LumelaThe expenses nobody wrote down
Parking, a round of coffees, the toll road. Individually trivial, collectively a couple of hundred that quietly lands on whoever's card was closest.
💸 Money on trips
Split the trip fairly. Settle up in seconds.
Nobody wants to be the person who brings up money on the last night. Lumela keeps the running total honest from day one, so the settle-up is arithmetic instead of negotiation.
Where trip money usually goes wrong
It's rarely dishonesty. It's four small gaps that compound over five days.
Splits that weren't even
Six people at dinner, two of them ordered water. Splitting by six is easy and slightly unfair, and everyone notices — they just don't say it.
Currencies that moved
You paid in euros on Tuesday and settle in shekels next month. If the app converts at today's rate, the number changes after you already agreed on it.
'Simplified' debts nobody trusts
Some tools net everything into a minimal set of transfers, and you end up owing money to someone you never bought anything with. Correct, unintuitive, and argued about every time.
How Lumela handles it
Four decisions, made once, so the numbers hold up.
Splitting
Split it the way it actually happened
Pick who was in, choose even shares or exact amounts, and add more than one payer when two cards covered it. The point is that the record matches the evening, not that the evening matches the record.
- Even, by amount, or by share
- Include or exclude any person per expense
- Several payers on one expense
- Decimal amounts that don't drift by a cent
Balances
Pairwise balances, not clever netting
Lumela shows what you owe each specific person and what each person owes you. Tap a pair and it itemises both directions — every expense that pushed the number, in both columns.
- One row per person, in your currency
- Tap to see exactly what built the number
- Green means you're owed, red means you owe — consistently
- No transfers to people you never shared anything with
Currencies
The rate is frozen at the moment you paid
Every expense keeps the exchange rate from the day it was created. Convert the view to any currency you like — the underlying record never changes, so a balance you agreed on last week is the same balance today.
- Live rates when you create an expense
- Frozen per expense, forever after
- View totals in whichever currency you think in
A five-day trip, honestly
What it looks like when four people stop keeping score in their heads.
| Day | What happened | In the app |
|---|---|---|
| Before | Dana books the cabin, ₪1,600, on her card. | One expense, split four ways, receipt attached. |
| Day 1 | Gas ₪310, groceries ₪480, two different cards. | Two expenses, two payers, added at the pump. |
| Day 2 | Dinner ₪520 — but Noam only had a drink. | Custom split: three full shares, one small one. |
| Day 4 | Yuval joins for one night and chips in. | Added as a guest, included from that day on. |
| After | Nobody remembers anything. | Four rows. Two transfers. Done in a minute. |
Common questions
Can I split an expense unevenly?
Yes — by exact amounts, by shares, or by picking who was actually included. A €120 dinner where two people skipped dessert is a normal case, not an edge case.
What if two people paid for the same thing?
An expense can have more than one payer, each with their own amount. Splitting the deposit on a cabin between two cards is one expense, not two half-truths.
How do you handle different currencies?
Each expense stores the exchange rate from the moment it was created. That rate is frozen: if the euro moves next week, your history doesn't rewrite itself and the balances you already agreed on stay put.
Does everyone need the app to be in the split?
No. Add them as a guest — they appear in the splits and the balances like anyone else. It's the honest way to include the friend who joined for one night.
Can I track my own spending, not just the group's?
Yes. Personal expenses live alongside group ones, and 'my spending' always means your share — not the total you happened to put on your card for everyone else.
Stop keeping score in your head
Add the first expense before you leave the driveway. The rest takes care of itself.