How it works
One month, from the start — all the way through.
No financial jargon and no spreadsheets. We walk through a whole month: what happens on the first, what you do along the way, and what you see at the end. Real numbers, real screens.
The problem
Three things that sour your finances month after month.
“Where did it go?”
Mid-month the account is empty and you can't say what drained it. You didn't overspend — you just can't see the whole picture at once.
“I forgot about that one.”
The quarterly insurance, the half-yearly tax, the bill that slipped. Never huge amounts — they just always land at the wrong time.
“How much can I set aside?”
You usually find out at the end of the month. When it's too late to do anything about it.
Personal Budget solves all three the same way: one month = one page with everything on it.
The basics
Four words, and you've got it.
These four concepts run through the whole app. Once you understand them, everything else follows.
Category
The template for your recurring items: name, planned amount, due date, payment method and frequency. You set up “Rent” once, and from then on it's there every month.
Monthly ledger
One month's plan. It opens by itself on the first of every month, and the app fills it with the categories that are due in that month.
Entry
A single row in the monthly ledger: “Rent” in May 2026, planned at 220 000 Ft, due 2026-05-05.
Transaction
What actually happened: a payment, a purchase. One entry can have several — the entry is settled once the transactions add up to the planned amount.
And one more: the main group.
Your categories are organised into seven main groups — Housing and utilities, Vehicles and transport, Loans and repayments, Business, Internet and telecom, Groceries and household, Personal and other. Each has its own colour and icon, so you can see at a glance where the money goes.
The two tracking modes
A bill is not the same thing as the weekly shop.
That's why Personal Budget knows two modes, and you decide which one fits each category.
Exactly this much, exactly then.
Rent, utilities, loan repayments, insurance. If you don't pay it, the app doesn't forget: it keeps flagging it next month until you settle it.
A monthly envelope that many small purchases drain.
Groceries, fuel, eating out. If there's some left at the end of the month, that's not a missed payment — that's a good month.
Income is never overdue. If an expected payment doesn't arrive, you'll find it next month under income expected from an earlier month.
The sample month
May 2026 — day by day.
The Tóth household: Péter's salary, Anikó's pension, a handful of standing bills and two envelopes. Follow it through — by the end of the month it all comes together.
- 2026-05-01
The month opens by itself.
You don't have to do a thing. On the first, the app opens the new monthly ledger and fills it with the categories due that month — monthly items always, quarterly ones only every third month. This is the plan you'll measure yourself against.
Personal Budget · the Tóth familyMay 2026Planned income1 351 200 Ft3 entriesPlanned expenses595 200 Ft6 entriesCan be set aside744 800 Ftas plannedSalary (Péter)income · due 05-101 070 000 FtplannedRentfixed amount · due 05-05220 000 FtplannedGroceriesbudget envelope180 000 FtplannedCar insurancequarterly · due 05-2024 000 FtplannedThe May plan the moment it opens: three income entries, six expenses, and the difference between them. - 2026-05-03 … 05-15
You record what happens.
Paid the rent? Amount, date, done. The entry is settled straight away and the month's picture updates. You don't have to sit down with it all at once — you type it in when it happens.
Personal Budget · the Tóth familyMay 2026Pension (Anikó)2026-05-03 · bank transfer270 000 FtsettledRent2026-05-05 · bank transfer220 000 FtsettledTelekom2026-05-08 · bank transfer14 800 FtsettledSalary (Péter)2026-05-10 · bank transfer1 070 000 FtsettledUtilities2026-05-12 · direct debit92 400 FtsettledFive entries over two weeks. The salary that arrived is a transaction too. - during the month
The envelopes drain.
You don't plan the shopping trips one by one — you just record them and watch where the envelope stands. Twelve trips to the shop, a single row in the ledger. If it overflows, the app says so, but it doesn't make a fuss.
Personal Budget · the Tóth familyMay 2026Groceries12 purchases177 300 Ftplanned177 300 / 180 000 FtFuel6 fill-ups64 500 Ftplanned64 500 / 64 000 Ft+500 Ft overThe groceries envelope nearly ran out; fuel went over by 500 Ft. - 2026-05-20
Something slips.
The quarterly car insurance fell due and you didn't pay it. The app doesn't scold you — it just remembers. A badge appears in the header, and the entry stays in the list, clearly marked.
Personal Budget · the Tóth family1 overdue · 24 000 FtMay 2026Car insurancequarterly · due 2026-05-2024 000 FtoverdueUtilities2026-05-12 · settled92 400 FtsettledTelekom2026-05-08 · settled14 800 FtsettledOne overdue entry, 24 000 Ft. That's all. - 2026-05-31
Closing the month.
There's nothing to close. The report puts the plan and the reality side by side — and says the thing that matters: how much is left.
Personal Budget · the Tóth familyMay 2026 · closingActual income1 340 000 Ftplanned: 1 351 200 FtActual expenses569 000 Ftplanned: 595 200 FtCan be set aside771 000 Ftabove plan- 11 200 Ft hasn't arrived yet — Egg sales.
- 24 000 Ft is still unpaid — Car insurance.
Planned and actual amounts side by side, with the difference explained.
2026-06-01
The next month remembers.
June opens with the same plan — minus the car insurance, because that's quarterly and next falls due in August. But May's 24 000 Ft doesn't vanish: it's waiting under the overdue items, with the date it fell due. And the 11 200 Ft that never arrived is there too, under income expected from an earlier month.
Overdue
Income expected from an earlier month
Once you pay it, one click and it's off the list. Until then it stays — and that's exactly the point.
Frequency
Not every bill is monthly.
For every category you set how often it comes: monthly, quarterly, half-yearly or yearly. The app only puts it in the plan for the months when it's actually due — so your February plan doesn't lie to you by 24 000 Ft.
Getting started
Your first ten minutes.
You don't start with empty tables. The setup wizard walks you through seven steps and starts you off with sensible defaults: types, frequencies, payment methods, seven main groups and a few common categories. You can rewrite, delete or extend any of them at any time.
- Basics
- Types
- Frequencies
- Payment methods
- Main groups
- Categories
- Summary
There's no password.
You give us your email address, you get a sign-in link, you click it. That's it. Nothing to forget, and nothing to steal.
Honestly
What it doesn't do.
It doesn't sync with your bank.
You record the transactions yourself. That's more deliberate — but it is work, no question.
There's no separate mobile app.
The browser version is designed mobile-first, though, so it works comfortably on a phone.
It handles one currency at a time.
One currency per account — no conversion, no per-currency ledgers.
It won't tell you what to spend on.
It shows you what's happening. The decisions are yours.
In trial mode you can set up 10 categories, 5 entries per category and 1 monthly budget — just enough to live through a whole month with it.
Questions
What most people ask.
What if I get something wrong?
You change it. Every entry and every transaction can be edited or deleted.
What happens if I don't touch it for a month?
Nothing bad. Months open by themselves, overdue items wait for you, and you can always record things retroactively.
Can two of us use it in one household?
Yes. The books belong to a household — both of your incomes and expenses can go in.
Can I add a zero-amount entry?
Yes, zero is a valid value. Negative amounts aren't accepted, though: an expense is an expense because it's in an expense category, not because of a minus sign.
What's an ad-hoc entry?
A row with no recurring category behind it. It shows up only in that month and isn't carried into the next one.
Do I need a credit card?
No. An email address is enough for the trial.
Let's start
A month from now you'll know.
You don't need any financial background — just an email address and ten minutes. On the first of next month your first ledger opens by itself.