Identifying products and services based on a budget

Abstract

A system, a method, a server, a computer processing platform, and non-transitory computer-readable medium for enabling the identifying of products and services on-line based on a user budget. A financial budget is generated based on personal financial information provided by a user. Search criteria are generated based on the budget and product/service criteria provided by the user. A search engine is accessed to initiate an on-line search using the generated search criteria. Returned search results are processed to generate purchase recommendations for the user based on the budget and the product/service criteria. The purchase recommendations are sent to the user where the user may make a purchase request based on the recommendations. The purchase of a product or service may be facilitated in response to the purchase request and the budget may be updated based on the purchase.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for enabling the on-line performance of a method of identifying products and services based on a user budget, said computer-executable instructions comprising instructions for:
 generating a financial budget based on personal financial information provided by a user and updating the financial budget based on at least one user on-line purchase;   generating search criteria based on the budget and product/service criteria provided by the user;   accessing a search engine to initiate an on-line search using the generated search criteria;   processing returned search results from the on-line search to generate purchase recommendations for the user based on the budget and the product/service criteria; and   sending the purchase recommendations to the user.   
     
     
         2 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 1  wherein said computer-executable instructions further comprise instructions for:
 receiving a purchase request from the user in response to the purchase recommendations; 
 facilitating an on-line purchase of a product or service based on the purchase request; and 
 updating the financial budget based on the on-line purchase. 
 
     
     
         3 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 1  wherein said personal financial information includes at least an income of said user, expenses of said user, and debt of said user. 
     
     
         4 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 1  wherein said product/service criteria include at least a product type or a service type. 
     
     
         5 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 4  wherein said product/service criteria further include at least one of a preferred manufacturer, a preferred service provider, a size restriction, a weight restriction, and a color. 
     
     
         6 . A computer processing platform for enabling the identifying of products and services on-line based on a user budget, said computer processing platform comprising:
 means for generating a financial budget based on personal financial information provided by a user and updating the financial budget based on at least one user on-line purchase;   means for generating search criteria based on the budget and product/service criteria provided by the user;   means for accessing a search engine to initiate a search using the generated search criteria;   means for processing returned search results from the search to generate purchase recommendations for the user based on the budget and the product/service criteria; and   means for sending the purchase recommendations to the user.   
     
     
         7 . The computer processing platform of  claim 6  further comprising:
 means for receiving a purchase request from the user in response to the purchase recommendations; 
 means for facilitating an on-line purchase of a product or service based on the purchase request; and 
 means for updating the financial budget based on the on-line purchase. 
 
     
     
         8 . The computer processing platform of  claim 6  wherein said personal financial information includes at least an income of said user, expenses of said user, and debt of said user. 
     
     
         9 . The computer processing platform of  claim 6  wherein said product/service criteria include at least a product type or a service type. 
     
     
         10 . The computer processing platform of  claim 9  wherein said product/service criteria further include at least one of a preferred manufacturer, a preferred service provider, a size restriction, a weight restriction, and a color.