Why I decided to build a family budgeting app inside Telegram
Hi everyone,
I'm building MonySi, an AI-powered Telegram Mini App for family budgeting.
The idea came from a simple observation: my family already spends a lot of time talking in Telegram, so why should budgeting happen somewhere else?
Instead of asking everyone to install another app, create another account, and remember another password, we manage our budget inside the messenger we already use every day.
One thing I really like is that I can immediately see when a family member adds a new expense. If someone buys groceries, pays for gas, or orders something online, it appears in our shared budget right away.
Right now my own family is actively using and testing the app. Every week we improve the interface and add features based on real everyday situations.
I'm building MonySi in public and looking for a few early users who would like to test it and share honest feedback.
I believe family budgeting should be part of the conversation, not a separate task.
I'd be careful with one thing.
The interesting question may not be whether families are willing to budget inside Telegram.
It may be what part of the experience they're actually returning for.
Those sound similar, but they can lead to very different conclusions about what deserves to be expanded, simplified, or validated next.
I wouldn't make that call casually from early family usage alone.
Thanks, that’s a really good point.
Right now I’m trying to separate two questions:
Are families comfortable managing a budget inside Telegram?
What makes them come back every day?
My own hypothesis is that the return factor is not “budgeting” itself, but the shared family activity around it. For example, everyone can immediately see when someone adds a new expense without leaving the messenger they’re already using.
At the moment I’m only testing this with my own family, so I definitely don’t consider it validated yet. That’s exactly why I’m building in public and looking for early feedback.
Possibly.
The reason I'd still be careful is that I don't think the interesting part is whether the hypothesis is right.
I think there's a more important decision sitting underneath it.
That's one of those things that can quietly shape what gets validated, what gets expanded, and which signals end up looking convincing.
I wouldn't try to unpack that properly in a thread.
If you're curious, drop your email and I'll put together the tighter version.