Guides

How to track your expenses without linking your bank account

A lot of money apps start by asking for your bank login. Plenty of people would rather not hand that over. You do not need it to know where your money goes.

Why typing it in works better than you expect

When an app pulls every transaction in for you, it is easy to never look at it. When you type a spend in yourself, you notice it. That moment of noticing is most of what changes how you spend.

A routine that takes a few minutes

1. Set your weekly number once. Take-home pay minus rent, EMIs, bills and saving, divided by the days in the month, times seven.
2. Log once a day, in the evening. Go through the day: UPI payments, card swipes, cash. Rough amounts are fine. ₹180 for chai and a snack is close enough.
3. Skip the categories if they slow you down. The number going down is what matters. You can add a short note if you like.
4. Check your bank balance on Sunday. Compare it with what your plan says you should have. The difference is whatever you forgot to log, and you spread it over the rest of the month.

What about the spends you forget?

You will forget some. That is why the weekly balance check matters. Your bank balance does not forget anything, so once a week it puts you back on the real number without you having to remember every small payment.

How VThrive does this

I built VThrive around exactly this routine. You set your plan once, type in what you spend, and the app keeps your number for the week on the home screen. On Sunday you enter your balance and it adjusts the rest of the month. It never asks for your bank login, and it is free on iPhone and Android.

Start with your number

Varun Thakkar, founder of VThrive. Write to me at varun@vthrive.co.in if something here is wrong.