MyFinances Usage Guide

Getting Started

What is MyFinances?

MyFinances is a browser-based debt and budget tracker that helps you track debts, plan income, build payoff strategies, and visualize your finances without any server dependency.

Key Features

• Ledger for transaction visibility by account and date range
• Debt management with interest-aware planning
• Account setup for realistic cash flow tracking
• Income and one-time entry scheduling
• Budget planning for bills and variable expenses
• Strategy planning with payoff projections and comparisons
• Reports and charts for long-term analysis

Navigation Basics

• The top navigation is organized into three groups: Overview (Health, Accounts, Income), Manage (Liabilities, Recurring, Savings, Plan), and Analyze (Reports, Ledger, Reconcile)
• The Health page is the default landing page when you open the app
• Use month navigation controls in calendar and reports
• Use export and import buttons in the top-right toolbar
• Use the help button to open this guide

Financial Health Dashboard

The Health page is the app's landing page and gives you an at-a-glance read on your financial situation, pulled from your accounts, debts, income, bills, expenses, and recurring templates — no separate data entry required.

Health Metrics

• Debt-to-Income Ratio — your monthly debt payments as a percentage of monthly income, with a status badge: Healthy (under 28%), Moderate (28–40%), or High Risk (40%+)
• Savings Rate — your monthly savings contributions as a percentage of income, with a status badge: Strong (20%+), Moderate (10–20%), or Low (under 10%)
• Emergency Fund Runway — how many months of expenses your emergency fund(s) would cover, with a status badge ranging from Critical (under 1 month) to Excellent (6+ months)

Adding Debts

Accurate debt details improve payoff calculations and strategy quality.

How to Add a Debt

1. Open the Debts page
2. Complete the Add Debt form
3. Submit the form to add it to your debt list

Editing and Deleting

• Use Edit to load existing values and update
• Use Delete to remove a debt entry

Payoff Analysis

Each credit-card debt card includes a Payoff Analysis section comparing your plan payment to paying the minimum only.

• No plan yet — click "Show payoff estimate" to see a minimum-only projection with months to payoff and total interest; a banner reminds you to run a plan for a full comparison
• Plan active — the badge renders automatically showing both scenarios side by side: payoff date, months, interest, and how much faster and cheaper your plan is
• Min-type toggle — switch between Fixed minimum (constant dollar amount) and % of Balance (recalculates each month); updates live
• Accelerate this debt → — opens a modal where you type an extra monthly payment and see the new payoff date and interest saved update instantly; "Apply to Plan" carries the new total to the Plan page

Setting Up Accounts

Accounts represent where money actually moves. Linking entries to accounts improves projected balances and cash flow accuracy.

Tracking Income

Income entries power monthly cash flow and debt-to-income analysis.

Income Summary

• Expected Income This Month
• Paydays This Month
• One-time entries this month
• Annual Estimate

One-time Bonuses and Deposits

Use the one-time entry form to add irregular deposits that are not part of a regular paycheck schedule.

• Examples: bonus, tax refund, cash deposit, check deposit
• Supported categories: Bonus, Tax Refund, Cash Deposit, Check Deposit, Other
• Entries can be linked to an account and are included in monthly income totals

Managing Expenses

The Expenses tab replaces the budget page, focusing on tracking variable spending with specific dates.

How to Add an Expense

1. Open the Expenses page
2. Click the Add Expense Budget toggle
3. Fill in the expense details: name, amount, date, category, and optional account
4. Click Add Expense to save

Expense Fields

Recurring Transaction Templates

Set up recurring subscriptions, reimbursements, and transfers with flexible scheduling and skip/pause controls.

What Are Recurring Templates?

