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Show HN: Lunch Money, a personal budgeting tool with multi-currency support

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Re: Show HN: Lunch Money, a personal budgeting tool with multi-currency support

#101

Post by oarsinsync »

pitaj wrote: post #65
jnfr wrote: post #2

Hi Show HN, I'm really excited to share what I have been working on the side since late November last year. I am a one-person team and this project has allowed me to harness and grow from my few years of experience working as a software engineer. I was also able to flex my design muscles a little bit, while learning some marketing along the way. Stack: * Node.js w/ Typescript backend * React + Semantic UI w/ Typescri…

Any specific reason you decided to use Flutter instead of React native for your mobile app, given you use React for your existing frontend?

I suspect it's down to wanting to learn new tool-sets and skills:

> this project has allowed me to harness and grow from my few years of experience working as a software engineer.

Re: Show HN: Lunch Money, a personal budgeting tool with multi-currency support

#102

Post by oarsinsync »

Fiahil wrote: post #83
jnfr wrote: post #2

Hi Show HN, I'm really excited to share what I have been working on the side since late November last year. I am a one-person team and this project has allowed me to harness and grow from my few years of experience working as a software engineer. I was also able to flex my design muscles a little bit, while learning some marketing along the way. Stack: * Node.js w/ Typescript backend * React + Semantic UI w/ Typescri…

I tested a lot of similar project in the past 2 years: Buxfer, GNUCash, YNAB 4 & 5, Mint, and Banktivity (currently using) and I'm willing to pay as high as $70 per year for a product that fulfills my needs. I liked your project, the interface is clean, responsive and fast. If I may, I would like to give you my list of the most useful features : - Self-hosted: Although, I used online apps in the past, this is now an…

> Banktivity (currently using)

> - Self-hosted: Although, I used online apps in the past, this is now an _absolute_ requirement.

Based on the rest of your post, your feature requirement list matching my own, as well as the privacy aspect, how do you reconcile the forced cloud-sync aspect of Banktivity? There doesn't appear to be an option to use anything except that which results in them getting an (encrypted) copy of your accounts.

Or am I failing to see that they actually support (at the very least) iCloud or custom storage providers (e.g. self-hosted NextCloud)?

Re: Show HN: Lunch Money, a personal budgeting tool with multi-currency support

#103

Post by oarsinsync »

arosier wrote: post #68
jnfr wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thank you for the kind words! Lunch Money is definitely a different way of budgeting. I mentioned this in an earlier comment, but my target audience is more first-time budgeters. I know it would be an uphill battle to convert YNAB'ers since they are very loyal to envelope-based method. That being said, since you're a die-hard YNAB'er, if you have any ideas around this, I'm all ears!

Since you're targeting first-time budgeters, have you thought about using any "game theory" to encourage them to learn about the importance of budgeting and keep coming back?

You might mean "gamification" rather than "game theory" - one is the application of game-design elements and game principles in non-game contexts, the other is the study of mathematical models of strategic interaction in between rational decision-makers.

Re: Show HN: Lunch Money, a personal budgeting tool with multi-currency support

#104

Post by Flimm »

Yes! I am especially interested in multiple currency support. Most budgeting software doesn't provide this well or at all. Some questions:

* Is each transaction stored in its currency, or is everything converted to a main currency when stored? The latter is lossy and problematic.

* Does the app expect each currency to have a fixed exchange rate? If it does, that's problematic.

* You are asked to select a primary currency when signing up. Can you change the primary currency later? Will any information be lost if you do?

* How do you handle transfers from one bank account in one currency to another bank account in another currency? Will it handle an exchange rate that is different from the one the app might be expecting?

* How does budgeting work in multiple currencies, how are fluctuating exchange rates used?

I'll definitely be trying this out regardless of whether I get an answer here, I am really excited about the potential. :)

Re: Show HN: Lunch Money, a personal budgeting tool with multi-currency support

#105

Post by appleflaxen »

Fiahil wrote: post #83
jnfr wrote: post #2

Hi Show HN, I'm really excited to share what I have been working on the side since late November last year. I am a one-person team and this project has allowed me to harness and grow from my few years of experience working as a software engineer. I was also able to flex my design muscles a little bit, while learning some marketing along the way. Stack: * Node.js w/ Typescript backend * React + Semantic UI w/ Typescri…

I tested a lot of similar project in the past 2 years: Buxfer, GNUCash, YNAB 4 & 5, Mint, and Banktivity (currently using) and I'm willing to pay as high as $70 per year for a product that fulfills my needs. I liked your project, the interface is clean, responsive and fast. If I may, I would like to give you my list of the most useful features : - Self-hosted: Although, I used online apps in the past, this is now an…

can you provide a comparison of the products you've used?

