Features Overview
Dashboard: Your Financial Command Center
The dashboard gives you everything you need to know about your current month at a glance.
Smart Income Budgeting
Income isn't just your salary - it's whatever money you have available to spend this month.
- • Using $1,000 from emergency savings? That $1,000 becomes this month's "income"
- • Got a bonus? Add it to income for that month
- • Freelance payment? Income for the month it arrives
This flexible income approach matches real life - sometimes you have more available, sometimes less, and your budget adjusts accordingly.
Budget Categories: Awareness Tools, Not Prison Cells
Budgeted Column
Set your spending targets for each category (carries over automatically next month)
Spent Column
Shows actual spending as you enter transactions throughout the month
Percentage Bars
Instant visual of how you're doing - green = on track, red = over budget
What happens when you go over budget?
- • Just visual feedback - no restrictions or penalties
- • You can readjust budgets during the month or leave them as-is
- • Keeping original targets shows you historically whether you're a realistic budgeter
- • Over-budget categories become learning tools, not sources of guilt
The key insight: Categories aren't rigid containers that restrict spending. They're awareness tools that show you patterns and help you make conscious decisions.
Money Assignment: Conscious Choice, Not Forced Allocation
"You've budgeted $2,130 with $20 left to assign"
- • You can leave money unassigned during the month
- • At month-end, decide whether to save it or reallocate to categories
- • Shows if you've allocated all your available money
- • Prevents over-budgeting (can't assign more than you have)
Flexible income handling: As money comes in throughout the month (freelance payments, bonuses), just add it to income and decide how to use it. No complex rebalancing required.
Real-Time Family Sync
- Smart caching system: When your wife enters an expense on her phone, it appears on your dashboard immediately
- Timestamp checking: System automatically detects when data changes and updates all devices
- No conflicts: Multiple people can use the system simultaneously without sync issues
Fixed Expenses Integration
Right sidebar shows exactly what's "already spent":
- • All subscriptions with dates (Netflix $5 on Jun 25)
- • Total fixed expenses ($264 = 12% of income)
- • Advance warning of upcoming charges
You can cancel subscriptions before they hit and instantly have more money available for that month.
Visual Categories with Emojis
Makes categorizing fast and intuitive - no scrolling through boring text lists.
Monthly Navigation
- • Arrow buttons: Quick previous/next month
- • Date picker: Jump to any specific month
- • Auto-current: Always opens to current month
- • Refresh indicator: Shows how fresh your data is
Why This Dashboard Design Works
- No reconciliation needed: Since you enter expenses directly, your "spent" numbers are always accurate
- No surprise bills: Fixed expenses are visible and predictable
- No category guilt: Over-budget categories show reality, not failure
- No data delays: Real-time sync means everyone sees the same picture
- No subscription anxiety: One-time purchase, own your data forever
Subscription Management: Set Once, Track Forever
The subscriptions tab eliminates the biggest pain point of budget tracking - remembering and entering recurring payments.
Smart Automation That Actually Works
Enter each subscription once with:
- • Name and emoji icon for easy recognition
- • Amount and currency
- • Next payment date
- • Payment account (which bank/card)
- • Frequency (monthly, quarterly, yearly)
System automatically:
- • Creates transactions on due dates
- • Updates next payment date after each charge
- • Projects future payments through end of year
- • Integrates with expense grid (blue borders) and dashboard
Visual Payment Timeline
Top chart shows your subscription costs over time:
- • Historical payments (actual amounts charged)
- • Current month spending
- • Future projections through end of year
- • Color-coded by subscription type
- • Peak spending months visible at a glance
Annual Cost Awareness
Summary stats show the real impact:
13
Active Subscriptions
$1,832
Annual Total
$153
Monthly Average
This makes subscription creep visible - you can see exactly how much you're spending on recurring services and make informed decisions about what to keep.
Advance Warning System
Because you can see exact payment dates:
- • Cancel before renewal if you don't need the service
- • Plan around expensive annual renewals
- • Avoid "surprise" charges that derail your budget
- • Move money between accounts if needed
Income Tracking: Simple and Flexible
The income tab handles both regular and irregular income without complicated setup.
Two Income Types
One-time income:
Freelance payments, bonuses, side hustle earnings, investment sales
Recurring income:
Salary, passive income, regular dividends
Income History & Analytics
Performance metrics:
$21,361
Year Total
$1,780
Monthly Average
$2,010
Current Month
+11.2%
Savings Rate
Flexible Income Philosophy
Income = whatever money you have available this month
- • Using $1,000 from emergency savings? That's this month's "income"
- • Got a bonus? Add it as one-time income
- • Investment sale? Add it when it happens
- • Regular salary? Set up recurring income
This matches real life - some months you have more available money, some less. The system adapts to irregular income patterns rather than forcing you into salary-only thinking.
Net Worth Tracking: Beautiful and Simple
The net worth tracker gives you a complete financial snapshot without the complexity of constant account syncing.
Four Simple Buckets
Liquid Assets ($33,701)
Bank accounts, cash, money market - anything you can spend immediately
Investments ($75,800)
Stocks, crypto, retirement accounts, real estate - your wealth-building assets
Physical Assets ($17,000)
Car, electronics, furniture - valuable things you own
Debts ($0)
Credit cards, loans, mortgages - what you owe (thankfully empty!)
