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Show HN: I made a super simple iOS app to track expenses

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Re: Show HN: I made a super simple iOS app to track expenses

#21
post #10

63.5MB? Why so big?!

Are you joking?

iOS apps are big. I checked my top 10 results for “budgeting” in the store and this app is smaller than half of those.

It does strike me as odd that apps are so big these days, but this one isn’t particularly large.

Re: Show HN: I made a super simple iOS app to track expenses

#22
post #8

Well, good luck to you but you're competing in a very crowded field. Disconnected expense-tracking apps are just one step under Todo apps, in terms of number of alternatives... And most users just don't stick with them, because manually tracking every transaction is exhausting. When you'll start thinking about adding automated bank fees, which is the necessary progression of the concept, then you'll discover why ther…

Yes, that is very complicated to make its place in this kind of app but I've already made an app in another (way less, but still) crowded field and it's now one of most downloaded in certain countries, with more than 1 million downloads. So why not, we have to try to see the result !

And yes, you're right, adding expenses manually is exhausting, but you don't have to worry about your data. Linking a bank account is huge ! Also, adding an online part make the app way more complex. As I really want my apps to be as easy and quick to use as possible, it would not match.

Re: Show HN: I made a super simple iOS app to track expenses

#23
post #16
post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Either they ask to connect to my bank, or they ask me to manually enter my expenses. What other options are there?

If I had a great idea, I'd build it. I do think if you could reduce the friction of adding a transaction to very, very low (maybe adding a transaction through a combination of voice and location-awareness?), I'd consider giving it a shot. It's a tall wall to climb, and there isn't an obvious ladder lying around.

Thank you very much for sharing your ideas !

Re: Show HN: I made a super simple iOS app to track expenses

#24

Thanks I might try this. I gave up on budgeting a while ago trying to account for every cent in a double entry kinda way. However perfect is the enemy of good and I am up for trying a simpler budget approach.

Here’s my favorite trick…

Setup a “bills” account for your recurring expenses like loan payments, housing, utilities, and recurring entertainment.

Ask your employer to automatically deposit the amount to cover those into that account. Setup your transactions to come out of that account. Now you can ignore these expenses. Adjust as needed.

Put the rest of your money in a “fun” account. Use this one for all your other discretionary spending.

Best thing I ever did to stop thinking about my money so much.

Re: Show HN: I made a super simple iOS app to track expenses

#25
post #10

63.5MB? Why so big?!

To be honest there's nothing special in the code or whatever. Almost all the apps I worked on are at least 50MB so it does not surprise me.

The smallest one I've worked on is a 2 screens app, 100% offline, without any third-library, without in-app purchases and without onboarding etc so it's clearly the less you can do and it's still almost 20MB.

Re: Show HN: I made a super simple iOS app to track expenses

#26
Congrats on the launch.

I don’t know how folks manage to consistently budget if they have to enter transactions manually.

After trying a bunch of overly complex budgeting apps like ynab - I wrote one for my wife and I (it used to be open for others). https://fiers.co/features/spend

I’m using a developer plaid account (free) to download transactions. Works pretty well - we are goin on 4 years of budgeting and it’s been great.

Re: Show HN: I made a super simple iOS app to track expenses

#28
post #27

FWIW, I know this is a simple app and all but the biggest pain I've ever found in expense tracking is no one supports multi currencies. I have literally one option to track expenses in CAD and USD.

That's a very good feedback, thank you very much ! I'll check if it's possible to switch currency without adding complexity for mono currency users.

Re: Show HN: I made a super simple iOS app to track expenses

#29
Nice app. Good luck.

I use a spreadsheet tailored exactly to my situation.

It's not exactly for "budgeting" but it's more of a general purpose expense tracker.

It started out simple, but it's now got categories, tracks various bank accounts, investments, gives me useful data for my tax calculations etc. Graphing is built-in. Building new features for new use cases hasn't been too hard so far.

And I have hooked up to it other scripts to do periodic cleanups, parse emails and populate data etc.

(by the way, spreadsheet apps have a high power to weight ratio).

Re: Show HN: I made a super simple iOS app to track expenses

#30
post #27

FWIW, I know this is a simple app and all but the biggest pain I've ever found in expense tracking is no one supports multi currencies. I have literally one option to track expenses in CAD and USD.

I can recommend Splid[1]. Very easy to use, low effort expense tracking app that supports shared tracking without any signup or the need of an account. Supports Multi-Currency.

[1]https://splid.app/english

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