• Subscriptions — ongoing costs (Netflix, insurance, utilities)
• Reimbursements — regular income (expense reimbursement, side gigs)
• Transfers — money movement between accounts

How to Add a Recurring Template

1. Open the Recurring page from the navigation menu
2. Click the Add Recurring toggle
3. Fill in template details: name, type, amount, frequency, and date range
4. Click Add Template

Template Configuration

Pausing and Skipping

• Pause — click the pause icon on a template card to temporarily deactivate it (skip all occurrences in all months)
• Skip Month — click skip on a template's monthly occurrence card to skip just that one month
• Unskip — click the unskipped badge to restore a skipped month

Marking as Paid

• Mark as Paid — click "✅ Mark as paid" on an active template's card to flag this month's occurrence as paid; the card shows a "✅ Paid this month" badge
• Unmark Paid — click "↩ Unmark paid" to clear the paid status for this month
• Paid status resets automatically at the start of each calendar month and does not affect Ledger totals or projections — it's a tracking aid, distinct from Skip Month (which suppresses the occurrence entirely)

Managing Savings

The Savings tab combines Emergency Fund tracking and Sinking Funds (goal-based savings) in one place, helping you build financial security and save for specific goals.

What Are Emergency Funds and Sinking Funds?

• Emergency Fund — a dedicated savings account per bank account to cover unexpected expenses (typically 3–6 months of living expenses)
• Sinking Funds (Goal-Based Buckets) — named savings goals for specific purposes (vacation, car repairs, home improvement, annual insurance, etc.) with flexible contribution methods

Emergency Fund

Track an emergency fund for each account with progress visualization.

To Add or Edit an Emergency Fund

1. Click the 🏦 Emergency Fund tab if not already selected
2. Click ➕ Add/Edit Emergency Fund
3. Fill in the form:

   Field	Description
   Account	Bank account this emergency fund belongs to
   Target Amount ($)	Your emergency fund goal (e.g. $10,000)
   Current Amount ($)	How much you've saved so far
   Monthly Contribution ($)	How much to set aside each month
   Auto-contribute monthly	Checkbox to automatically deduct from account each month
   Notes	Optional reminders (e.g. "3–6 months of expenses")

4. Click Save Emergency Fund

Each emergency fund card displays:

• Progress bar showing % complete (green = excellent, blue = good, yellow = fair, red = warning)
• Current vs. Target amounts
• Projected completion date if contributing at the set monthly rate
• Edit, Delete, and Contribute buttons for quick actions

Sinking Funds (Goal-Based Savings)

Create multiple named savings goals with three flexible allocation methods.

To Add a Sinking Fund

1. Click the 🎯 Sinking Funds tab
2. Click ➕ Add/Edit Sinking Fund
3. Fill in the form:

   Field	Description
   Goal Name	Name of the savings goal (e.g. "Vacation", "Car Repairs")
   Allocation Method	Choose one of three methods (see below)
   Account	Bank account this goal belongs to
   Current Amount ($)	How much you've saved toward this goal
   Auto-contribute monthly	Checkbox to automatically deduct from account each month
   Notes	Optional notes about the goal

4. Click Save Sinking Fund

Allocation Methods

• Fixed Monthly Amount — set a specific amount to save each month (e.g. $150/month for vacation)

  Field	Description
  Monthly Allocation ($)	Amount to set aside each month
  Target Amount ($)	Your savings goal total

• Annual Cost ÷ 12 — provide an annual cost and the app divides it into monthly chunks (e.g. annual car insurance $1,200 = $100/month)

  Field	Description
  Annual Cost ($)	Total annual cost (e.g. $1,200 for insurance)
  Target Amount ($)	Same as annual cost (auto-filled)

• Target Date Planning — specify a target amount and date; the app calculates the monthly allocation needed (e.g. save $5,000 by December 31 = $417/month)

  Field	Description
  Target Amount ($)	Your savings goal total (e.g. $5,000)
  Target Date	Date you want to reach that amount (e.g. 2026-12-31)
  Monthly Allocation	App calculates this automatically based on remaining time

Viewing Savings Impact

• Ledger — auto-contributed amounts appear as dedicated "Savings" transactions on the first of each month
• Reports › Income vs. Expenses — savings contributions are summarized in a dedicated stat and included in the outflow breakdown chart
• Reports › Money Flow — savings outflows are included in cumulative cash flow calculations
• Reports › Variance Dashboard — month-to-month comparison of savings contributions to spot increases or decreases in saving behavior
• Account Projections — auto-contributed amounts factor into projected end-of-month balances

Creating a Payment Plan

The Plan page builds a month-by-month payoff schedule using your payment budget and selected strategy.

