Get started with Dongip

Create your free Dongip account, connect your bank, set up categories, and start tracking personal or shared expenses in under five minutes.

Getting started with Dongip takes about five minutes. This guide walks you through creating an account, optionally connecting your bank, setting up categories, adding your first expense, and checking your first report. If you share expenses with someone, there’s a step for that too.

1. Create your free account

   Go to dongip.app and sign up with Google, Apple, or your email address. No credit card is required. The free plan covers personal tracking, shared accounts, custom categories, and basic reports — everything you need to get started.

   Dongip is also available on iOS and Android. Download the mobile app and sign in with the same account to access your data across devices.

2. Connect your bank (optional but recommended)

   After signing in, you can link a bank account. Dongip uses Plaid for bank connections — it’s read-only, tokenized access, which means Dongip can see your transactions but never stores your bank password.

   Once connected, Dongip pulls in your transactions automatically in the background and assigns a category to each one. Categories improve over time as Dongip learns your spending patterns.

   If you prefer to log expenses by hand, skip this step — every other feature in the app still works without a bank connection.

   Connecting your bank is the single biggest upgrade over a manual tracker. You stop forgetting the $6 coffee and the$17 streaming charge because you never had to type them in.

3. Set up your categories

   Head to Settings → Categories and create the spending buckets that match your life. A good starting set for most people:

   • Housing (rent, utilities)
   • Groceries and household
   • Transport (fuel, transit, rideshare)
   • Eating out and coffee
   • Subscriptions
   • Shopping
   • Health and fitness
   • Fun and hobbies
   • Savings and transfers

   Start with five to ten categories — enough to be useful, few enough to stay consistent. You can rename, merge, add colors, or create new ones at any time.

   If your bank is connected, Dongip will start auto-categorizing new transactions using the categories you define. The accuracy improves the more you use it.

4. Add your first expense

   If your bank is connected, your first transactions are already there — check that the categories look right and move on.

   If you’re logging manually, tap the + button, enter the amount, pick a category, and save. That’s all it takes.

5. Invite someone to a shared account

   If you share expenses with a partner, roommate, or group, create a shared account and invite them by email. Once they accept, everyone sees the same ledger — who paid, who owes, and what’s left — updated in real time.

   Keep personal and joint expenses separate: use your personal account for individual spending and the shared account only for truly joint costs.

   You can switch between your personal account and any shared accounts from the account switcher at the top of the app.

6. Check your first report

   After a day or two of real transactions, open the Reports tab. You’ll see a breakdown by category across daily, weekly, and monthly views, plus an overall spending trend.

   Many people have a quiet “oh” moment here — the first time subscriptions or food delivery shows up as a specific dollar amount instead of a vague feeling.

Tips to make it stick

Review daily, not monthly

Two minutes a day beats an hour at month-end. A quick daily review keeps categories accurate and surprises out.

Set one budget first

Pick whichever category surprised you in your first report and set a limit on it. One budget builds the habit better than ten.

Check subscriptions monthly

Dongip flags new recurring charges automatically. A monthly review of the subscription list catches anything that crept in.

Use shared accounts intentionally

Only put truly joint expenses in a shared account. Personal spending stays cleaner when it stays separate.

If you get stuck or something looks off, check the FAQ or email the team at [e-mail].