AVR powered smart purse keeps you from overspending

Sorry shopaholics, you may have just met your match. Australia-based company Credit Card Finder recently devised a high-tech, megaAVR based handbag that promises to help curb (more like stop cold-turkey) your spending habits.

Using an ATmega32u4 MCU based FLORA and a real-time clock, the iBag was designed to physically deter shoppers from accessing their credit cards during their most vulnerable moments. The purse is also equipped with an Adafruit FLORA GPS and LED lights that flash when a shopper gets a bit too close to their favorite stores, or as the company puts it, “danger spending zones.” RFID modules record every swipe of a shopper’s wallet leaving the bag and a GSM module can also send text messages to a responsible other, such as a husband, wife, or parent.

The GPS-enable purse was created to highlight the growing spending problem in the country, after a survey taken by the company revealed that 2/3 of credit card holders spend more than $500 every month on their credit card and 45% do not pay off the full balance.

While the bag designed to help combat credit card debt in Australia, and more along the lines of a PR stunt, perhaps this idea can catch on. We’re sure there are plenty of significant others out there that would agree!