How to use SmartABCD

1. Getting started

SmartABCD takes about three minutes to set up. Everything you enter here shapes the app's advice, so answer honestly — the app never judges, it only helps.

1. Create your account. Sign up with your email and a password, or with your mobile number. If you use a mobile number, you'll receive a one-time password (OTP) by SMS — enter it to verify.
2. Complete your profile. Add your name and, if you like, a photo. Set your currency (₹ INR is the default) and language.
3. Set your monthly personal budget (optional). A rough figure is fine — you can refine it later. This gives your reports a baseline from day one.
4. Choose your family role. If you'll manage the household money, you'll likely create the family group later as its admin. If someone else manages it, they can invite you.
5. Pick a discipline goal. Choose what matters most right now: reduce grocery overspend, control impulse buying, manage the family budget, plan monthly, save more, or simply track better. SmartABCD tunes its alerts and tips to this goal.

2. Creating your first budget

A budget in SmartABCD is more than a number — it's a number with teeth. Go to Budgets → New Budget.

1. Name it and pick a category. For example "Grocery — July" in the Grocery category. Thirteen categories are built in (Grocery, Clothing, Gift, Birthday, Trip, Festival, Medical, School Items, Household, Online Shopping, Personal, Utility Bills, Emergency) and you can create your own.
2. Set the planned amount — what you intend to spend, e.g. ₹4,000.
3. Set the maximum allowed amount — your absolute ceiling, e.g. ₹4,500. The gap between planned and maximum is your emergency slack, not shopping money.
4. Choose dates and repeat. Set a start and end date, and repeat it weekly, monthly or yearly so recurring budgets recreate themselves.
5. Set alert levels. By default SmartABCD alerts at 70%, 90%, 100%, 125%, 150% and 200% of the planned amount. You can adjust levels anywhere between 50% and 200% — early alerts suit tight months.
6. Choose a budget lock (what happens past the limit — see the table below).
7. Set visibility: family (everyone in the group), private (only you), or selected members. Then save.

Budget locks explained

3. Building a shopping list

Open Lists → New List, name it (e.g. "Weekly Grocery"), link it to a budget, and optionally add the store and shopping date. Then add items.

1. Add each item with a name, quantity and unit (pc, kg, g, l, ml, pack, dozen, box), and an estimated price. Add a maximum price if a rate rise should trigger a warning.
2. Set the priority. This is the order the app defends items in when money gets tight:
   • Must-buy — non-negotiable (rice, milk, medicines).
   • Optional — nice to have if budget allows (branded snacks).
   • Wishlist — wants parked for later.
   • Later — planned, but for a future trip.
   • Avoid — things you're actively trying not to buy. Yes, listing them helps.
3. Classify need vs want. Be honest:
   • Need: toor dal, school notebooks. Want: a third pair of jeans.
   • Luxury: imported chocolate. Emergency: fever medicine at 11 pm.
   • Gift and family requirement cover the rest of real life.
   Example: "Maggi 12-pack" might be a want with optional priority, while "Baby formula" is a need and must-buy. The distinction drives Guard Mode's suggestions later.
4. Watch the planned total. The list totals itself against the linked budget as you type. If planning already exceeds the budget, fix it now — at home, calmly — not in the store.
5. Mark repeat-monthly staples so next month's list builds itself, and assign items to family members if you're shopping as a team.

4. Linking your family

1. Create the group. Go to Family → Create Family, give it a name and (optionally) a photo, currency and monthly household budget. You become the admin.
2. Invite members by mobile number, email, or by sharing the group's invite code. Invitees appear as invited until they accept and become active.
3. Assign each member a role (see table).
4. Choose a sync mode per shared list or budget (see below).

Family roles

Sync modes, with use-cases

• One-way — you publish, others follow. Use when one person plans and another shops: the shopper sees the list but can't reshape the plan mid-aisle.
• Two-way — everyone edits, everyone sees changes live. Use for couples who plan together; when one grabs the tomatoes, it ticks off on the other's phone.
• Approval — additions and changes wait for an admin/spouse "yes". Use for children's requests or for a household deliberately tightening its belt.

5. Using Shopping Guard Mode

This is SmartABCD's flagship. Open your list at the store and tap Start Shopping Guard.

The pre-shopping checklist

Before the meter starts, a ten-second checklist appears: your budget and remaining amount, your must-buy items, and any items marked avoid. Read it — it's the app setting your intention for the trip.

The budget meter colours

Adding items to the tray — five ways

1. Manual: tap the item on your list (or the + button for something new), confirm quantity and price. Works fully offline.
2. Barcode: point the camera at the barcode; the product name fills in, you confirm the shelf price.
3. QR code: same as barcode, for QR-tagged products.
4. Photo: snap the product; identify it in one tap from suggestions.
5. Price label: photograph the shelf's price tag; OCR reads the price for you.

The tray while you shop

• Each row shows planned price, actual price and the difference (green if under, red if over).
• Change quantity with +/− on any row — totals and the meter update instantly.
• Remove an item or move it to your wishlist and the meter falls back in real time.
• Finished? Tap End Session for your completion summary.

6. Handling impulse purchases

Add anything that isn't on your planned list and the Impulse Purchase Guard steps in. The warning isn't a scolding — it's a two-second pause, which research consistently shows is enough to skip most impulse buys.

