Sharing the link to this project I found and really like. It’s simple to setup with docker, simple to use but really helpful for people not already doing full-on budgeting, financial management.
It’s allowed to me quickly setup all of my monthly, yearly, etc… subscriptions and see them in one place. It includes this nice summary screen so you can see what you’re spending at a glance. (This is from my server but these are not the real numbers)
While I agree that mortgage is a monthly payment I highly doubt anyone would forget they signed up for it wouldn’t know they are paying it. Same with insurance. Bank app handles regular payments. This is more about the small charges that are hard to track.
Is it though? You can perfectly use this tool to keep all your running expenses in check, no matter if they’re easy to forget or not. It doesn’t hurt to have everything neatly summarized to compare your income against your spending, and evaluate if you need to get rid of any optional subscriptions, for example when your wage or job changes. Knowing all expenses is a vital part of budgeting.
Honestly I don’t get the entire concept of spending tracking apps. I believe in the end it just a hobby that some obsessive personality types enjoy with no real value behind it. Saving money is super easy: don’t buy things you don’t need. What I do is I make a meal plan for the week and only buy things needed to prepare them. I buy basic ingredients like vegetables, rice, chicken, eggs. If I need thinks like shampoo, detergent and stuff I compare the prices in the store and get the cheaper option. How would following all my expenses help me save any meaningful amount of money? For me you either don’t care about money and just buy everything you like or you simply make sure you don’t buy things you don’t need. Why would you need an app for that?
And going back to your example, I can cover all this with really simple spreadsheet. Monthly expenses: mortgage, car, spotify, netflix, insurance, VPS, bills, food… Why would I need an app for that? I think there could be some use in an app that specifically tracks entertainment subscriptions. I could have centralized info about current prices and free periods so you would just have to tell it when you signed up and for what plan and it could tell you when the next payment will be and what it will be. Still not very useful but IMHO way more useful than an app that tells you what’s your mortgage.