Ask HN: Would you use a chat-based money tracker?

1 pointschetansorted7mo ago3 comments

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.

3 comments

praash7mo ago

For tracking to be at all effective, this requires the user to log all of their transactions thoroughly and accurately. Personally I'd never remember to update the logs immediately after a purchase during the day.

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.

chetansortedOP7mo ago

That’s a great point — I totally get that typing out expenses on a touchscreen every time isn’t realistic for most people. The core idea behind what I’m building is that it’s voice-first. You just open the app, tap the mic, and say something like “Spent 250 on chai” or “Paid 12,000 for rent yesterday.” It uses GPT on the backend to parse that and log it.

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.

JojoFatsani7mo ago

Nobody’s gonna dictate all their financial transactions into an app. Why not use something like Plaid, like the mature companies in this space (rocket money, mint, empower etc)

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