Money talks: tracking personal finances

Abstract

How do people keep track of their money? In this paper we present a preliminary scoping study of how 14 individuals in the San Francisco Bay Area earn, save, spend and understand money and their personal and family finances. We describe the practices we developed for exploring the sensitive topic of money, and then discuss three sets of findings. The first is the emotional component of the relationship people have with their finances. Second, we discuss the tools and processes people used to keep track of their financial situation. Finally we discuss how people account for the unknown and unpredictable nature of the future through their financial decisions. We conclude by discussing the future of studies of money and finance in HCI, and reflect on the opportunities for improving tools to aid people in managing and planning their finances.