Open the app and tap "Get started"
On first launch the book list is empty. The button in the middle opens the choice for a new book. Later on you get there with the plus icon in the top right.
Choose "Local Book"
The dialog offers three ways. "Quick Start Book" is ready at once, with pre-selected categories. "Local Book" is the one you set up yourself; the next steps show how. "Join with Code" takes you into a book someone invited you to. Both new books start on your phone; you can share one later from the members view.
Give the book a name and a colour
The colour is what you recognise the book by in the list. Useful once you run more than one, for example household and holiday side by side.
Pick your income categories
All categories are pre-selected. Tap the ones you do not need to switch them off. A shorter list means fewer taps later when you record an entry.
Pick your expense categories
Same again for expenses. If something is missing, you can add your own category here and give it an icon: up to 5 own categories each for income and expenses on the free plan, as many as you like with Pro.
Set a monthly budget where it helps
Switch on the categories you want to keep an eye on and type a monthly amount. You do not have to budget everything. Groceries and eating out are usually enough to start with. Budgets can be changed at any time.
Add a savings goal (optional)
A savings goal is a category with a target amount, for example a holiday or an emergency fund. Every payment into it moves the progress bar.
Done: the book is in your list
The book is created and opens straight away. From here on, everything else is recording entries.
Frequently asked questions
Local books, as many as you want. In the cloud, where a book syncs and can be shared, the free plan keeps one book of your own; books others invited you to do not count. With Pro you can have as many cloud books as you like. Many people run one for the household and one per holiday or project.
Yes. Open the book, go to the members view and upload it. The entries you already recorded come along.
No. Budgets are optional. A book works fine as a plain record of what came in and what went out.