Budget Tracker for iPhone, What's Left at a Glance | Cash Book
Quick answer
Budgets in Cash Book come in two shapes. An overall allowance, monthly or weekly, sits as one line under the big spending number on Home: “€120 left”, or “over” once you pass it. Per-tag budgets add a thin progress bar to any tag, so Eating out or Coffee can carry a limit of its own. Nothing turns red until you are actually over, budgets can recur every period, and because every way of logging writes to the same tags, the bars move without you doing anything else.
A budget you have to go looking for is a budget you stop looking at. So Cash Book puts the number you care about under your thumb, then stays quiet until it matters.
One line under the big number
Set an allowance. Month or week, whichever you prefer. After that 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 reads "over", in red. That is the only red anywhere in the app.
That placement is the whole design. You never open a budgets tab to check in. The check-in happens every time you log, which is the only moment the information can still 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 number you picked in January and have since regretted. Each gets a thin progress bar that fills as you log.
The bar stays ink-coloured until you are over, then turns red. No amber at 80 percent. A bar you can already see does not need to shout at you, and we would rather the app were boring than nagging.
Per-tag budgets work because tags are shared by every way of logging. A coffee you said to the mic, one read off a receipt and one from an Apple Pay tap all fill the same bar.
Monthly, weekly, recurring
Pick the period that matches how you actually think. A monthly allowance suits a salary. A weekly one suits anyone who finds a month too far away to feel. Either can recur, so it starts fresh each period without you rebuilding it, and you can change the amount when life changes without losing the history.
One thing Cash Book will not do is share a budget. No partner view. No household pot, because there is no Cash Book account for two people to sign into in the first place. If you split rent with someone, keep the shared number somewhere you can both see it and track your own half here.
A budget that survives February
Most budgets fail in the second month, not the first. January is easy. February is the test, and the budgets that survive it are the simple, visible ones that forgive a bad week instead of punishing it. Cash Book leans that way on purpose: one allowance, a couple of tag limits, a bar that only goes red when it should.
The insights screen is the other half of it. Where spending changed by tag, month against month, is the fastest way to tell whether a limit is doing its job or just being ignored. For setting the numbers in the first place, read how to make a monthly budget that sticks. Then log with your voice so the bars stay honest without any effort from you.
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.
Get Cash Book on the App StoreFree for 7 days. $19.99 once for lifetime.