightning bolt went off in my head. Maybe I didn’t like constantly updating the spreadsheet because it was too difficult to maintain, and it didn’t help me visualize how much I had saved. So I thought, why not an app? The average American spends 2 hours and 40 minutes on their smart phone every day, so why not allow them to manage their pen budgets in that time.

How It Works:

This app is for helping set goals for pen, ink, paper, etc. purchases and actually achieving them. I want to allow users to create a wish list of products that they wish to purchase, set images for each product, choose three from all the categories to actively save for, manage how to allocate funds, and have a visual reminder of how close they are to their goal. Put it into more pens, or maybe save up for a nice notebook, you are in complete control. While other budgeting apps require you to link bank accounts and manage real money, X-Pens does not. While a little inconvenient, it allows users to have peace of mind, and not have worry about security.

I want to make the first roll-out as simple as possible to keep costs to a minimum. It will seem a little limited in functionality, but it will perform its tasks perfectly. I have various ideas on how I want to expand on what this app can do, and have included a survey at the end to gauge interest in what extra functionality users want. I strongly encourage you all to fill it out, because with more feedback, I can move forward on this project with confidence. This survey will be open for 3 weeks starting today.

Here’s the link to the survey: http://goo.gl/forms/qRp8FS5BEW

Thank you for reading. I hope you have a great day!

Sorry for the Content Gap

Hello Everyone,

It has been a while since I last posted, and I apologize. I was involved in a car accident a couple of weeks ago. I was injured in the crash, and have been recuperating since. Rest assured, none of my injuries were too severe or life threatening. I desperately wanted to start posting content again, but it hurts a lot to even sit down properly, so I’ve been stuck in bed for the most part. My spring quarter just started this week, so after a horrible spring break, I have to readjust to a new schedule. Please bear with me for a while, as I get better. I can tell you with certainty, that I will start posting again within 2-3 weeks max. I still have a bunch of inks and pens yet to be reviewed, and I can’t wait to try them out. 🙂

While recuperating in bed, I had an idea for a little project. It’s an idea I got at random, but one I think has promise. I am currently putting the finishing touches on it, but I realized something a bit too late. I completely forgot to get your opinions on it (market analysis, so to speak). I won’t ruin the surprise now, but I’m confident in the concept. I will schedule a detailed post on the project for first thing next Monday. I want to hype this up as much as possible to get maximum feedback from the community. I’ll have to figure out how to do this, but I’ll find a way. Until then… write on.

Sincerely,

Anchit, The Passionate Penman