Manual expense entry

Often shops don’t take cards, so I withdraw cash using my Monzo card to pay. This kind of ruins the whole tracking for the month per category. It would be great if I could manually enter an expense paid with cash so I can track the categories. (Maybe you can add manually add items to a cash withdrawal entry?)

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the issue is you may not wish to recategorise an ATM transaction to one category say Groceries, but perhaps multiple e.g. Groceries, Eating Out, and Transport. There is no way to split a transaction.

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Transaction data shows what gets credited and what gets withdrawn - it is not a full-on expenses management system. Drawing cash at an ATM is cash withdrawal, then categorising that withdrawal as something else would surely just confuse matters.

So it would be good to support split transactions. For example, you go into a garage to buy petrol and while there buy some groceries in the garage shop. If the petrol and groceries are paid for in one transaction should that be categorised as transport, groceries or as a split transaction?

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That seems to be the most popular solution for this use case -

Yes totally agree with the split transaction category as that is a card transaction covering a couple of different categories made at the same point-of-sale. I just think splitting a £20 cash withdrawal into different things becomes messy and time consuming.

£3.50 Post Office stamps (Shopping)
30p to use the loo at train station (General)
60p Mars bar (Shopping)
70p can of Coke (Shopping)
£1.20 bus ticket (Transport)

etc. etc…

Lol :slight_smile:

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That is what I used to do in Microsoft Money, split every cash withdrawal into it’s constituent categories :slight_smile:

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Far too much time on your hands… lol
I can see it being useful for micro-money management if you need to do that, thankfully I don’t. :slight_smile:

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I used to collect all my receipts and reconcile my accounts every day, even put references on internal transfers between my current account and savings account, so yes…probably a bit anal :slight_smile:

I even remember the good old days when they sent you your stamped and signed cheques back with your statements :slight_smile:

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I don’t think many people want to split all their groceries into categories, it’s more for the case of getting a tenner out for the local food truck.

Anyway, thanks for that existing thread. Seems that this is already possible. What’s not very obvious is that the reassignment only counts for this withdrawal. I assumed it would apply to every future withdrawal too (could be just be, may need some user testing).

… but that’s messy and time consuming for the person choosing to do it. I don’t see how the option to do so would affect those who don’t want to do this.

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I’m thinking more the UX would become messy having the option to split a £10 withdrawal into a load of different categories - we all want an experience that is simple and not bloated out.

I don’t think it needs to be bloated - there are budgeting apps out there that manage to split transactions with good design and ease. For someone who doesn’t want to, the most you might see is “Split transaction” at the bottom of your transaction details.

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Like what? Then why not use a budgeting app to record splits?

The point of this kind of venture, surely, is to get a good banking app that does more than just show what you spent, but can be used for budgeting and whatever you want, rather than rigid.

Personally I don’t need this, but I can see perfectly fine why this would be a useful feature for many other people, and I don’t buy the idea that it will bloat the app in any shape or form.

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Fair point - but I design UX’s and know how before long, these things can snowball into something unwieldy.

Well there’s presumably teams of people to prevent too much clutter :slight_smile:

Personally - this is a good simple thing to aid in budgeting - in theory if I go to Sainsbury’s I might spend £100 one time because I bought a lamp and my dinner. I can see the need to say “£90 was homeware and £10 groceries” so that when I go to see how much I spent on groceries per month it’s accurate.

For any good budgeting system (which Monzo is creeping into) this is essential!

But yes, we need folk like you keeping an eye on the UX, and that’s very much appreciated :slight_smile:

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Not yet, but it should be possible

Can Monzo pleaseeeeeee get a button to add in cash spending for when you had to use cash but still want to document it in your monthly spending section! I’m often having to use cash for car parks or markets etc, so I really wish you could enter these outgoings into the app manually so the spending section really is what you’ve spent this month, rather than just how much you used your card for.
For people who get paid into their bank, this wouldn’t be a problem as it would just be a cash withdrawal. But some of us, such as myself, get paid in cash. So I’m super desperate for a cash spent manual input!!

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You’ve got a good point, @AmyS ! I use my Monzo’s contactless so much that the few times I’ve had to use cash it’s really bugged me. I’m not sure how this would work in the app, exactly, but I think this is a great idea!

I’ve just moved your original post in here to join our lovely users who were talking about it before, and so you can read their thoughts too. :blush: