Trying to prove my hunches

The product I’m working on is built around a hunch I’ve had for a long time: that the hardest part of managing money is day-to-day spending.

Day-to-day spending is highly irregular: some days you spend nothing or very little, and some days quite a lot.

Most people don’t budget. Instead, they check their account balance, do some mental maths, and try to spend with some degree of intention. They make daily decisions based on intuition, trying to work out what they can afford, how long the money needs to last, whether they’re still on track.

The product is called Lång – it’s Swedish and pronounced ’long’, which is also what it means – and it’s an app that helps people who don’t budget spend with confidence.

It’s designed around the amount that’s safe to spend today. I think that’s what you’re trying to work out each time you check your balance – not whether you’ve spent too much on coffee or eating out this month, but how much you can spend right now and still stay within what you’re willing – or able – to spend, until next pay day.

On first use, Lång might seem too simple.

You give it an amount and a date – how much you feel you can confidently spend, and how long that money should last – and it gives you a daily amount to stay within.

But as you use it, you’ll start to see that there’s more to it. Amounts you don’t spend roll over gradually into the coming days. And when you need to spend more than what Lång recommends, it adjusts – without throwing everything off.

This app is based on hunches, so in a sense I’m making a bet: that a small daily habit, with just enough structure, can make spending feel more intentional.

My hunch is that there are people who are already inclined to think about money this way – who just haven’t found a tool that fits.

And maybe there are others who could be open to it, if they saw that it’s possible to stay in control without importing all their transactions, categorising them, setting target amounts, and so on.

As I’ve shaped Lång, I’ve tried to narrow it down as much as possible. This is the simplest expression of the hunch that I’ve been able to get to. I’m not looking to change it fundamentally – but I’m trying to get feedback to help me see where things are unclear, or where the idea doesn’t quite come through. It helps me sharpen it, make it more obvious, more intuitive.

One thing I haven’t tried to avoid is manual entry.

In fact, I see it as a core part of what the product is. Logging spending as you go gives you immediate feedback about where you stand. And while automation might seem like a must-have, I think it’s a bit of a lie – it always ends up needing manual correction. No AI will ever fully understand something as organic and personal as your finances.

I’m not looking to change the product fundamentally – the core idea feels right to me. But I’m curious to see who it resonates with, who’s already thinking this way, even if only vaguely. That’s what I’m trying to learn right now.