Visual Wealth Progression
Stunning stacked area chart shows:
- • Total net worth progression over time (157k to 120k trend visible)
- • Asset allocation by category with color coding
- • Future projections based on historical trends
- • Monthly percentage changes (+1% this month)
- • Multiple time views: 12m, 2yr, 3yr, 5yr, All time
The Genius of Manual Updates
End of month routine:
- • Check bank account balance → Enter in Liquid Assets
- • Check investment account value → Enter in Investments
- • Estimate physical asset values if changed → Update Physical Assets
- • Done in 5 minutes, accurate forever
No daily market stress, no sync failures, no reconciliation headaches - just a clear monthly snapshot of your complete financial picture with beautiful visualizations that actually help you understand your wealth progression.
Category Management: Simple and Focused
The categories tab keeps spending organization clean and manageable.
30 Predefined Categories
Essential categories covered:
Lifestyle categories available:
Smart Category Controls
Activate/Deactivate categories:
- • Yellow highlight = Active categories
- • Gray/unchecked = Inactive categories
- • Only show categories you actually use
Customize categories:
- • Rename any category to match your terminology
- • Change emoji icons to your preference
- • Reorder categories by dragging and dropping
Minimalist Philosophy
Why 30 categories maximum:
- • Prevents category overwhelm and decision paralysis
- • Forces conscious choices about what matters
- • Most people use 10-15 categories regularly anyway
- • You don't even use half yourself - perfect validation of the approach
Settings: Simple Setup and Personalization
The settings tab handles account setup and display preferences with minimal complexity.
Data Connection
Account shows your Gmail and license status
Family Sharing Setup
For couples/families:
- 1. One person clicks "New Database" to create the master sheet
- 2. Shares the Google Sheet through normal Google Drive sharing
- 3. Other family members click "Select Existing" and choose the shared sheet
- 4. Everyone now tracks in the same budget with real-time sync
Data Ownership
"Your financial data stays private in your own Google Drive"
- • You own the spreadsheet completely
- • SimplifyBudget never sees your financial information
- • Can disconnect app anytime and keep all your data
- • Works with Google's built-in sharing and permission system
The genius: Setup takes 30 seconds (click "New Database" → done), but you get complete data ownership and family collaboration that actually works.
Expense Grid: Where the Magic Happens
The expense entry interface is a visual calendar grid where dates run down the left side and spending categories across the top. This creates intersection-based entry that's faster than any form-based system.
Lightning-Fast Entry
Click the intersection of date and category, enter the amount. Done.
- • No date selection dropdowns
- • No category menus to navigate
- • No forms to fill out
- • Takes 5 seconds vs. 30+ seconds in traditional apps
- • Fully mobile optimized - enter expenses on your phone just as easily as desktop
When you click an intersection, a popup shows:
- • All existing expenses for that day/category
- • Empty row to add new transactions
- • Category emoji and date at the top
- • Running total for that day
- • No save button needed - auto-saves when you click outside
- • Red X to delete any transaction instantly
Visual Spending Patterns
Heat map color coding shows spending intensity:
- • Light amounts stay white/neutral
- • Heavy spending gets progressively redder
- • Instantly spot your highest spending days
- • Category patterns become obvious over time
Smart row highlighting:
- • Today's row highlighted in yellow - always know where you are in the month
- • Weekend rows have subtle grey background - easily distinguish weekdays vs weekends
- • Blue borders on fixed expenses - see subscription/bill dates at a glance
- • Monthly flow and spending patterns are visible instantly
Perfect for Cash Transactions
Most automated systems completely fail with cash payments - they can't sync what banks don't see.
Manual entry handles cash perfectly: You spent $20 cash on groceries? Click Groceries + today's date, enter $20. Your tracking is complete and accurate.
Why This Beats Traditional Expense Tracking
Traditional apps:
- • Open app → Select date → Choose category → Enter amount → Add description → Save
- • Spend 5 minutes categorizing each transaction after bank import
- • Fight with wrong auto-categories and duplicate imports
- • Cash transactions are invisible or require manual workarounds
SimplifyBudget:
- • Click intersection → Enter amount → Done
- • Spend 5 seconds entering transaction when it happens
- • Your data is correct because you entered it correctly
- • Cash and card transactions are entered identically and accurately
The result: You actually use the system consistently because it's faster and easier than alternatives, creating the long-term awareness that drives better financial decisions.
Yearly Overview: The Big Picture
Toggle between Monthly and Yearly views to see your spending patterns at different scales.
Annual Heat Map
Color intensity shows spending levels across the entire year:
- • Heat map scale adjusts for yearly amounts ($100-1000+ range)
- • Instantly spot your highest and lowest spending months
- • See seasonal patterns and trends emerge
- • Compare month-to-month performance at a glance
Interactive Charts
Chart icon opens detailed visualization:
- • Stacked bar chart showing monthly spending breakdown by category
- • Hover over any section to see exact amounts
- • Income, spending, and savings trends over time
- • Visual patterns that aren't obvious in raw numbers
Real-Time Family Collaboration
Multiple people can enter expenses simultaneously:
- • Your wife enters grocery shopping on her phone
- • It appears immediately on your desktop view
- • No sync delays or conflicts
- • Everyone sees the same real-time picture
Never lose track of transactions: The visual system makes it super easy to find any expense without searching through lists or complicated filters.
Ready to Take Control?
Experience the simplicity and power of visual budget tracking