Build your own expense tracker with AI (no coding)

• Add an expense in a few taps: amount, category, date and a note
• This month's total, by category
• This month compared with the same point last month
• A list you can delete from, and a CSV export
• Everything saved in your own browser, with no account

Want to see a finished version first? Spendwise is our free expense tracker, built the same way and then polished. It's a good picture of where a first version can go.

1. 1Pick three to five must-havesSmall first versions work. You can always add more once the basics feel right.
2. 2Choose an AI assistantWe use Claude in our examples. The same steps work with any capable AI assistant that can write and preview a web page.
3. 3Use made-up numbers for testingNever paste bank statements, account numbers or real receipts into an AI chat while you build. Test data is all it needs.

1. 1Paste the starter promptCopy the prompt below into a new chat and send it. Change the categories to match your life.
2. 2Try it right awayAdd five or six made-up expenses across two months. Check that the totals add up and that everything is still there after you refresh.
3. 3Fix one thing at a timeTell the AI exactly what you saw and what you expected. One problem per message gets better results than a long list.
4. 4Add one featureOnce the basics work, add the one thing you'll use most, like repeating bills or a monthly budget.
5. 5Save it and use itAsk the AI how to save the page as a file, open it in your phone's browser and add it to your home screen.

I'm not a developer. Please build me a simple expense tracker as a single web page I can open in my browser.

What it should do:
- Add an expense: amount, category, date (default today) and an optional note
- Categories: Housing, Bills, Groceries, Eating out, Transport, Health, Fun, Other
- Show this month's total and a total for each category
- Compare this month with the same point last month
- List expenses, newest first, with a way to delete one
- Export everything to a CSV file

How it should work:
- Save everything in my browser on this device, so it's still there when I come back
- No accounts, no sign-up, and don't send my data anywhere
- Big, simple buttons that work well on a phone

Please explain in plain English how to save the page and open it on my phone.

Fix one thing at a time. Examples:

"When I refresh the page my expenses disappear. Please save them in the browser so they stay."

"The total is wrong. I added $12.50 and $7.25 and it shows $19.70. It should be $19.75."

"On my phone the buttons are too small. Make the Add expense button big and fixed at the bottom of the screen."

"Add a way to mark an expense as repeating every month."

"Explain what you changed and why, in two sentences."

• Expenses vanish when you reload: ask it to save to the browser's local storage.
• Totals are slightly off: give it the exact numbers you entered and the total you expected.
• Hard to use on a phone: ask for a mobile-first layout with large buttons.
• It keeps getting more complicated: say "keep it simple" and remove anything you don't use.
• Something broke after a change: ask it to go back to the last version that worked, then try again.

AI is only as good as the data you give it, and that cuts both ways: give it test data while you build, never your real financial details. Once the page is saved on your device, your real expenses stay in your own browser.

Browser storage lives on one device. Export to CSV now and then as a backup, especially before clearing your browser or switching phones.