Warning: I lost $200 on a 'budgeting app' that was basically a spreadsheet

So I got this ad for a fancy budgeting app that promised to automate everything and find hidden savings. I paid for the yearly plan upfront, thinking it would be worth it. Turns out, it just imported my bank transactions into a basic spreadsheet template I could have made in Google Sheets for free. The 'smart insights' were just generic tips like 'spend less on coffee'. I used it for about three months before I gave up and canceled, but they wouldn't refund the rest of the year. Total waste of $200 that could have gone to my actual debt. Has anyone else fallen for a budgeting tool that was way less useful than it claimed?

3 comments

3 Comments

theajohnson15d ago

Did you check the app's refund policy before you signed up?

hannahcraig15d ago

Wait, but who actually reads those things? They're always buried in tiny text at the bottom. Did you find something sketchy in the policy details?

alicer5315d ago

Yeah the "smart insights" are always a red flag. I just use a free spreadsheet now and make my own categories, it takes five minutes. Those apps are never as clever as they pretend to be.