Why budget planning?
Money influence happiness. People who have a sense of control over their life are happier. Financial cushion allows you to have more choices how to live your life.
App you already use
Within Means tries to get out of your way on tracking spendings as much as possible. It works as a Telegram bot so that you have a familiar interface on every platform. It provides sane defaults so often you only need to send it the amount spent. As easy as clicking /start.
me /start
Within Means This is an app to help you with your budget. Click /help for a list of commands.
Within Means
Let's create you an account for a start. Please enter a currency and name.
Example: USD Savings
me EUR Main
Within Means Updated. Your balance is €0.00.
me +2000
me 20
me 600 rent
me /balance
Within Means Your balance is €1 380.00.
Multiple Currencies
Whether you're on a trip or generally use more than one currency, Within Means got you covered. Create and close as many accounts as you want, permanent and disposable.
me /create_account
Within Means Please enter currency and name. Example: USD Savings
me AED Trip
Within Means
Updated. Here is your new balance:Main* €1 380.00
Trip AED0.00
me +4000 AED
me 1200 AED Hotel
me /balance
Within Means
Here is your balance:Main* €1 380.00
Trip AED2 800.00
Automatic Categories
Add comments to your expenses, Within Means will categorize them automatically. Ease of use over configurability.
me 40 gym
me /stat
Within Means
Here is your balance:Main* €1 340.00
Trip AED2 800.00
Within Means
Here is how you spend money:
Hotel AED1 200.00
Rent €600.00
Gym €40.00
No category €20.00
Group Chats
Use Within Means to keep your family budget or plan a trip with friends.
Add @within_means_bot to a chat, plan and record your expenses together. Within Means will show money spent per category and per person. Only one person in a chat needs to have a subscription. Use as many chats as you need.
service You created the group Trip
me 87.75 * 4 House
me 220 Car
service You invited Elena
Elena 280 Flight
me 50 food
Elena 60 Fuel
Elena 80 food
me 10 food
Elena /stat
Within Means Your balance is -€1 051.00.
Within Means
Here is how you spend money: By person:
House €351.00
Flight €280.00
Car €220.00
Food €140.00
Fuel €60.00
@my_username €631.00
@elena_username €420.00
Planning mode
Plan your income and expenses here too. When you use a plan, statistics will compare actual expenses to the plan.
Assigning every dollar only scratches your anxiety. Let some of your money lay unassigned. Within Means tracks how much is spent unplanned so you know you're still comfortable with your finances.
me /plan
Within Means Please choose a plan or enter a name for a new one
me August 2026
Within Means
You have entered planning mode. All the usual commands still work, but the result is stored separately as planned. Later, your plans can be compared to the reality.
/normal to return to normal mode.
me 600 rent
me 800 food
me 50 USD subscriptions
me 150 health
me /normal
Within Means You are back in normal mode.
me /start_financial_period
me 580 rent
me /stat
Within Means Your balance is €1 420.00.
Within Means
Here is how you spend money:
Category Plan Fact
Rent €600 €580
Food €800 0
Health €150 0
Subscriptions $50 0
See what's overbudget
A leaky budget is rarely leaky because of a single category. It's usually a death by a thousand papercuts. Within means is to help you identify and calibrate your expectations about every one of them. Use it as a starting point to a dialog how to correct your plans or spendings.
me 580 rent
me 80 birthday gift
me $30 pets
me 100 health
me 260 cosmetics
me 40 health
me $40 pets
me 100 health
me /overbudget
Within Means
Here is money you spent that is overbudget:
Health €150.00
Cosmetics €120.00
Birthday gift €80.00
Pets $50.00
me /help
Within Means
Quick commands Statistics Money Tracking Account Management Split Planning and Budgeting Subscription Settings
20 USD food - Spend $20 on the category named Food
+200 - Record $200 of income.
/stat - Show statistics
/overbudget - Show overbudget statistics
/yet_to_spend - Show what's left to spend
/stat_web - Open statistics in browser
/stat_past - Show statistics for previous financial periods
/stat_year - Show statistics for a whole year
/export - Export expenses data
/income - Record income
/set_default_category - Change default spending category
/set_balance - Update balance
/currency_exchange - Currency exchange
/update_account - Update account
/close_account - Close account
/set_default - Change default account. Useful on a trip
/set_default_for_currency - Set default account, but only for a currency
/set_convertible - Set account to use on all foreign currencies
Track who should send whom money so that spendings are even.
/together - Be in the same bucket with someone when splitting money
/normal - Normal mode (default)
/start_financial_period - Choose a plan and follow it
/finished - Adjust plan for the category to the current spent amount
/unsubscribe - Unsubscribe
/toggle_ignore - Ignore messages that are not commands. Respond with an error message by default.
/help - Show this message
Get your budget under control
- Track your expenses
- Make a plan
- See what's good and what to improve
- Repeat until satisfied