How do I track expenses in Telegram?

Open @BudgetLogBot and text each expense as one line, like 'lunch 12'. The bot categorizes it and /month shows totals by category.

Is this a Splitwise alternative for groups?

No — BudgetLogBot is for personal budgets in a private chat. For splitting shared costs inside a group, see our split-bills guide instead.

Can I get my data out?

Yes. /export generates a CSV of all logged expenses, so the ledger is yours to move into a spreadsheet any time.

How do I see my biggest expenses?

Send /top — it's free and instant. The bot ranks your 5 largest logged expenses of the current month, biggest first.

Does it remind me to log expenses?

It does not nag. Logging is instant enough that reminders are unnecessary — the only alerts are the 80% and 100% monthly cap warnings you opt into with /budget.

Track a Personal Budget by Texting a Telegram Bot

Most budget apps want a ritual: open the app, find the category, fill a form. That ritual is exactly why tracking stops after a week. Logging an expense should take as long as sending a text message — because it can be one.

BudgetLogBot lives in a Telegram chat. You text 'lunch 12' and it logs the expense, guesses the category, and files the day's total. No forms, no categories to maintain, no spreadsheet to update.

It is built for personal spending rather than splitting group bills — one private chat, one budget, totals and alerts when you want them. Because every entry is a single text message, the friction that kills most budgeting attempts is simply gone: you log the coffee before you finish drinking it.

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Steps

Start a private chat with the bot. Open @BudgetLogBot and press Start. The chat is a one-person ledger: everything you send is stored for you alone, and nothing posts to any group.
Log an expense with one line. Text 'coffee 4' or 'groceries 62.50'. The bot parses the amount, categorizes it automatically, and confirms with a one-line receipt. /cat add subscriptions teaches it custom categories when the guess is wrong.
Check totals when you want them. /today, /week and /month break spending down by category. /top ranks your 5 biggest expenses of the month in one glance — the fastest way to see where the money actually went. /trend draws your last 7 days as a sparkline so you can spot a spending spike before it becomes a habit. There is no push pressure — the numbers wait for you instead of nagging.
Set a monthly cap. /budget 1500 sets a monthly limit. The bot alerts you at 80% and again at 100%, which is enough signal without daily guilt trips.
Export when you outgrow it. /export produces a CSV of every logged expense, so your data is never locked inside the chat. Pro (150 Stars one-time) adds deeper breakdowns and a weekly summary DM.

Good to know

Free: unlimited expense logging, auto-categorization, /today /week /month totals, /top biggest-5 ranking, monthly cap with 80/100% alerts, CSV export.
Pro (150 Stars one-time): deeper category breakdowns and an automatic weekly summary DM.
Everything is a private DM — the bot never touches your groups and there is nothing to invite teammates to.
The auto-categorizer learns from corrections via /cat, so the guesses get better the more you log.
A practical starter setup: log freely for the first month without a cap, read /month to see where money actually goes, then set /budget just under that real number so the 80% alert lands before the damage is done.
Nadia texts @BudgetLogBot one line per spend through July: 'lunch 12','coffee 4','groceries 62.50','bus 3.20'. Mid-month she runs /today andsees 41.60,and /month shows eating-out outpacing groceries, so she starts cooking at home more. She sets /budget 1500 to cap July; on the 19th the bot pings her at 80% (1,200)and she cuts discretionary spending, then at 100% on the 29th she stops entirely. /top ranks her 5 biggest July expenses — the 220 rent check, then a 148 restaurant bill she'd forgotten. /export hands her a CSV of every entry, and as August approaches she sets /budget 1300 — $200 lower,now that the data reveals her real baseline —and keeps logging by text, no app in sight.

See Budget About the bot Open in the hub

FAQ

How do I track expenses in Telegram?: Open @BudgetLogBot and text each expense as one line, like 'lunch 12'. The bot categorizes it and /month shows totals by category.
Is this a Splitwise alternative for groups?: No — BudgetLogBot is for personal budgets in a private chat. For splitting shared costs inside a group, see our split-bills guide instead.
Can I get my data out?: Yes. /export generates a CSV of all logged expenses, so the ledger is yours to move into a spreadsheet any time.
How do I see my biggest expenses?: Send /top — it's free and instant. The bot ranks your 5 largest logged expenses of the current month, biggest first.
Does it remind me to log expenses?: It does not nag. Logging is instant enough that reminders are unnecessary — the only alerts are the 80% and 100% monthly cap warnings you opt into with /budget.

Related guides

Related bots

BudgetLogBot — Text an expense, get it logged and categorized automatically.
AnonInboxProBot — A personal link where strangers write to you anonymously; you reply and can block.
AnonSayProBot — Post anonymously into a Telegram group through the bot.
JoinApproveProBot — Approves every join request at once and sends each new member one welcome message.

Curious what the Pro features cost? See pricing.