A Useful Twitter API: Tweet What You Spend
October 23, 2008 by Colleen Coplick
Filed under Social Media
Yesterday, I talked about TwInfluence, and some of the other questionably useful Twitter API applications. I think I may have finally found a good one: Tweet What You Spend.
@TWYS is the company behind Tweet What You Eat, which also looks cool, it’s just not one I’ve gotten into yet.
Tweet What you Spend is simple, and aims to answer the question – what happens to my cash between trips to the ATM? If you’re anything like me, you don’t normally carry cash, in fact, I so rarely carry cash that it drives my husband a little batty.
All you do is (and I’m assuming you’re a Twitter user as I get into this) follow @twys, and direct message them your expenditures, like this: d twys Coffee 2.30. That entry then shows up in your personal cash journal.
I mentioned @twys to a few people talking about other APIs tonight, and while they thought it was an interesting service, but they already get that through their various financial programs and also through their online banking. See, for me, that means that I need to be more organized than I am currently not, and I’ve proven in the past that “financially organized” is not a good label for me. It’s really not, and yet, this little program has made me much more conscious of my spending, in a way that even being on the broke side hasn’t done. I’m more organized about my money, know exactly what I’ve spent it on and which bills I’ve paid etc. 
I can also information on which categories I’ve spent money in, all with a simple drag and drop feature; I can get a pie chart of my spending and see where it’s costing me the most.
Now, in order for me to keep track of my money, I just have to send a text message to @twys and it’s all recorded nicely for me. AND, I can export it to a comma separared values page as well.
It might not be for everyone, but if you’re anything like me and wonder where all your cash actually goes, or you just want to keep track of things, check out Tweet What You Spend and see how it goes! (image source: screenshots of my account)
This is pretty sweet. I am not that organized about how much I have spent as well, and using those other services just seems like work for me. This API embodies things I already do, tweeting, which is why I think it will be a hit. Not changing a person’s habits but tracking them better is smart.
-doozieUp!