One of the biggest gripes folks have with smartwatches, or the current state of the industry anyway, is that they aren’t as practical as they first seem. Sure they do a lot of neat things, and they offer plenty of features but for the average user – that’s not enough. That’s exactly why you see tech pundits going nuts over new smartwatch announcement, while everyone else is just sitting around scratching their heads. Realtime notifications, remote controls, personalized apps and timekeeping options are not practical enough it seems.

It looks like everyone might be scratching their heads real soon, because a relatively obscure smartwatch maker has come up with a rather ingenious solution to the smartwatch problem – by making a device that could benefit everyone. A new device called the Cash smartwatch will monitor your budget in realtime and let you know when its a good idea to splurge on those new shoes – or handbag – and when you should save for a rainy day instead.

Introducing the Cash Smartwatch

Renowned financialist Nicole Lapin is responsible for the creation of the device. She was formerly a correspondent for MSNBC, Today, CNN and CNBC. She also happens to be one of the youngest anchors on CNN and CNBC to have her own show.

She offered a whole slew of budget tips, and helped many across the country keep track of their finances in a more efficient way. Now she’s going to be responsible for offering a $139 gadget that will help us all keep our spending habits on a tight leash.

It will go on sale online – and the Home Shopping Network – starting next week. It’s been expressly designed for women from ages 18 to 34 – there are studies that show women are better with finances – but it will also be offered with wristband options for men, as well.

It does not deliver notifications, or alerts to your wrist and you cannot browse the web or check emila on it. Instead, the driving idea behind the Cash smartwatch is a budget tracking tool that helps you pinpoint when you’re making an impulse purchase – or several- that you cannot afford.

Before you start plugging away with your purchases, you set a monthly allowance for yourself. It will then tell you how much pleasure and convenience spending you can do according to your budget. Each time you make a purchase you enter the price and type of item into the watch. The item types serve as categories and are separated into sections such as clothes, food, travel, etc.

When you get closer to surpassing your budget – or when you already have – the watch will ping a notification on the screen. It also separates expenditures by categories, allowing you to see how much total you’ve spent on each section. This allows you to clearly see where all your money is going, and if you’re spending too much in a particular category.

Of course, there are plenty of budget-friendly devices already available that will help you keep track of your expenditures – namely finance software and the always trusty spreadsheet tools. However, those won’t send you personalized messages like, “take the damn bus,” or “hell yeah, who’s a budgeting superstar?”

In addition, it comes with an optional stylus, if you don’t like plugging away at touchscreen devices with your greasy fingers.

As for specs, it’s working with a 1.54″ capacitive touchscreen display, and it operates autonomously – in other words, you don’t need to connect it to a smartphone. It’s compatible with both PC and Mac, so no one is excluded from using it.

Not Just Another Expensive Gadget

Most devices like this end up looking rather drab or bulky. One could say the same about a lot of smartwatches on the market. The Cash smartwatch, on the other hand, has been designed with fashion in mind. One could even go so far as to say the Cash looks incredibly attractive.

There are three band options available: crocodile-style white, black silicone and a patterned silver. You can purchase extras and interchange them at will, so if you need to dress up – or down – you can do that pretty easily.

It’s also quite inconspicious, which is almost necessary. You wouldn’t want everyone at the dinner party to know you’re balancing your budget on watch, right? That would be way too nerdy.

Cash Smartwatch Software – “Because Being Broke Is so Last Season”

It’s powered by a proprietary OS that allows users to track all their financial data. At the end of your day, or during your downtime, you can plug the watch into your computer and all of your financial information is synchronized with the Cash.com web app.

Bigger expenses like rent, utilities and bills can be entered through the web app online. All of this information is analyzed and then Nicole Lapin can offered personalized spending advice on the status of your financial health. The web and desktop software is free and comes with the watch, so there are no subscription fees once you purchase the Cash.

“There are a ton of gadgets out there to help you track your steps, your calories, your sleep; but nothing to help you track your financial health, until now.”

It’s definitely a cool idea, and something that will be quite useful to track a tight budget. That said, it might get a little ridiculous if you have to stop and plug expenditure info into a little wrist device every time you make a purchase. Imagine holding up everyone in line at a cafe, or food stall so you can record a few dollar purchase? You’ll probably be making more than just a couple folks angry, especially since most folks are always in a huge hurry.

Nevertheless, if this looks like something you’re interested in, you can purchase the Cash smartwatch via it’s official website on October 1, 2014. It will be launching on the Home Shopping Network sometime later in the month, as well. If you’d rather wait for the latter option and purchase over the phone with a credit card you can do that instead.

For any other information on the watch, you’ll have to head on over to the official site.

The Cash Smartwatch Is a Niche Device

Even with how brilliant the idea is, it’s still pretty clear that the Cash smartwatch is a niche device. Although everyone out there can certainly benefit from a wearable budget tracker like this, there are a select few that will take the leap and give it a try.

It may signal something entirely different coming in the market, however. This may very well be the rise of the niche device. There are several other wearables like it out there – of course, offering specific functionality that has nothing to do with financial tracking. One such device allowed reps at the World Cup to monitor goals, and alerted them when the ball had successfully been passed over the goal line.

It will be interesting to see what other devices become available over the next few years as smartwatches become more and more popular amongst consumers.