Ask HN: Would you use a chat-based money tracker?
1 chetansorted 3 8/13/2025, 8:24:28 AM
I've been experimenting with using GPT-4 to turn financial tracking into something as simple as chatting with a friend.
Instead of using spreadsheets or budgeting apps with rigid inputs, I created a personal finance assistant where you just talk to it:
“Spent ₹300 on lunch” “Paid ₹12,000 for rent” “Freelance income ₹5,000” “Set food budget to ₹10,000” It understands natural language, categorizes expenses, tracks monthly budgets, gives spending summaries, and even generates charts — all inside a conversational interface. Right now, it's running as a GPT with memory and a custom backend that logs transactions, handles budget rules, and supports custom categories (like “Cigarettes” or “Loans”).
I'm working on packaging it into a mobile app with a simple chat UI. Would love your thoughts:
Is this something you'd use? Any ideas on making it more useful/fun? What features would make it better than Excel or Notion-based trackers? Live demo soon — just validating interest before I go full-on.
Logging transactions on the go demands the interface to be rapidly accessible. Touch screen typing is error-prone and slow. I'd prefer a dedicated interface where I could just tap one of the available categories and enter the sum with a large number pad.
It'd make sense to primarily synchronize data from their online bank account and then ask the user to clarify/categorize unknown events. Obviously an online sync is hard to implement for all banks, so a TSV import would be a bare necessity. My bank has integrated financial tracking nicely in their mobile application.
The goal is to make it feel as effortless as sending a quick voice note.
That said, I love your idea of having a quick-access number pad + category buttons as an alternative. Could be great for when you’re in a rush or want to log multiple expenses fast.
And yeah, syncing with banks would be ideal, but pretty tough to pull off across all providers — especially here in India. A TSV/CSV import option sounds like a solid workaround for now. Definitely noting that.
Really appreciate your input — this kind of feedback is exactly what I need at this stage.