Pay yourself first budgeting
First Claim
1. A method, comprising:
- receiving, at a computer-based system, financial information relating to a user, wherein the financial information includes information relating to a plurality of debt obligations of the user, a savings goal of the user, and income information of the user;
determining, by the computer-based system, a recommended payment hierarchy for the user based upon the received financial information, wherein the recommended payment hierarchy specifies a payment amount and one or more payment timings for a corresponding one or more of the plurality of debt obligations of the user, wherein the recommended payment hierarchy specifies a savings amount of the user and a transfer timing for transferring the savings amount to an account of the user, wherein the transfer timing for transferring the savings amount is scheduled to occur prior to at least one of the one or more payment timings for the corresponding one or more of the plurality of debt obligations of the user;
establishing a payment hierarchy based on the recommended payment hierarchy; and
causing the established payment hierarchy to be implemented.
6 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The invention encourages users to not only pay themselves first, but to pay themselves first in the largest amounts possible, even if they are not able to fully pay outstanding debts. In general, the invention obtains information related to the user'"'"'s income, income sources, user'"'"'s debts (e.g., bills) and user'"'"'s goals, then provides recommendations related to the prioritization of paying certain bills and the amount to pay for each bill based upon, for example, savings goals, minimum amounts due, due dates and available income. The invention also determines a payment hierarchy which includes transferring funds to the user'"'"'s savings account prior to paying all or a portion of certain bills. The invention also monitors a consumer'"'"'s purchasing activity based upon an established budget.
273 Citations
15 Claims
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1. A method, comprising:
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receiving, at a computer-based system, financial information relating to a user, wherein the financial information includes information relating to a plurality of debt obligations of the user, a savings goal of the user, and income information of the user; determining, by the computer-based system, a recommended payment hierarchy for the user based upon the received financial information, wherein the recommended payment hierarchy specifies a payment amount and one or more payment timings for a corresponding one or more of the plurality of debt obligations of the user, wherein the recommended payment hierarchy specifies a savings amount of the user and a transfer timing for transferring the savings amount to an account of the user, wherein the transfer timing for transferring the savings amount is scheduled to occur prior to at least one of the one or more payment timings for the corresponding one or more of the plurality of debt obligations of the user; establishing a payment hierarchy based on the recommended payment hierarchy; and causing the established payment hierarchy to be implemented. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon that, if executed by a computer system, cause the computer system to perform operations comprising:
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receiving financial information relating to a user, wherein the financial information includes information relating to a plurality of debt obligations of the user, a savings goal of the user, and income information of the user; determining a recommended payment hierarchy for the user based upon the received financial information, wherein the recommended payment hierarchy specifies a payment amount and a plurality of payment timings for a corresponding plurality of debt obligations of the user, wherein the recommended payment hierarchy specifies a savings amount of the user and a transfer timing for transferring the savings amount to an account of the user, wherein the transfer timing for transferring the savings amount is scheduled to occur prior to at least one of the plurality of payment timings for the corresponding plurality of debt obligations of the user; and establishing a payment hierarchy based on the recommended payment hierarchy. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12)
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13. A method, comprising:
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receiving, at a computer-based system, financial information relating to a user, wherein the financial information includes information relating to a plurality of debt obligations of the user; and determining, by the computer-based system, a payment hierarchy for the user based upon the received financial information, wherein the payment hierarchy specifies respective timings of payments toward one or more of the plurality of debt obligations of the user, and wherein the payment hierarchy further specifies a timing of a transfer of a savings amount to an account of the user, wherein the timing of the transfer of the savings amount is scheduled to occur prior to at least one of the respective timings of payments toward one or more of the plurality of debt obligations of the user, and wherein the savings amount and the respective timing of the transfer of the savings amount are determined by the computer-based system based on the financial information. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15)
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Specification