I want you to open your current budgeting app. Go to the settings. Find the "Partners" or "Offers" tab.
Do you see that credit card offer? The one promising you 50,000 bonus points?
That isn't a recommendation. It's a bounty. That bank paid $150 to get your eyeballs on that specific pixel. And the app knew exactly which card to show you because it knows you spent $412.50 at Delta Airlines last month and have a credit score between 720 and 740.
You aren't the customer. You are the inventory.
The "Free" App Trap
In 2024, I audited my digital footprint. I found that my financial data—my salary, my therapy bills, my late-night Taco Bell runs—was sharing a bed with three different aggregators.
You know the names. Plaid. Yodlee. MX. They are the plumbing of the fintech world. And while they claim to be secure, they add a massive "attack surface" to your life.
Here is the uncomfortable truth: When you link your bank account to a "free" app, you are often granting it the right to sell "anonymized" insights about you. But study after study shows that "anonymized" data takes about 30 seconds to de-anonymize. Your specific combination of coffee shop visits and gas station fill-ups is as unique as a fingerprint.
Why I Went Back to Manual (And Why You Should Too)
I know what you're thinking. "I don't have time to type in every coffee."
I used to think that too. I wanted automation. I wanted the "magic" of seeing my net worth graph go up without lifting a finger. But a funny thing happened when I automated everything: I stopped caring.
When a $50 subscription renewal hit my automated feed, I glossed over it. "Oh, just another line item."
But when I have to physically open an app and speak the words "Spent fifty dollars on streaming service," I feel a pinch. That pinch is good. That pinch is your brain actually processing the loss of resources.
The 3-Second Rule
The problem isn't manual tracking; the problem is slow manual tracking. If it takes you 20 seconds to log an expense, you won't do it. But if it takes 3 seconds? You'll do it while walking to your car.
That's why I built Finly. I didn't want to type "Chipotle." I wanted to say it and be done.
The Privacy Stack that Actually Works (2026 Edition)
Okay, so you want out of the surveillance economy. You want to own your data. Here is the exact stack I use today:
1. The Vault (Local Credit Union)
Stop using "neobanks" that sell your data to pay for their VC returns. Find a boring, local credit union. They are regulated, they are non-profit, and they generally don't have the budget to build sophisticated spy-tech.
2. The Mask (Privacy.com)
I never give my real debit card number to a merchant. Ever. I use Privacy.com to generate a "burner" card for every subscription. Netflix gets a card that only works for Netflix. If they get hacked? I delete the card. My real money is untouched.
3. The Brain (Finly)
This is where I track my life. It lives on my phone. The database is local SQLite, encrypted with your device's biometric key. There is no cloud server reading my transaction to see if I'm buying baby clothes (a favorite signal for insurers). It's just me, my phone, and a raw SQL database that literally cannot leave the device.
The Exit Strategy
If you're ready to leave the matrix, don't just delete the app. They keep your data.
- Export Everything: Download your CSVs from Mint/YNAB/Monarch. That history is yours.
- Request Deletion: Legally, you have the right to be forgotten (GDPR/CCPA). Send the email. "I am revoking consent. Delete my data."
- Go Dark: Start fresh. Use Finly. Feel the friction. Watch your savings rate go up because you actually feel your spending again.
Take back your financial data.
Finly is the only tracker that refuses to talk to your bank. Voice logging. Receipt scanning. 100% Private.
Start Your Privacy Journey