In 2016, my wife and I took a big step—we moved into a small rented apartment together. From day one, we decided to budget as a team. I had seen my parents face financial challenges, and I was determined to avoid money-related conflicts in our relationship. We started with a notebook, recording every expense. It felt responsible and mature, but it quickly became clear that budgeting was more than just tracking numbers—it was a deeper, ongoing challenge.

Our early attempts at tracking expenses were far from perfect. We missed entries, forgot expenses, and our numbers rarely added up. That's when someone suggested using Google Sheets.
It felt like an upgrade. We could categorize expenses, calculate totals, and even generate charts. It brought much-needed structure to our budgeting process. However, it wasn't the ideal solution:
- Overspending on Targets: While we could set limits for categories like groceries and dining, we often discovered we had exceeded our targets only at the end of the month when we updated the sheet.
- Time Consuming Updates: We tried switching to weekly updates to stay on track, but the process was too tedious to sustain.

Eventually, Google Sheets became more of a chore than a solution. Just as we were about to give up, something exciting happened.

A banking app entered our lives, and it felt revolutionary:
- Automatic categorization saved us hours.
- Budgeting per category became easier.
- Joint accounts so we can spend from one place

But, as good as it was, problems remained:
- Categories were often incorrect.
- Automated transactions felt out of sync with our budgeting goals.
- Despite having access to detailed statistics and charts, we lacked a strategy for improving our savings.
- Cash transactions still had to be entered manually in Google Sheets.

Despite the improvements offered by the banking app, we still relied on Google Sheets to get a complete view of our finances. However, even this combined approach had a significant flaw: it didn't account for long-term expenses.

Budgeting monthly gave us clarity—but only on a surface level. Major expenses — like new smartphones (every 3 years), car tires (every 2 years), or home renovations (every 7 years), were often overlooked. These "predictable" costs weren’t fully accounted for, leaving gaps in our financial planning.
We realized that to truly understand our finances, we needed to integrate these predictable expenses into our budget. Whenever an unexpected big expense happens, we take into account when was the last time it happen, adjusting for inflation. For future planning we set up monthly payments for it. For example if a renovation of 10 000 happens every 7 years. The months of 7 years are 84. We divide 10 000 by 84 and it turns out that we should put aside 120 every month for this. If we decide to not renovate later that's fine.

We’ve always loved the idea of passive investing and wanted to ensure that every month, a fixed amount automatically went to our broker. This led us to a strategy of fixed and relative savings:

- Priority Savings: Essential or goal driven savings, like investments, had a set amount.
- Flexible Savings: Non-essentials, like vacations, hobbies, and shopping, were tied to what we saved overall.
For example we can set 50% for vacations, 35% business and 15% hobby from after what is left from spending and priority savings. This approach motivated us to save more—knowing that the better we saved, the better our experiences could be and we always plan our vacations in advance, stress-free.

One day, I stumbled upon a Khan Academy course on budgeting for 7th grade. 50/30/20 rule (I wish I'd learned this sooner!)

- 50% on needs (housing, utilities, groceries).
- 30% on wants (dining out, hobbies).
- 20% on savings.

Instead of having a budget limit for every category, this divided our spending into two parts: needs and wants. This further simplified our budgeting experience. However, instead of strictly following this rule, we adapted it to our approach. We aimed to spend as little as possible on needs, but not more than 50%. If we did exceed 50%, we make up a plan to pull it down within six months. And then it worked.
The same went for wants: we aimed to spend as little as possible, but not more than 30%. Everything looked really simplified and nice. But something was still missing.

We weren’t guessing anymore—we had a budgeting system that worked for us. But it was trapped in Google Sheets.
Each month ended with frustration, exporting and merging data by hand. No app fit our way of thinking. So I used my programming skills to build something different: a tool shaped by experience, not assumptions. Vigeo prioritizes essential features over unnecessary complexity.

Hi, I’m Yanko—and I’m building a budgeting tool that’s truly helpful, refreshingly simple, and grounded in real-world experience. But I can’t build it in a vacuum. I need your voice. You can start by sharing your budgeting experiences in this quick poll (takes 30-60 seconds).

As a thank-you, I’m offering perks for the first 500 people who actively help shape the app. That means bonuses, early access, direct influence on features, and more.

Join our Beta Community by 👉 sending us an email or text us in Discord

Let's redefine financial awareness—together.