G'day, I'm Omar. A shoebox of receipts is the reason Lodgya exists.
I built Lodgya for myself after one too many tax times spent digging through crumpled receipts. Here's the story, and what I care about now that other people use it too.
Decades in the security and risk industry, across both private and government sectors. Lodgya is the tool I wished I'd had at tax time.
The shoebox
Every year it was the same routine. Out came a dusty shoebox of coffee-stained receipts, half of them faded, and a bloated Excel spreadsheet that grew a few more cells every time I opened it. Nothing had any real structure, and I was never quite sure I had everything.
Then one year I missed a big deduction. Money I was entitled to claim, gone, because the receipt was buried somewhere and I'd forgotten about it. That one really stung. I told myself: never again.
Built for me first
So I built Lodgya for myself. I wanted something with proper structure that did the boring work for me. A place to log income and expenses as they happen, snap the receipt on the spot, set recurring bills to add themselves, and have everything sorted by financial year when tax time comes around.
Once I'd used it for a while, I realised how much easier it made my life, and that it could genuinely help a lot of other people. Especially people like me who want real bang for their buck: one product that does it all (property, personal, sole trader, even the car logbook) and still stays simple to use.
What I care about
You know when you sit down at a restaurant, scan the QR code on the table to order, pick your meal, go to pay and suddenly it wants your name, address, phone number, email, how many kids you have, where you went on holiday and your neighbour's dog's name? I can't stand it.
After decades working in security and risk, I've seen how much personal data gets lost or stolen every year. So Lodgya asks for as little as possible. Signing up takes an email and a password, and that's it. No tax file number, no bank details, no ID. Your financial records are stored on your device. If you choose to turn on cloud backup, your records are encrypted on your device with a passphrase only you know before they're uploaded, so we can't read them. The privacy policy has the detail.
Keeping good tax records shouldn't need an accounting degree or a big monthly bill. Lodgya is simple enough to pick up in minutes and cheap enough to be a no-brainer. There's a free plan, and paid plans start at $4.95 a month.
Lodgya has one job: help you get everything you're entitled to at tax time by never losing a receipt or forgetting a deduction again. If a feature doesn't serve that, it doesn't go in.
A bit more about me
I grew up in, and still live in, Melbourne's northern suburbs, surrounded by blue-collar workers. Tradies, shift workers and small-business owners who've worked hard for everything they've got. That's how I was raised too, and Lodgya is built with people like them in mind.
Away from the keyboard, I grew up playing basketball, I love to travel, and I have a real soft spot for classic American and Japanese cars.
Say g'day
I'd love to hear from you. If you've got a question, an idea, or something in Lodgya that could be better, email me at [email protected] or find Lodgya on Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn.
— Omar
Ditch the shoebox
Start with the free plan and see how much easier tax time can be. No credit card needed.
Lodgya is a record-keeping tool. It doesn't provide tax, financial or accounting advice and isn't a registered tax agent. ABN 90 851 369 985. See our disclaimer.