Strategies

Results Areas

• Overview: strategy comparison and what-if simulation
• Debt Summary: debt-level principal, interest, and payoff details; two sortable columns show Interest Saved and Months Saved vs. minimum-payment-only for each credit-card debt
• Schedule: tabular, calendar, and chart views

Viewing Reports

The Reports page includes six tabs for analyzing your finances: Calendar, Income vs Expenses, Money Flow, What Changed, Net Worth, and Forecast.

Calendar Tab

• Month-by-month calendar view of all transactions
• Each day with activity shows a small colored dot per event type (income, bill, expense, recurring, debt, bonus) plus an event count — click or tap any day to open a modal with the full details (name, icon, and amount per event)
• Income paydays marked with 💰, recurring occurrences with 🔄, expenses with 🛒 inside the day modal
• Debt payments and other events color-coded by type
• Day cells are keyboard-accessible — focus a day and press Enter or Space to open its modal
• Navigate forward/backward through months

Income vs Expenses Tab

• Summary stats: total income, expenses, recurring costs, debt minimums, and net remaining
• Income breakdown chart showing sources
• Outflow breakdown chart showing bills, expenses, recurring items, and debt by category

Money Flow Tab

• Cumulative income, outflow, and net balance tracked day-by-day through the month
• Line chart showing running totals and net cash position
• Account balance projections table showing starting vs projected end-of-month balances for each account
• Today's date marked with a dashed line for current-month context

What Changed (Variance Dashboard) Tab

Compare this month to last month and quickly identify changes:

• Income — see if income increased or decreased
• Expenses — track how much more or less you spent on variable costs
• Recurring Costs — spot new subscriptions or canceled items
• Debt Minimums — monitor changes in required debt payments
• Net Available — see overall impact on your cash cushion

Delta indicators use color coding:

• 🟢 Green — income increase or expense/cost decrease (good)
• 🔴 Red — income decrease or expense/cost increase (watch out)

Net Worth Tracking

The Net Worth report combines account assets and debt liabilities so you can track overall wealth growth, not just debt payoff.

What Is Captured in a Snapshot

How to Use the Net Worth Tab

1. Go to Reports and select Net Worth
2. Choose 3M, 6M, or 12M range
3. Click Capture Snapshot Now to store/update this month's snapshot
4. Review both charts:
   • Net Worth vs Debt Payoff — trend of net worth and liabilities
   • Asset Growth vs Debt Reduction — month-over-month composition
5. Use the Snapshot History table under the charts to audit each recorded month quickly

Snapshot History Table Columns

Spending by Category

The 🏷️ Spending tab provides a visual breakdown of where money is going for the selected month.

• Pie Chart — doughnut chart showing each spending category as a proportional slice; click a slice to open the drill-down modal
• Ranked List — categories sorted by total spend, with a month-over-month % change badge (↑ red if higher, ↓ green if lower); click any row to drill down
• 6-Month Trend — stacked bar chart showing how total spending and category mix have changed over the past 6 months; the current month is highlighted at full opacity
• Drill-Down Modal — lists every transaction in the selected category for the month, with its date, source type, and amount

Cash Flow Forecast

The Forecast tab projects your account balances forward so you can spot cash shortages before they happen — including dips that occur mid-month and recover by month-end.

How to Use the Forecast Tab

1. Go to Reports and select 🔮 Forecast
2. Choose a Horizon of 1, 2, 3, 6, or 12 months
3. Choose an Account — Total Cash Position sums all checking, savings, cash, and investment accounts (credit cards and loans are excluded), or pick a single account
4. Adjust Flag months with outflow above (100-500%, default 130%) to control which months are flagged as notable

Summary Stats & Chart

The chart plots projected month-end balances, marking the lowest point in red and the highest in green. Any portion of the line that dips below zero is drawn in red.