Your five choices

• Buy anyway — sometimes the answer really is yes. You'll be asked for a reason.
• Add to wishlist — the graceful "not now". It's saved with today's price for future consideration.
• Schedule for later — put it on a future list with a date.
• Ask family approval — send it to your admin/spouse and keep shopping while they decide.
• Cancel — put it back. The meter thanks you silently.

Choosing a reason honestly

If you buy, pick the real reason: price increased, extra quantity, brand changed, offer purchase, emergency, family request, impulse, forgot to plan, or other. These reasons are gold — your monthly report groups them, and "impulse × 9" in black and white changes behaviour faster than any lecture.

7. Staying inside budget

Hit the orange zone with half your list still unbought? SmartABCD helps you land the trip without overspending.

• Optional-item removal: the app lists your tray's optional and want items, cheapest wins first, and shows exactly how much removing each would free up. Must-buys are never suggested for removal.
• Smart suggestions: quantity trims ("2 kg instead of 3 kg saves ₹120"), brand swaps you've used before, and "move to wishlist" prompts for luxury-class items.
• Remaining-list preview: Guard Mode continuously estimates whether the unbought must-buys still fit in the remaining budget — so you find out in aisle 3, not at the till.

8. Receipt scan & verification

1. Capture the bill right at the counter: lay it flat, fill the frame, avoid shadows and folds. Long receipt? Capture it in two overlapping photos.
2. Let OCR read it. SmartABCD extracts each line: item, quantity, price.
3. Review the matches. Lines auto-match to your tray and planned list. Green = matched, amber = uncertain (tap to pick the right item), red = an item that never entered your tray. Misread numbers can be corrected inline.
4. Confirm reconciliation. The verified receipt becomes the source of truth for this trip's planned-vs-actual report — including anything that "jumped in" at the checkout counter.

9. Reading your reports

Planned vs actual (per trip)

An item table with three columns: planned, actual, difference. Green differences are wins; red ones show drift. Unplanned items sit in their own section with their captured reasons.

Monthly budget health

Total budget, total spend, remaining, overspend, and a category-wise breakdown — plus your savings opportunity: where the numbers say you could realistically trim next month.

Your Discipline Score, in plain words

You start each month with 100 points. Then:

• Overspending costs up to 40 points — one point per percent over budget.
• Each impulse purchase costs 5 points (capped at −20).
• Each skipped must-buy costs 3 points (capped at −15) — discipline includes buying what your family actually needs.
• If unplanned spending exceeds 10% of your total, that's −10.
• Finish the month within budget and you earn a +10 bonus (score caps at 100).

Grades: A+ 90+, A 80+, B 70+, C 60+, D 50+, E below 50. The monthly trend chart shows your journey.

Improving your grade

• Biggest lever: the impulse cap. Diverting temptations to the wishlist costs zero points.
• Don't skip must-buys to look thrifty — the formula penalises it on purpose.
• If overspend keeps recurring in one category, raise that budget honestly and cut elsewhere. A realistic plan you keep beats a fantasy plan you break.

10. Wishlist & future purchases

1. Add items directly (name, category, estimated price, priority, photo) or divert them from an impulse warning in the store.
2. Set a target purchase date and a reminder date. Link the item to a budget so the purchase lands in a month that can afford it.
3. Decide family visibility — share it (great for gift hints!) or keep it to yourself.
4. When the reminder fires, review the item. Still want it? Convert it to a shopping list item in one tap. Don't? Delete it and enjoy the free savings.

Children's wishlist requests flow to parents for approval — a gentle, built-in way to teach that wants can wait.

11. Subscriptions & payments

1. Open Settings → Subscription to see your current plan and what each tier includes (see pricing).
2. Upgrade by choosing a plan and paying via Razorpay — UPI, cards, netbanking and wallets are supported. SmartABCD never sees or stores your card number; payment details are handled entirely by Razorpay.
3. Switching plans: upgrades apply immediately; the unused portion of your current period is adjusted.
4. Cancelling: cancel anytime from the same screen. You keep paid features until the end of the paid period, then move to the Free plan — your data stays intact.

12. Troubleshooting

OTP not received

• Wait 60 seconds, then tap Resend OTP. Check that the mobile number is correct and has SMS signal.
• If you use SMS-blocking / DND apps, whitelist transactional SMS.
• Still stuck? Sign up with email and password instead, and add your mobile later — or write to support@smartabcd.com.

Family sync conflicts

• If two people edit the same item offline, the app keeps both versions and asks the list owner which to keep — nothing is lost silently.
• Frequent conflicts usually mean a two-way list should be one-way or approval mode. Change it in the list's sharing settings.
• A member's changes not appearing? Check they're active (not still invited) in Family → Members, and that both phones have synced recently.

Barcode / receipt scan fails

• Clean the camera lens; hold steady 10–15 cm away; make sure the code or text is well-lit and flat.
• Small local products often have no barcode in any catalogue — that's normal in India. Use manual entry; it's always one tap away and works offline.
• Receipt too faded or crumpled? Enter just the total manually — an approximate report beats no report.

Something else?

Check the FAQ or email support@smartabcd.com — a human reads every message.