Goldmend Money

Journal · Financce · Getting started

Set up Financce in 10 minutes: accounts, bills, budgets and your first expense

A step-by-step first session with Financce: add your accounts, enter regular bills, set three budgets and log today's spending in about ten minutes.

Goldmend Money
4 min read

Many people give up on money tracking in the first week, because the first session is messy. They add one coffee, see an empty dashboard and never come back.

This guide gives you a better first session. In about ten minutes you will have your accounts, your regular bills, a few budgets and today's spending in place. After that, the daily habit takes seconds.

Minute 0–1: choose how to start

When you first open Financce you are asked how you want to start.

If you are curious, pick Explore with sample data first. Every screen fills with example numbers, so you can tap around and see what each part does. When you are ready, tap Start fresh on the Home banner. The sample data goes, and anything you added yourself stays.

If you already know you want to track your own money, pick Start with my own money.

Choose your currency on the same screen, for example S$, RM, A$ or US$. If you change it later, Financce asks whether to convert your amounts at the exchange rate of each date or only change the symbol.

Minute 1–3: add your accounts

Go to More → Accounts → Add account. Add the places your money actually sits. For most households that means:

  • the cash in your wallet
  • your main bank account
  • any credit card you use
  • your e-wallet, such as the one you use for tolls, parking or hawker stalls

For each one, enter the balance right now. Look at your banking app and copy the number. For a credit card, enter what you owe as a negative number, such as -850.

Minute 3–5: add the bills that repeat

Go to More → Bills and income → Add bill. Add anything that leaves your account on a schedule:

  • rent or housing loan
  • phone and internet
  • electricity and water
  • insurance
  • streaming and app subscriptions
  • car loan or instalment plans

Choose how often each one repeats: weekly, monthly, every three months or yearly. For a phone or furniture you pay off in parts, turn on Instalment plan with an end and enter how many payments are left.

While you are there, add your salary as Income (money in) with the next expected date. Now the app knows when money arrives as well as when it leaves.

Minute 5–7: set three budgets

Open the Budgets tab. You do not need a budget for every category. Start with the three where money tends to leak. For many families these are:

  • Groceries and Dining
  • Transport (petrol, tolls, parking, rides)
  • Shopping or Fun

Start from last month's real spending, minus a little. If you have no idea, guess and adjust after a month.

Once you have budgets, Home shows Safe to spend per day. This number is what is left in your budgets this month, divided by the days remaining. It is the one number most people end up checking.

Minute 7–9: log today

Tap + on Home. Type the amount, pick a category and save. Add what you spent today: breakfast, the car park, the grocery top-up.

Pick the account each one came from. If you topped up your e-wallet from your bank, use Transfer instead of an expense. Transfers are not counted as spending, so your totals stay honest.

After a few days, the Repeat a recent one row on the add screen lets you log your usual teh tarik or MRT fare with one tap.

Minute 9–10: turn on reminders and protect the app

Open Settings:

  • Turn on Daily reminder to log spending and pick a time, such as after dinner.
  • Turn on Bill reminders. You will get a notification at 9am the day before each bill is due.

Then go to More → App lock and set a 4-digit PIN if other people use your phone. You can add fingerprint or face unlock too.

What to do this week

The setup is done. The habit starts now.

  • Every day: log spending as you go, or when the evening reminder arrives. It takes about ten seconds per item.
  • When a bill is paid: tap Mark as paid in Bills. It logs the expense and moves the due date forward.
  • At the end of the week: look at Home. Is the safe-to-spend number holding steady, or dropping fast?

A note on data

Financce keeps your data on your phone only. There is no account to create and no bank login to share. That also means you are in charge of backups. Once a month, go to Settings → Back up and save the file somewhere safe, such as Google Drive. Sign-in and sync are planned but not available yet.

Try it in Financce

Open the app now and do the first two steps: add your accounts and your bills. Even if you stop there, Home will show what is coming up and when. Come back tomorrow for the budgets.

This article is general information, not financial advice.

Try it in Financce, the Goldmend Money app for everyday money. Get Financce

General information, not financial advice. Figures are examples.

Next: The safe-to-spend-per-day method: one number that keeps your month on track