METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR INFORMING A USER OF THE EFFECT OF A HYPOTHETICAL PURCHASE ON THE USER'S FINANCES AT THE POINT OF SALE

A method and system for displaying to a user the effect of a hypothetical purchase on the user's budgetary goals whereby a given product and/or service being considered for purchase and/or the cost of the given product and/or service being considered is identified and a product/service category database is searched to find a financial category associated with the given product and/or service. Financial budget/goal data indicating the given user's one or more budgetary and/or financial goals for a financial category associated with the given product and/or service for the given period of time, the current financial data indicating the given user's actual spending in the financial category associated with the given product and/or service for the given period of time, and the data indicating the cost of the given product and/or service being considered for purchase is analyzed to present the user data indicating the hypothetical remaining balance for the financial category associated with the given product and/or service for the given period of time that would result if the given product and/or service were actually purchased.