firefly-iii/app/lib/Firefly/Helper/Preferences/PreferencesHelper.php

<?php
namespace Firefly\Helper\Preferences;
class PreferencesHelper implements PreferencesHelperInterface
{

    public function get($name, $default = null)
    {
        $pref = \Preference::where('user_id', \Auth::user()->id)->where('name', $name)->first();
        if (is_null($default) && is_null($pref)) {
            // return NULL
            return null;
        }
        if (!is_null($pref)) {
            return $pref;
        }
        if (!is_null($default) && is_null($pref)) {
            // create preference, return that:
            return $this->set($name, $default);
        }

    }

    public function set($name, $value)
    {
        $pref = \Preference::where('user_id', \Auth::user()->id)->where('name', $name)->first();
        if (is_null($pref)) {
            $pref = new \Preference;
            $pref->name = $name;
            $pref->user()->associate(\Auth::user());

        }
        $pref->data = $value;
        $pref->save();


        return $pref;

    }
}