Re: Show HN: Lunch Money, a personal budgeting tool with multi-currency support

#106

Post by t0astbread »

jnfr wrote: post #45
t0astbread wrote: post #43

This looks really cool! I'm not sure if I wanna register myself on this service yet so I haven't seen a lot of it but I'm curious: How is my transaction data imported? Are there APIs for that or do something else? (Sorry if this is explained somewhere on the site already.)

I use Plaid ( https://plaid.com ) which also powers many other financial apps.

Oh cool they actually use the PSD2 in Europe

Re: Show HN: Lunch Money, a personal budgeting tool with multi-currency support

#107

Post by jnfr »

mywacaday wrote: post #100
jnfr wrote: post #2

Hi Show HN, I'm really excited to share what I have been working on the side since late November last year. I am a one-person team and this project has allowed me to harness and grow from my few years of experience working as a software engineer. I was also able to flex my design muscles a little bit, while learning some marketing along the way. Stack: * Node.js w/ Typescript backend * React + Semantic UI w/ Typescri…

I took a look and won't use it as it can't connect to European banks and there is no manual import option. Is there a way to delete my account, can't find it?

Hi there, you can email support@lunchmoney.cc to request that we fully delete your data.

Re: Show HN: Lunch Money, a personal budgeting tool with multi-currency support

#108

Post by jnfr »

Joeri wrote: post #98
jnfr wrote: post #2

Hi Show HN, I'm really excited to share what I have been working on the side since late November last year. I am a one-person team and this project has allowed me to harness and grow from my few years of experience working as a software engineer. I was also able to flex my design muscles a little bit, while learning some marketing along the way. Stack: * Node.js w/ Typescript backend * React + Semantic UI w/ Typescri…

Congrats on what looks like a great project. I've been a paying YNAB customer for over a year, so I assume I'm your target market. I haven't felt a particular need for multi-currency support. What would you say the advantage is over YNAB aside from multi-currency support? If it helps I can tell you what I really like about YNAB: - The mobile app is very easy and intuitive for entering transactions as they occur. It p…

I would actually say that because you are a YNAB'er, you are not my target audience. Lunch Money works best for first-time budgeters because they don't have a previous foundation for budgeting. The Lunch Money philosophy is fundamentally different from YNAB, being that it's not envelope-based and we don't track/assign every dollar. YNAB'ers tend to be very loyal to the YNAB philosophy and while there's nothing wrong with that, it would be an uphill battle to convert already paying users of YNAB to Lunch Money.

We started off with not importing transactions, but ultimately integrating with Plaid was useful for us to get our first 50 or so users off the ground and running right away.

Thanks for the kind words and for taking the time to write feedback.

Re: Show HN: Lunch Money, a personal budgeting tool with multi-currency support

#109

Post by jnfr »

jcutrell wrote: post #62
jnfr wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thank you for the kind words! Lunch Money is definitely a different way of budgeting. I mentioned this in an earlier comment, but my target audience is more first-time budgeters. I know it would be an uphill battle to convert YNAB'ers since they are very loyal to envelope-based method. That being said, since you're a die-hard YNAB'er, if you have any ideas around this, I'm all ears!

I do the envelope method with EveryDollar. I like the simplicity of everydollar, but I want some of the features you’ve built (like average for a category - so obvious and simple, but SO useful!) How does this tool work in contrast to an envelope system?

I would say that there are definitely similarities between Lunch Money and the envelope system, but the main differentiator lies in the execution and psychology behind it.

The envelope system is pretty strict and while there are some good points about it such as encouraging discipline and planning, Lunch Money way is more about course correction. Instead of focusing on setting the amount of money in your envelope for this month and cutting yourself off when you've depleted it, go through a mental exercise of predicting how much you'll be spending. Then, reassess how you did and adjust accordingly for the next budget period. The overarching goal is to get better at predicting your spending next month, rather than constraining yourself to adhere to your budget this month and I hope the tools we offer, such as the average, help to facilitate this.

Re: Show HN: Lunch Money, a personal budgeting tool with multi-currency support

#110

Post by wellpast »

jmiserez wrote: post #96
wellpast wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a great list of my exact same needs. I believe that the correct solution is a desktop application. How many of you/us do you think there are? And how much would you/they pay for this?

For personal budgeting, I believe it's crucial to have a mobile app for entry on the go and basic reports. Going through statements monthly/weekly and assigning the correct categories retroactively is just too hard.

I’ve always found it much easier to lean on downloaded transactions.

Data entry through the day is way too cumbersome to me.

Am I alone on this?

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