Meet the Dev, who codes for a very ordinary family problem
I'm a developer — and the husband of someone who logs every expense diligently: groceries, bills, kids, nothing skipped.
Recording is easy (sometimes I even forget, but it becomes a habit gradually), and the hard part is answering at month-end: how much did we spend this month? Where did most of it go? Any unusual expenses and ways to optimize?
Spreadsheets and existing apps are plentiful, but data entry is heavy, time-consuming, and the UI is cluttered — pulling summaries together is hard, so most people quit after a few weeks. In the end, people still screenshot and paste into ChatGPT to filter expenses, but often information gets lost or insights become inconsistent, and there's no monthly or yearly history...
So I did what devs do: built an app that's fast enough for daily life and our household.
“No more guessing at month-end — open the app and see where the money went.”
The journey
From a family need to an app on the App Store
- 1
The idea
Log spending fast, see the month at a glance — without adding chores.
- 2
Expense MVP
Form + transaction list, monthly reports, categories — enough for daily use.
- 3
AI & offline
Chat input in Vietnamese/English via Groq; log expenses when offline, syncs later.
- 4
Expand & ship to the store
Pay-cycle budgets, net worth, insights — plus a native iOS app, improving steadily.
What PockIQ does for you
Five core feature groups — what's actually in the app today
AI chat expense entry
Type naturally: “coffee 45k this morning”, “groceries $32” — AI suggests category and amount.
iOS app & offline
A native iOS app on the App Store. Log with no network; the outbox syncs when you're back online.
Reports & insights
Totals by day/month/period, compare prior periods; AI commentary when you ask.
Pay-cycle budgets
Set category limits per salary cycle or calendar month — alerts when you exceed.
Net worth
Track assets, liabilities, and money lent out — a wider financial picture beyond spending.
How is it different?
Not just “What did I spend?”
Traditional apps
“What did I spend?”
PockIQ
“Where did the money go? Just ask the AI.”
Still improving every week
Actively in development — feedback via Help Center in the app is read.
Not yet: buying Premium on the web (App Store only for now), Google/Apple sign-in on the web app, and an Android build — driven by real demand.
Why I built this app
Not to build a startup or demo technology.
Simply: solve a very ordinary family problem.
My wife needed fast logging and a clear overview. I needed something light enough to stick with — that's why PockIQ exists.
Privacy, in brief
Only you can see your data — the app never sells it and shows no ads. AI only reads the sentence you type; you can still enter everything by hand. If you stop using it, you can delete your account and all its data yourself, right in the app.
Read more:
A few things you can count on
Thanks for reading — I hope the app helps you a little, the way it has for my family.
What's next?
Get the app on the App Store, use the web version, or read the blog — every note helps improve the app.
On Android? Get notified when it hits Google Play