Budget & Cash Flow Tracker

Frequently asked questions

How is this different from tracking every transaction?

It doesn't keep an account of what you spend money on, as an option. Instead of tracking each transaction from buying a latte to buying groceries, you enter each recurring income source and bill once, weekly, monthly or yearly, and the tracker keeps a running monthly-equivalent total. That's a different kind of budgeting with less maintenance, and it answers the question that matters most: is more coming in than going out, without months of receipt logging first.

Why no bank or card connection to pull this in automatically?

The same reason the net worth tracker doesn't have one: a live account-aggregation feed needs a licensed connection this free tool doesn't have, since the free tiers of those data providers forbid public-facing display. Entering your recurring items by hand takes a few minutes the first time and stays accurate as long as you update it when something changes, a raise, a new subscription, a paid-off loan.

What counts as a "monthly-equivalent" amount?

A weekly expense is multiplied by 52 (the number of weeks in a year) and then divided by 12 to convert it into a monthly value. A yearly expense is simply divided by 12. This lets every item, whether weekly, monthly or yearly, be converted into a monthly value so they can all be added together for comparison. A $50 weekly grocery bill has an approximate monthly cost of around $217; a yearly $1,200 insurance premium has a monthly equivalent of approximately $100.

How does the upcoming bills list pick dates?

Each expense can optionally get a due day of the month, 1 to 31. The tracker calculates the next occurrence of that day from today and counts down to it, rolling over to next month once the current month's date has passed. Days above 28 are capped at 28 so the projection never breaks in February; if a bill genuinely falls on the 29th, 30th or 31st, entering 28 keeps the reminder close enough to be useful.

What does freelance / small business mode actually do?

Turning it on adds a card that totals everything entered under the "Business income" category and provides an editable tax set-aside rate, 25% by default, to suggest how much of that income to move to a separate savings account each month before you spend it. It is a planning nudge, not a tax calculation. Self-employment tax is based on total income, deductions, filing status and local rules, so use this as a starting cushion and check it against a real estimate closer to tax time.

Why save a monthly snapshot instead of just watching the live numbers?

The live summary will always reflect your most recent projection, never a historical record. Saving a snapshot of an actual month captures what your plan actually said for that month, so as you revisit this tracker every couple of months, the net cash flow chart shows where your real trajectory has moved, whether a raise widened the gap or a new subscription narrowed it, rather than only showing the present moment.

Is my financial data private?

Yes. Every income source, bill and monthly snapshot is stored in this browser's own IndexedDB, on your device, and never sent anywhere. There's no account, no bank link and, in this version, no export or sync between devices, so clearing your browser data or switching devices starts you over.

What does a negative net cash flow actually mean?

It means your recurring bills exceed your recurring income, on a monthly-equivalent basis. This is worth acting on quickly, because sustained negative cash flow means debt will grow and/or savings will dwindle. Check the expense category breakdown to see which category is the biggest single load, that is usually the fastest place to look for room.