[palpfiction]

https://getkakeibo.com - an extremely simple app to get your finances in order, based on the kakeibo method. You make a plan for your month (income, fixed expenses) and then you track your expenses daily, categorising them into simple buckets: wants, needs, culture and unexpected.

At the end of the month, the app guides you through a reflection flow where you can learn about your habits and think about what you want to improve. 100% offline, fully private, no AI.

The app is paid, but I actually made a page for HN readers to get it for free, I'm having a lot of trouble with distribution: https://getkakeibo.com/hn/

[itake]

I want to build a personal finance app that is identity based, similar to how dieticians and athletes approach their health.

If your best self is someone that doesn't drink, why did you spend $50 last month on alcohol?

Or if you see yourself as a thoughtful planner, why do you keep going to last minute convenience stores?

The goal is to help the person align their spending with their values.

[dgellow]

Is there a way to import expenses? It's a bit annoying if I have to enter them one by one on my phone, when I can easily get an export from my bank account on my desktop

[palpfiction]

it’s technically possible, as you can download export and import the SQLite database as you like, but my vision for the app is that logging each expense individually (with the annoyance that it entails) is one of the core points. There are a lot of apps right now that will be able to parse the data from your bank (even connect to it) and give you beautiful stats about your expenses, but my experience with those is that you see the graphs, think 2 minutes about them and forget instantly.

I wanted to make something totally different, with the hopes that it can make you a bit more conscious about your spending and habits.

[sshine]

It’s a good point. Going over each item is what works for us. But I still extract from the bank and into a spreadsheet so we have full control. The only thing spreadsheets lack is double entry.

[dgellow]

Fair points, that does make sense. Might be something to cover in a FAQ?

[palpfiction]

definitely, thanks for the idea!

[saxenaabhi]

> I'm having a lot of trouble with distribution

Maybe add a link to playstore/appstore under the generated promo code

small things like this have outsized effect

[palpfiction]

so true, I totally missed that. I will add it as soon as I can, thank you!

[sshine]

There are 8 apps on App Store called Kakeibo that are money/finance trackers, none of which have your website logo.

[palpfiction]

interesting. without an account, from my browser, I can see it in the fifth place. are you searching from your phone, iPad, laptop...?

but this checks out with my experience: extremely low visibility on the stores, I think I need to improve description/keywords and get more reviews. thanks for sharing!

[sshine]

Or aim for different channels since the name itself isn't unique enough.

I'm not sure I could click an App Store link on your page; either I couldn't, or I could and the button wasn't visible enough.

[palpfiction]

Good point, I will make the links more evident and available in every page.

On the use of other channels, I’m quite conflicted. I’m trying to optimise for ASO but it’s clearly not working, at least not without a considerable amount of reviews (who’s going to pay, even if it’s the price of a coffee) for something without any references?

I did a small test with Google ads, but it was a disaster, with every click costing around $1, which would most likely lose me money with every purchase. Not sure if that’s a valid investment.

Then social networks: reddit is already filled with vibecoded alternatives and as a user, it is really tiring to see one or two masked ads in every post. I don’t want to contribute to that. I think I could still contact some (micro)influencers to get some publicity in Instagram/TikTok, but I’m honestly so tired of that type of content that I’m not sure I want to go that way.

Sorry for the rant :)

[NiallBunting]

I tried to get a promo code for android (twice - on WiFi and data) both times I got that "this code has expired".

[palpfiction]

I re-generated the codes now, but I think they’ll only be available in 43 minutes, couldn’t set an earlier time.

I have some that are still valid, so hopefully you can redeem one of them:

  J0VMWKELS94CYMD7JJ281WZ

  HCAFBBPFNHUWG30BKKS6ZNY

  G85E4PVU1DRYBE99AF5SW49 

  0WJZFV6HUCXPSV08N7WMYJL

[palpfiction]

oh no, I'm so sorry about this. I generated the codes some time ago when I posted a "Show HN" post, and forgot that they expired at the end of May. I'll generate new ones and let you know when available. thanks a lot for the heads up!