How to track your spending from your bank statement (without a spreadsheet)
Your bank statement already knows where your money went. The problem is that it reads like a receipt roll: cryptic merchant names, transfers between your own accounts, refunds mixed with purchases and a running balance that tells you nothing about habits. With a simple routine you can turn it into a monthly picture you actually understand.
1. Export the right file
Most banks let you download transactions as CSV or a PDF statement. CSV is the cleanest; a PDF works as long as it contains selectable text (not a scanned image). Credit card statements are worth importing too: that's where most day-to-day spending lives.
2. Separate what isn't spending
Before looking at totals, remove the noise:
- Transfers between your own accounts ("transfer", "TRF") — moving money isn't spending it.
- Card repayments and refunds — they're money coming in, not out.
- Fees saved, points and zero-amount lines that some statements print.
Keep real fees and interest, though: those are costs.
3. Categorise with a short, stable list
Twelve to fifteen categories are plenty: groceries, eating out, going out, transport, rent, home, bills, subscriptions, health, fitness, shopping, travel, other. Merchant names are messy ("WOOLWORTHS 2393 YEERONGPILLY"), which is where automatic suggestions save time — you just correct the few it gets wrong.
4. Don't count shared costs twice
If you paid a $120 dinner and logged it in a group with three friends, your real cost is $30. Importing the full $120 again as a personal expense inflates your month. Check each charge against what you've already logged in your groups before adding it.
5. Review once, then compare months
The value isn't one statement, it's the trend: is eating out creeping up? Which subscriptions renew every month? Comparing this month with the average of the previous three gives you a realistic budget instead of a wishful one.
How Settlia does it
In the Bank tab you import a CSV or PDF. The file is read on your phone and card numbers are hidden before anything is sent. Settlia suggests a category for each line, leaves transfers, refunds and likely duplicates unticked, and warns you when a charge is already in one of your groups. Imported transactions wait in a review list grouped by statement and date; you move them to your private spending with one tap (and can undo). Statement import is part of Settlia Pro.
FAQ
Is it safe to upload my bank statement to an app?
In Settlia the file never leaves your phone: the text is read on the device, card and account numbers are hidden, and only the transaction lines are sent to be categorised.
Which statement formats work?
CSV exports and PDF statements that contain text. Scanned PDFs (images only) can't be read yet.
How do I avoid counting a cost twice?
Settlia flags charges that look like expenses you already logged, or that you paid inside a shared group, and leaves them unticked so you decide.
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