Who this is for
Anyone trying to understand their impulse spending, who senses it's emotional but has never tracked the feeling behind it.
The moment this saves you
I make impulse purchases I regret, blame my lack of discipline, and never notice that I only ever splurge when I'm stressed or lonely, which is the thing I'd actually need to address.
See it work
Messy spoken thought in. A clean, structured artifact out.
Logging an impulse buy because I'm trying to understand my spending. I just spent 140 on clothes online I don't really need. How I was feeling before, honestly pretty stressed and a bit down, work was rough today and I think I was trying to give myself a little hit of something good. The trigger was definitely the bad day plus being tired and scrolling on my phone in bed. I notice I always do this after stressful days. The thing I actually needed was probably to rest or talk to someone, not to buy stuff. Want to keep tracking this because the pattern's pretty obvious.
Spending trigger, June 5, 2026
- Purchase: $140 on clothes online (didn't really need)
- Feeling before: Stressed and a bit down (rough day at work)
- Trigger: Bad day + tired + scrolling in bed
- The real need: Rest or connection, not stuff
- Pattern noticed: I splurge after stressful days
The pattern is obvious, worth keeping track.
The workflow
Record a voice note
Hit the hotkey and talk, no formatting, no typing.
Tag it with this context
Contextli shapes your words into the structured output above.
Find it later
Everything's searchable and organised by context.
Pull it into Claude or ChatGPT
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Your raw recording and transcription stay on your device, so you can always go back to the original.
The prompt behind this context
I'm going to log an impulse purchase and the feeling behind it. Turn it into a dated entry: a bold "Spending trigger, [today's date]" heading, then labeled lines: Purchase (what and how much), Feeling before (my emotional state), Trigger (what set it off), The real need (what I actually needed instead, if I name it), and Pattern noticed (any recurring trend). Keep my honest reflection. Do NOT moralize or give financial advice. Don't invent feelings or amounts. Output only the entry.
Make it your own. This is a starting point. Once it's in Contextli, tweak the instructions so the output comes out exactly how you like it.
Use this context
One tap adds it to your clipboard. Open Contextli and paste to add it.
Next, open Contextli, Contexts, Import, paste.
Make it your own. This is a starting point. Once it's in Contextli, tweak the instructions so the output comes out exactly how you like it.
Your raw recording and transcription stay on your device, so you can always go back to the original.
Related contexts
Expense Log
The receipt's already in the bin and 'later' never comes. Right after you pay, just say what it was, where, and whether it's work or personal. It gets categorized and totaled, so month-end isn't a forensic investigation.
Mood Check-In
You can feel your mood sliding but you never log it, so you can't see the pattern. Just say how you're doing right now and what's behind it. You get a dated entry with an intensity you can actually look back on.
Budget Review Note
You glance at the bank balance, feel vaguely guilty, and change nothing. Once a month, talk through where the money actually went and what surprised you. You get a structured review that names the leak, instead of another month of mystery spending.