Budget Tracker for iPhone, What's Left at a Glance | Cash Book
Quick answer
Budgets in Cash Book are two things. An overall allowance, monthly or weekly, shows as one line under the big spending number on Home: “€120 left”, or “over” when you are past it. Per-tag budgets add a thin progress bar to any tag, so Eating out or Coffee can carry its own limit. Nothing turns red until you are actually over, budgets can recur every period, and because every log method writes to the same tags, the bars move on their own.
A budget you have to go looking for is a budget you stop looking at. Cash Book puts the number you care about under your thumb and stays quiet until it matters.
One line under the big number
Set an allowance for the month or the week. From then on, the Home hero shows the period's spending as one big number, and under it a single line: "€120 left". Log a coffee and the line moves. Go past the allowance and it says "over", in red, the only time red appears in the app.
That placement is the whole design. You do not open a budgets tab to check in; the check-in happens every time you log, which is the only moment the information can change what you do next.
A budget per tag
Some spending needs its own leash. Open Budgets from the "…" menu at the top of Home and give any tag a limit: Eating out at 200 a month, Coffee at 40 a week, Clothes at whatever you decided in January. Each one gets a thin progress bar that fills as you log. The bar stays ink-coloured until you are over, then turns red. There are no amber warnings at 80 percent, because a bar you can see does not need to shout.
Per-tag budgets work because tags are shared by every way of logging. A coffee you said to the mic, one from a receipt and one from an Apple Pay tap all fill the same bar.
Monthly, weekly, recurring
Pick the period that matches how you think. A monthly allowance suits a salary. A weekly one suits people who find a month too far away to feel. Either can be set to recur, so it starts fresh each period without you rebuilding it. Change the amount when life changes; the history stays.
Budgets also read differently over time. The insights screen shows where spending changed by tag versus last month, which is the fastest way to see whether a limit is doing its job or just being ignored.
A budget that survives February
Most budgets fail in the second month, not the first. The ones that hold are simple, visible and forgiving of a bad week. Cash Book's design leans that way on purpose: one allowance, a few tag limits, and a bar that only goes red when it should. If you want a method to set the numbers themselves, read how to make a monthly budget that sticks. Then log with your voice so the bars stay honest without effort.
Frequently asked questions
Where does my budget show?
Right under the big number on Home, as “€120 left” or “over”. You see it every time you open the app and every time you log something, without opening a separate screen.
Can I set a budget for one tag only?
Yes. Open Budgets from the menu and add a budget to any tag. It gets a thin progress bar that fills as you log, and turns red only once you are over.
Do budgets reset every month?
They can. A budget can be recurring, so a monthly or weekly allowance starts fresh each period without you setting it again.
Can I share a budget with my partner?
Not at the moment. Budgets live in your own Cash Book, on your iPhone and your iCloud. Each person keeps their own log.
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