Gemini replaced my expense tracker, and I didn’t expect it to

Gemini can do a number of things that will blow your mind. However, I didn’t expect it to be this good at something so simple I use every day. Expense tracking is that one task I repent doing every single day, but I still do it anyway because it’s critical to my monthly budgeting. Plus, the historical data helps me compare my spending habits through graphs and charts — you know, proper nerd stuff. 

But collecting all that data piece by piece, properly categorizing it, labelling it, and attaching a payment method to each entry for proper tracking requires meticulous work. It becomes a chore, especially when I have to log over a dozen transactions every week. 

I’ve been looking for a tool that can automate this task for me, which is difficult — particularly on the iPhone without SMS access. And just like that, I wanted to try how good Gemini could be at personal finance management — turns out it’s pretty solid. 

I have a lengthy log of my expenses, tracked since early 2021 — that’s a lot of data to benchmark against. I’ve stuck with the app Expenses Manager to consistently log every transaction I make, with details like the amount, merchant, category, and payment method I used. That’s a lot of data, but every bit of it is important for creating a reliable trail I can track if the need arises, which happens at least a couple of times a month. Those years of data are what kept me locked into the app. 

Manually feeding the data is the hardest part, and I’ve been looking to automate it to my liking — that is, with a bit of control and customization. And Gemini fit the bill perfectly. It’s a natural-language chat interface, so giving it information is like chatting with my accountant rather than painstakingly filling out set forms over and over again.

The switch to Gemini has simplified the hardest part for me — I can simply paste the transaction SMS or give it a screenshot, and it parses the information accurately under the heads I’ve defined. 

And if something is missing, it cross-checks with me before adding the log. Simple. A good thing is that Gemini is date-aware, unlike ChatGPT, so I don’t have to specify the timeline over and over again — it keeps track of it on its own. As a result, the process has started to feel less like a chore that I defer, piling up weeks of transactions to be done in one go. 

Easier data entry is one part of the story, but the more important thing is what you do with that data. To give Gemini all the context, I exported all my transactions since 2021 in a CSV file and gave it to Gemini to parse. 

That did two things. First, I didn’t have to manually tell it what payment methods and categories I use. Second, all that data is now used for comparing my spending trends — a critical feature of dedicated expense trackers. 

And yes, that’s far easier too. Instead of scrolling through a never-ending list of transactions, I simply ask Gemini to bring up how much I spent on food in February, or compare how much I’ve spent shopping this month versus the same time last year. Gemini creates comparison charts for me on the spot, and it can quickly export my data to Google Sheets with yearly or monthly tabs. *Chef’s kiss* 

Speaking of which, I’m not locked into Gemini because I can easily export all my transactions and move to another platform — something my existing tool charged me a fee (albeit small) for. 

With traditional expense trackers, I have to stick to their entry and retrieval flow. But inside Gemini chat, I can create my own rules. 

For instance, I instructed it to check for duplicate transactions and ask me before making a double entry, while other transactions are logged without confirmation. Besides that, I’ve asked it to show me my total monthly spending for the current month after each entry, just so I know exactly how much I’m overspending. 

Small touches like these have simplified the flow for me and reduced the very friction that used to bother me in the previous app. 

Downsides, but not deal breakers 

My first instinct with Gemini was to create a custom Gem with my instructions inside, but I quickly realized that while Gems are a perfect tool to set up an expense tracker, the way Gemini handles them didn’t suit me. 

For every new transaction I wanted to log inside my custom Gem, Gemini would create a new chat instead of keeping everything in a single one. That was too chaotic for me, and its analysis was much slower than regular chats. That’s why I jumped back to a simple chat inside Gemini that I’ve now pinned. 

That brings me to another problem I faced. While logging the transactions themselves is now much easier and friction-free, I still have to open the Gemini app and find the expense tracker chat before I can add the transaction. 

Furthermore, I found that Gemini sometimes messes up when extracting data from screenshots. It hallucinated for me and created a transaction on its own — screenshots are an edge case for my workflow, so I don’t mind the sporadic manual work.  

But none of these issues is big enough to make me stop using it. The benefits far outweigh the downsides, and I’ve now entirely ditched my dedicated expense manager. Exporting my data was the last thing I did in that app. 

Gemini isn’t your only way 

Gemini turned out to be a solid expense tracker for me through an experiment of mine, but that doesn’t mean it’s the only option for you. While Expenses Manager has worked well for me so far — except for its lack of automation — there are plenty of alternatives you can try out, like Cashew or Money Manager, if they serve you better. 

Given how impressed I am with Gemini, I’d suggest giving it a try before settling on an app.