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Cashmonki is a mobile expense and budget tracker that lets users track transactions manually or through AI-powered receipt scanning.
finance
mobile
ux
Product
iOS application
Contribution
Product design
Feature development
Design system guidelines
shipped
Established a budget management feature with a push for user control and clarity
(01) what
Cashmonki was initially developed around one core feature: users could add and track transactions either manually or through AI-powered receipt scanning. This low-friction experience helped set the app apart from other personal finance tools.
When we explored expanding functionality, it became clear that the next step was a budget management feature, to move beyond tracking past activity and help users plan ahead.
(02) why
As someone who has tracked budgets across spreadsheets, notebooks, and mobile apps, I've found that seeing past transactions alone rarely leads to better financial decisions. Budgeting tools provide structure and foresight, but only when they're easy to use.
60% of consumers
didn’t know how much money they spent the previous month, according to a 2020 Intuit study.
Almost 1 in 2 people
have expressed concern regarding their personal finances, based on a 2024 study by Ally Financial.
(03) But
While developing this feature, we realized that "budget management" meant different things to different people. Our lead focused on short-term, goal-based budgets, while I prioritized long-term spending patterns and overall balance.
To support both approaches, we explored budgeting across adjustable time ranges rather than a single fixed cycle.
(04) how
A competitor analysis revealed that most budgeting features were locked into monthly cycles, offering little flexibility. We wanted users to define budgets on their own terms: daily, weekly, or long-term.
A key challenge was translating budgets across different timeframes. For example, what would a daily budget look like on a weekly or monthly basis? We addressed this by designing adaptive calculations that preserve context across periods.
(05) end
Although Cashmonki’s budgeting feature is optional and usage is inherently intentional, early launch data shows meaningful engagement:
1 in 3 active users
created a budget at peak, showing strong adoption of the feature.
25% of users
continued creating budgets daily in the month following launch.
These patterns show that the feature resonates with users who return to plan and manage their finances, not just log transactions.