u/Stycroft

GroceryBudget isn't a regular grocery list app. Because you can use it during grocery trips. You set a budget before you shop, add items as you go, and a live budget bar shows your running total in real time. No more checkout surprises as it warns you when you're about to overspend.

The problem was adding items while pushing a cart. I'd stop in the aisle, type the name and price and it's such a hassle to do it every single item.

So now I made AI do the heavy lifting:

You can now just point at the price tag and AI will read it instantly. No squinting at small numbers and pecking them in.

Takes about 3-5 seconds per item instead of 15-20.

Plus for every item scanned, name and price is saved so there's no need to rescan! You can track price changes per store as well.

Free on iOS and Android: https://grocerybudget.app

Built a grocery budget app as a solo dev. Been live for a few months now.

This is my 4th time remaking after studying related apps in my niche. I feel like it's too low though my app has been out for months and I'm only on my 4th lol. But I'm glad on my progress, May has probably been my best month in terms of acquiring users and conversions. ASO and organic marketing definitely helped as well.

GroceryBudget is live on IOS and Android: https://grocerybudget.app/

This used to be just a simple grocery list app that can help you avoid overspending as it tells you your budget but I realized myself that users are probably too busy during groceries to be typing manually.

I added a feature that scans labels and price tags and adds it to their list. Initially this was made using OCR so it could work offline but there’s so many layouts of labels for different stores and I had to sacrifice being offline-first for accuracy by using AI.

Would genuinely love some feedback with the current setup from other devs/designers.

The app is: https://apps.apple.com/ph/app/grocery-budget-shopping-list/id6749287517

I built Grocery list that also has a budget tracker for iOS and Android. Solo dev, no team, no marketing budget.

Eight months of $20-50 per month sometimes less. Then this.

$440 in 28 days. 8,817 new customers. 110 on active trial right now. From complete strangers. Zero paid acquisition.

I honestly didn't know Threads as a marketing channel, I just randomly posted on it on my personal account showing I built this app. No hard sell, just the thing working. Multiple posts went viral. Then the RevenueCat notifications started hitting.

I also did a few TikTok is the unsolved piece. Had a post near 200K views. Reach is real. But I can't crack the US audience specifically. My country the Philippines is 65%+ of my revenue and they convert, US finds the app and stays free.

Not enough to quit my job and focus on the app money. But getting this many users downloading the app and putting me in top charts inspires me to keep moving forward.

Two things I want input on from people who've been here:

What do you do with early revenue at this stage — reinvest into ads, test a price increase, just save it?

And if anyone's cracked geo-specific reach on organic marketing I genuinely want to know. I want to target US audiences.

iOS: https://apps.apple.com/app/grocerybudget-shopping-list/id6749287517 

Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ynctry.grocerybudget

Edit: https://verified.revenuecat.com/grocerybudget here's my verified metrics for the people calling me a liar, I still don't understand why I'd fake this screenshot though.

Hey everyone, wanted to introduce an app I've been building called GroceryBudget.

It's not just a budgeting app or a simple grocery list — it's built specifically for people who track their spending while grocery shopping to avoid going over budget.

Set your budget before your trip, add items as you go, and a live budget bar shows you exactly how much you have left.

What GroceryBudget does:

Live Budget Tracking - Set a budget, add items as you shop, and watch your remaining budget update in real time. No more surprises at the checkout counter.

Easy Item Adding - Tap the mic and say the item name. Done — no typing needed. Or point your camera at any price tag and AI reads the price, name, and assigns the category automatically.

Price Memory - The app remembers prices per item per store. Next time you shop, it suggests prices based on your history. You can also see how prices change over time and compare which store has the cheapest price for each item.

Shopping List Templates - Save your usual grocery list as a template. One tap to start a new trip with your regular items already loaded.

Spending Insights - Charts and breakdowns showing where your money goes — by store, by item, by week or month.

How to download:

iOS: https://apps.apple.com/app/grocerybudget-shopping-list/id6749287517

Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ynctry.grocerybudget

Free to use. There are premium features but they're optional — the core budgeting and list features are completely free.

If you know someone who always goes over their grocery budget, feel free to share this with them.

GroceryBudget isn't a regular grocery list app. You set a budget before you shop, add items as you go, and a live budget bar shows your running total in real time.

The problem was adding items while pushing a cart. I'd stop in the aisle, type one-handed. It's a hassle.

So I added two things to ease up the process:

• Voice input. Tap the mic, say the item name "Egg 1 dozen 10 dollars". Done.
• Camera price scanning. Point at the grocery item with price label. Take a picture and it fills it in automatically.

The whole flow is faster, you scan the price, keep moving. Takes about 5 seconds per item instead of 15-20.

Built it solo with Expo + React Native + Firebase

Happy to answer questions about the build. Would love feedback from other Expo devs.

Store links:

IOS: https://apps.apple.com/app/grocerybudget-shopping-list/id6749287517

Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ynctry.grocerybudget

So I’m currently facing a dilemma while I’m currently implementing AI for camera scan feature for my app.

For context I have an app called GroceryBudget and one of its feature is you can scan products with labels and price and you can add it to your list without manually typing. It’s powered by OCR and I’ve done major tweaking to get it as accurate as possible though it’s still not perfect and limited.

So I thought I’ll implement AI and while it’s more accurate and can differentiate price, unit and label there’s no reliable way to make it work offline yet. (I’m using gemini 2.5 flash)

Plus idk if it’s just me but the scanning takes a bit longer than OCR scan. So yeah I’m torn with what to do since I do want the accuracy of AI but should I just let it be and just say this feature is for online only? My concern is grocery shopping is done in stores and you might be offline for that.

So yeah idk if anyone has implemented something similar to this or a receipt scanner that works offline if I could have some helpful feedback to what should I do thanks!

If you’re interested here’s my app: https://apps.apple.com/ph/app/grocery-budget-shopping-list/id6749287517