Budget Notebook
A budget app that doesn't link your bank
Download on the App StoreWhat it is
A budget you fill in by hand. It doesn't connect to banks or card companies, and there's no sign-up or login. What you enter stays on your devices and in your own iCloud; the developer cannot see it.
Screens
| Screen | What it does |
|---|---|
| Write | Record income, expenses and transfers between accounts, with date, amount, description, payment method, category and memo. Filter by type, category, payment method or keyword |
| Dashboard | This month's income, spending and savings, fixed and variable costs, a six-month chart, spending by category, the Spending Race and the Recurring Calendar |
| Budget | A monthly budget per category with a bar showing how much you've used, and the whole year added up |
| Assets | Net worth: all account balances minus debts. Balances are calculated from the starting balance and transactions, so fixing a transaction fixes the balance |
| Settings | Cards, categories, accounts, recurring payments, currency, language, backup, and Claude Link |
Questions
There's no sign-up. There's no account or login screen, so you can start right away. The first time you open the app, choose Start with Samples (twenty example entries), Import a Backup or Start Empty. You can remove the samples in one step with Remove Sample Data in Settings.
No. The app doesn't connect to any financial institution. It never asks for or stores bank IDs, passwords, certificates or card numbers, so you enter what you spend yourself.
A new book starts in your device's region currency. You can change it in Settings → Currency. Changing the currency only changes how amounts are shown; nothing is converted.
Yes. Devices signed in to the same iCloud account stay in step on their own. Data in iCloud goes into your own private database, which the developer cannot open.
You don't have to use iCloud. Nothing is blocked; the book simply stays on that device.
You don't need a separate category. Moving money from a spending account to a savings account counts as saving, and moving it back counts as spending your savings.
Add it under Settings → Recurring and it's added on that day. Payments whose amount changes every month are better entered each time. Turn on Show in Calendar at the top of that screen to see due dates in a "Budget Note Recurring" calendar on your device.
Under Budget, choose Year to see every month's budget and spending added up. Months where you didn't set a budget count as no budget, so use Copy Last Month to carry a budget forward.
If you have an exported JSON file, use Import a Backup on the first screen, or Settings → Backup if you already use the app. You can export everything to one file at any time.
The exported file is a plain, unencrypted text file containing your whole book, so keep it somewhere you trust.
An optional feature for people who use the Claude desktop app on a Mac. Turn on Claude Link in Settings and an inbox appears. Claude on your Mac can read your book and put transactions into the "Budget Notebook" folder in iCloud Drive, and the app shows them line by line so you add only what you choose.
The connector tool and setup guide: github.com/impro0126-pixel/bueong-claude. The switch is off by default, and while it's off the app doesn't look at any files.
The app shows Korean when Korean is the first language on your device, and English otherwise. To choose yourself, go to Settings → Display → Language (on the Mac, Settings → View → Language).
Only to your devices and your own iCloud. The developer runs no server, so there's no path for your data to reach the developer. See the Privacy Policy for details.