# How to track your spending in Colombia

> Nequi and Daviplata for daily life, PSE online, the twice-yearly prima and the 4x1000 tax. How to track expenses when your money moves through four apps.

_By country · Published 2026-09-02, updated 2026-10-13_

In Colombia the average person's money passes through more apps than in almost
any other country in the region: the bank account, Nequi, Daviplata, PSE for
online payments, cash, and the card.

That has a direct consequence: **none of those apps has your complete month.**
Each shows you its slice, and the slice looks enough like a statement that you
believe it.

## The problem isn't how much you spend, it's where to look

Open Nequi and you see Nequi. Open your bank's app and you see the bank. And
nobody sees the cash. Adding three screens together in your head every month
isn't a system: it's something you do twice and abandon.

The way out isn't picking a single money app — that isn't up to you — but having
**a separate place where everything consolidates**, indifferent to what you paid
with. You log it when you pay, whether that's Nequi, cash or card. Covered in
[tracking without connecting a bank](/en/blog/track-expenses-without-connecting-a-bank).

One practical detail: because Nequi and Daviplata payments are fast and small,
they're exactly the ones most often forgotten. That's where
[dictating the expense](/en/features/voice-expense-tracking) solves the moment — ten
seconds standing up, without opening three screens.

## Transfers between your own accounts are not expenses

It's the most common logging mistake when you use several wallets: moving money
from the bank to Nequi isn't an expense, it's a movement between your own
pockets. Logged as an expense, the month is inflated and the real expense shows up
again when you pay with Nequi. It gets counted twice.

The rule: **it's only an expense if it leaves your net worth.** Everything else is
a transfer.

## The 4x1000 is an expense, and it's invisible

Colombia's financial transactions tax is deducted automatically, in small
amounts, many times a month. Nobody logs it, which is why nobody knows what it
costs them in a year.

It's the perfect example of a structural small expense: negligible individually,
measurable annually. It's worth giving it its own category for two or three
months just to see the number — and then deciding whether to consolidate
movements or use exempt accounts. The logic of measuring before cutting is in
[small expenses that add up](/en/blog/small-expenses-that-add-up).

## The prima: two months a year that aren't normal months

The June and December statutory bonuses are foreseeable income, not an unexpected
prize. And because they're foreseeable, you can decide before they arrive.

What works is allocating it as soon as it lands, in this order:

1. Expensive debt, if you have any. The method is in
   [how to get out of debt](/en/blog/how-to-get-out-of-debt).
2. [Emergency fund](/en/blog/emergency-fund), until you reach your number.
3. Foreseeable expenses for the coming half-year: taxes, tuition, insurance.
4. Whatever's left is spending.

Deciding once it's already in the account is deciding too late.

## If you work for yourself

Two things, and they're the same two as always because they're the ones that
work: separate the work account from the personal one, and set contributions and
tax aside on the day you're paid. They're in
[separating personal and work expenses](/en/blog/separate-personal-and-work-expenses)
and [irregular income](/en/blog/budgeting-with-irregular-income).

## In one line

Consolidate in one place what you pay through four different apps, don't log
transfers between your own accounts as expenses, measure the 4x1000 before having
an opinion about it, and allocate the prima before it arrives.

## Download

- iPhone (App Store): https://apps.apple.com/app/id6758053806
- Android (Google Play): https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.kesef.app

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