Voice Finance Commands

Voice Finance Commands 🎙️

You shouldn’t have to pull over to the side of the road just to log a fuel receipt or check if you have enough budget left for a campsite.

Vanlife Assistant’s Voice Assistant is deeply integrated into the Money module. It understands natural language, meaning you don’t have to memorise rigid, robotic commands. Just tap the Voice icon and talk to it like a financial advisor!

Here is a breakdown of everything you can ask the Voice Assistant to do.

📱 In-App Voice vs. Siri & Apple Shortcuts

Before diving into the commands, it is important to understand the difference between talking to the In-App Voice Assistant and using Siri from your iPhone’s home screen.

In-App Voice Assistant (Your Financial Advisor): Accessed by tapping the microphone icon inside the Vanlife Assistant app. This is a conversational, highly intelligent assistant that understands complex, natural language questions, asks follow-up questions, and helps you explore your data. The commands in sections 1-4 below apply to this assistant.
Siri & App Shortcuts (Quick Actions): You can also use Siri without even opening the app! We have built dedicated iOS integrations that allow Siri to perform specific, quick actions. These are perfect for rapid logging or checking a balance while your phone is mounted on the dashboard.

Supported Siri Commands: To use these, just trigger Siri and say:

“Hey Siri, log an expense in Vanlife Assistant.”
“Hey Siri, what is my balance in Vanlife Assistant?”
“Hey Siri, check my spending in Vanlife Assistant.”
“Hey Siri, what is my financial health in Vanlife Assistant?”

(Pro-Tip: Because these are native Apple App Intents, you can also use them to build custom automated routines in the Apple Shortcuts app!)

💸 1. Logging Transactions & Transfers (In-App)

You can log expenses, income, and account transfers entirely hands-free using the in-app assistant.

How to log an expense: Just say the amount and what it was for.

“Log 50 Euros for fuel.”
“Add 120 pounds to the groceries budget.”

⚠️ The Safety Net (Two-Step Confirmation): Because your budget is critical, the app will never save a transaction blindly. The assistant will always build a “Draft” and read it back to you: “I’m ready to log £50 for Fuel. Should I go ahead?”. You can reply “Yes,” “Cancel,” or even correct it by saying “Change the amount to 45”!

Transfers: You can also move money between your accounts.

“Transfer £50 from Savings to Monzo.”

📊 2. Checking Budgets & Spending

Want to know if you can afford to eat out tonight? Ask the assistant to check your spending history or remaining budget.

Remaining Budgets:

“What’s left in my fuel budget?”
“Budget status.”

Historical Spending (Categories & Merchants):

“How much did I spend at Tesco this month?”
“What did I spend on groceries last week?”
“How much did I spend from the 4th of February to the 11th?”

Averages:

“What is my average spend on fuel?”
“How much do I usually spend at Asda?”

🗣️ Follow-Up Questions: If you ask a broad question like “How much did I spend last month?” and the app replies with a total, it might wait for a follow-up. If you reply “Break that down” or “Yes,” the app will read out your top 3 most expensive categories or merchants for that period!

🔮 3. Runway & Wealth (The Big Picture)

The Voice Assistant is directly plugged into the powerful Runway Engine, allowing you to check your long-term financial health on the fly.

Runway: “How long will my money last?” or “When will my money run out?”
Net Worth: “What is my financial health?” or “What is my net worth?”
Balances: “What’s my balance in my Revolut account?”
Liabilities: “What are my total liabilities?” or “How much debt do I have?”

📅 4. Scheduled Bills & History

Finding a specific past transaction or checking when a bill is due is instant with voice search.

Upcoming Bills: “When is my Netflix subscription due?” or “When do I have to pay insurance?”
Past Purchases: “When did I buy the water pump?” or “What date did I pay for tires?” The app will search your entire ledger history and tell you the exact date and cost!

Pro-Tip: Missing a Category?

If you ask the app to log an expense for a category that doesn’t exist yet (e.g., “Log £20 for Paddleboarding”), the app is smart enough to notice! It will pause and ask: “I don’t have a category named ‘Paddleboarding’. Shall I create it?”. Reply “Yes,” and it will build the category and log the expense simultaneously!