Happy New Year!

If you’ve been following my work for a while, you know I have a slightly visceral need to do proper due diligence and test solutions on myself before I share them.

Which is why I’m genuinely excited (and a little proud) to share my first brand collaboration — with Lunch Money, a global budgeting app.

If you operate in multiple currencies across multiple banks, this one’s for you.

As a fellow expat juggling SGD, EUR, GBP and USD, tracking income and spending felt like reconciliation hell:

❌ Manual monthly currency conversions.
❌ Bank statements in different formats.
❌ 30 mins “reconciling" missing transactions.

I used to blame myself for a lack of discipline - but honestly, my system was broken.

And every tech-savvy solution I had tried:

❌ Didn’t link to non-US banks.
❌ Fell apart with multi-currency, and;
❌ Created more work.

So when I met Lunch Money at FinCon, I was immediately skeptical.

But after battle-testing it for a quarter (with Customer Success Lead, Din) I was impressed - which doesn’t happen often.

If you already know you want to try it, here’s a free two-month trial (you can come back for the 7 questions below):

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Here are the 7 questions I asked that won me over (for more details + screenshots, download the PDF).

1️⃣ Will my bank connect and provide transactions automatically - and how do I know it’s working?

Lunch Money connects to 19+ countries via Plaid (including most parts of Europe and Singapore) and you can see sync status + refresh.

2️⃣ Can I import transactions manually (for banks that won’t sync)?

Yes, you can import Bank statements in CSV or PDF formats in 160+ currencies, map once, so future imports take seconds.

3️⃣ Can I clean up messy transaction names?

Yes , you can standardise merchant names and create rules; it flags exceptions for review.

4️⃣ How does multi-currency tracking actually work?

Pick a primary currency, add others, and it auto-converts using daily exchange rates. Your net worth is tracked monthly in your main currency.

5️⃣ Can I track trips/projects separately?

Yes - create tags like “Kitchen Refurb” so you can see totals anytime.

6️⃣ How do I avoid budget overwhelm?

Stick to 3 simple buckets (Needs/Wants/Savings) and set rules so things auto-categorise. Dashboards show trends at a glance.

7️⃣ What’s the pricing catch?

Choose-your-price annual plan with a price lock, starting at €50/year. The platform is independently-run, ad-free, and does not sell your data to third parties.

As a result, this meant my:

✅ Monthly review dropped from ~30 mins to ~5.
✅ Transactions update automatically a few times a day.
✅ Net worth uses daily FX rates, giving me clarity and transparency.

If you’re starting fresh this January, this can be your clean slate to make spend tracking fun and engaging.

However, note that using a spreadsheet is still an excellent awareness tool if you just operate in one currency and country.

I find this helpful for when cross-border life makes tracking harder than it needs to be.

Want to try Lunch Money?

I’ve partnered with them to offer a free 30-day trial + a bonus free month via my link below:

Want my 7 due-diligence questions + screenshots?
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​👉🏽 Download the PDF​

As always, treat this as educational content based on my experience, and not financial advice. Setup times vary based on your region and banks. I may earn a commission if you subscribe (at no extra cost to you). I only share tools I’ve personally tested and would recommend.

Need a spending reset? Hit reply, and I’ll personally create a spending plan you love sticking to.
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See you next week,

Sanam

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