Notable Months & Warnings

• ⚠️ Driven by: shown under any month whose total outflow exceeds your threshold, listing the top 3 expenses driving it
• ⚠️ Projected to go negative: shown if a month's ending balance is projected to drop below zero
• ⚠️ Projected to dip negative ... before recovering: shown if your balance is projected to go negative during a month — for example, a bill due before your next paycheck arrives — but recover to a positive balance by month-end
• ⚠️ Dips to ... before recovering: a row in the monthly table flagging any month where the lowest point reached during the month is below that month's ending balance, even if it never goes negative

Viewing Transactions

The Ledger shows chronological income, expenses, recurring templates, debt payments, and one-time entries (bonuses and deposits).

Ledger Filters

• Account filter for single-account or all-account views
• Date range options including next 30, 60, and 90 days
• Future transaction visibility toggle

Overriding Transaction Amounts

For non-rollover entries, the Amount column includes Override or Edit override controls.

1. Click Override (or Edit override) in the Amount column for the transaction
2. Use the modal dialog to enter the replacement amount (negative for outflow, positive for inflow)
3. Click Save Override to apply changes, or Cancel to leave the original unchanged
4. Use Reset in the same row to remove an override and restore the original amount

Account Reconciliation

Use the Reconcile tab to compare an account's tracked balance against a real bank or card statement, and log any adjustment needed to bring them back in sync.

How to Reconcile an Account

1. Go to the Reconcile tab and choose the account you want to reconcile
2. Review the list of expected transactions for the statement period — these are derived from your ledger (income, debts, bills, expenses, and recurring templates)
3. Enter the statement balance from your bank or card, an optional date, and an optional note
4. Submit to log the reconciliation — the difference is recorded, and whether the account's tracked balance updates depends on your Reconciliation Mode setting (see below)

Reconciliation Mode

A global setting controls what a reconciliation does to the account's tracked balance:

• Adjust balance — the statement balance becomes the account's new tracked balance going forward (the classic "snap to statement" behavior)
• Visible only — the reconciliation is recorded and shown, but the account keeps using its computed balance; nothing is overwritten

The first time you open the app with no saved data, a setup wizard asks you to pick a mode. If you're an existing user, your data already loads in Visible only mode by default. Change the mode any time from the Settings modal — open it via the gear icon in the toolbar, or by searching "Settings" in the command palette (Ctrl/Cmd+K).

Reconciliations on the Ledger

Every reconciliation also appears as a marker row (🔄 Balance Reconciliation) on the Ledger page, showing the previous balance, the statement balance, and the difference — regardless of which mode you're in. This keeps the ledger transparent about every adjustment made to an account, even ones that don't move the running balance.

Data Management

Exporting Data

1. Use the export button in the top-right toolbar
2. Choose JSON export
3. Backup includes accounts, debts, income, expenses, recurring templates, strategy settings, net worth snapshots, net worth milestone state, and ledger amount overrides
4. Store the downloaded backup file safely

Exporting the Ledger to CSV

• From the Ledger page, click Export CSV
• Choose which columns to include (date, account, transaction, amount, category, running balance, type)
• Export uses your current account/date-range filters and sort order

Printing or Saving Pages as PDF

• The Reports, Health, Accounts, and Income pages each have a 🖨️ Print button next to their heading
• Use your browser's print dialog to print or choose "Save as PDF"
• Only the currently active page is printed; data-entry forms and in-app navigation links are hidden so just the read-only content prints
• On the Reports page, only the currently active report tab is printed

Summary Reports

• From the Reports page, open the 🖨️ Summary tab
• Toggle between Monthly and Yearly views
• Shows cash flow, account balances, and net worth for the selected period

Importing Data

1. Use the import button in the top-right toolbar
2. Select a prior JSON backup
3. Choose replace or merge behavior based on your goal (ledger overrides are restored from backup)

Exporting Schedule to CSV

From the Plan schedule tab, export monthly schedule details as CSV for spreadsheet analysis.

Clearing All Data

Clear All Data removes accounts, debts, income, bills, expenses, and strategy data.

Tips and Tricks

1. Start with accurate balances, APR values, and minimum payments
2. Use categories consistently for better organization
3. Link entries to accounts for realistic account-level projections
4. Compare all strategies before deciding on a payoff method