FAQs

BentoMoney calculates a single number: how much you can safely spend today. You enter your income, fixed expenses (rent, subscriptions, etc.), and savings goals once. Then you log what you spend. The app does the math so you always know if you're on track without spreadsheets or mental gymnastics. If you are comparing options, start with the best expense tracker apps for iPhone.

Most budgeting apps want you to set up category budgets, connect your bank, and check multiple screens to understand your finances. BentoMoney gives you one number—your daily “Available Today” amount—that updates in real time as you log purchases. No bank connections, no complex category budgets, no subscription fatigue from apps that cost $100+/year.

No. BentoMoney is completely manual—you log transactions yourself. This keeps your financial data private (it never leaves your phone) and actually helps you become more aware of your spending habits. For a deeper guide, read how to budget without linking your bank account.

Yes, completely. Your data lives only on your phone in a local database. There's no cloud sync, no account creation, no tracking, and no internet connection required. We literally can't see your financial information because it never leaves your device.

No—BentoMoney focuses on daily spending, not savings account activity. Set Aside helps you allocate money for savings before calculating your daily budget, but tracking what happens to those savings afterward is outside the app's scope. If enough users want this, we're open to adding it down the road.

Your daily allowance, plus whatever’s left over from the days before it. BentoMoney takes what’s left after your bills and savings, divides it across the days in the month, and that’s your baseline. Spend less than that today and the difference lands on top of tomorrow. Spend more and it comes out of tomorrow. It’s a running balance, so the number always reflects where you actually stand, not where you were meant to be. There is a full walkthrough of the math on the How it works page.

It comes off the next day. If your allowance is $35 and you spend $85, tomorrow opens at -$15. BentoMoney calls that a “Daily Deficit” and shows it plainly. You dig out the same way you got in: spend under your allowance until the balance is back above zero. No judgment, just math.

Add your income sources (salary, side gigs, etc.) and their frequency (weekly, bi-weekly, monthly). Add fixed expenses like rent, utilities, and subscriptions. Optionally set aside money for savings. The app calculates your daily spending budget from there.

Yes. Add multiple income sources with different frequencies—monthly salary, bi-weekly paychecks, one-time bonuses, yearly tax refunds, whatever applies to your situation.

Use “Savings” to allocate money for savings before calculating your daily budget. This way, saving happens first and your available today number reflects what's actually available.

For bills that fluctuate (like utilities or phone plans), enter your best estimate or use a recent average. You can always edit the amount later when the actual bill comes in—your daily budget recalculates instantly. Some people prefer to estimate slightly high to build in a buffer.

Use the one-time income option to add irregular income as it comes in (freelance payments, bonuses, side gig earnings). For income that's technically recurring but varies in amount, you can either update the value each month or use one-time entries. The daily budget recalculates instantly either way.

That's the app doing its job—showing you the reality of your numbers. If your daily budget feels impossible, it means your current income, expenses, and savings goals don't leave enough room for daily spending. A few things to look at:

• Can you reduce or pause your savings allocation temporarily?
• Are there subscriptions or fixed expenses you could cut?
• Is there a way to increase your income?

BentoMoney can't fix the math, but it can make the math visible so you know what needs to change.

That's a good problem to have—BentoMoney is showing you that you have discretionary money available. What you do with it is up to you: increase your Set Aside amount, put it toward a specific goal, or explore investing options. We don't offer financial advice, but consistently underspending is a signal worth paying attention to.

Keep in mind: BentoMoney tracks your intentions, it doesn't move actual money. If you increase your Set Aside in the app, make sure you actually transfer that money in the real world—to your savings account, investment platform, or wherever it belongs.

Tap the + button, enter the amount, pick a category, and optionally add a note. Takes about 5 seconds.

Yes. Tap on any transaction to edit or delete it. Your "available today" recalculates instantly.

13 default categories (Food, Transportation, Shopping, Entertainment, etc.) plus you can create custom categories with your own emoji icons. You can also hide categories you don't use and reorder them however you like.

Yes. Search by amount, category, or notes across all your transactions.

Three reasons:

1. Out of sight, out of mind. Automatic imports make spending invisible—you don't think about purchases after they happen. Manual entry keeps each transaction in your awareness.
2. It mimics cash. Remember how spending physical cash felt more "real" than swiping a card? Manual logging recreates that friction in a good way.
3. You notice patterns. When you type "$7.50 coffee" for the third time this week, you notice. Automatic imports bury that insight in a list you'll never review.

I also wrote more about this in the guide to tracking expenses on iPhone.

Streaks track consecutive days you stay within budget. It's a small gamification element to help build consistent habits. The app even warns you when today's spending might break your streak.

• Monthly spending by category with comparison to last month
• Yearly spending trends
• Identification of spending pattern changes
• “Worth it” analysis to reflect on purchases

Yes. Home screen widgets shipped in version 1.1.0. They show your Available Today number, and you can tap one to jump straight into the app.

Optional notifications with smart timing based on your usage patterns. They link directly to relevant app sections.

Not yet. We've heard from couples and families who want this, but it's currently on our backlog without a timeline. For now, each person needs their own copy of the app.

No. BentoMoney treats fixed expenses as predictable monthly amounts that reduce your available budget, but it doesn't track payment dates or confirmations. It's a spending tracker, not a bill management app. That said, if this becomes a common request, we'll consider adding it.

132 currencies covering 180+ countries. The app auto-detects your locale and formats numbers correctly for your region, including proper symbol placement and decimal separators.

Yes, in Settings. The app handles proper symbol placement and decimal formatting for each currency.

English and Romanian. Full Romanian localization shipped in version 1.1.0. The app also supports 132 currencies covering 180+ countries with proper local formatting. If there's demand for another language, we'll consider it, but no promises at this point.

Yes—7 days with full access on the annual subscription. The trial is managed through the App Store, so you'll enter payment info upfront but won't be charged until the trial ends. You can cancel anytime before then.

• Annual: $14.99/year
• Lifetime: $39 once

Because we don't have server costs. Your data stays on your device, so we don't need to maintain expensive cloud infrastructure. We pass those savings to you.

Yes. Use "Restore Purchases" in Settings—it's tied to your Apple ID.

Refunds are handled entirely by Apple, not us. If you need a refund, you'll need to request it through Apple's support at reportaproblem.apple.com. We don't have access to payment information or the ability to process refunds directly.

No. BentoMoney is priced low enough that each household member can afford their own license. At $14.99/year or $39 lifetime, it's cheaper than splitting a more expensive app through Family Sharing.

In a local SQLite database on your phone. Nowhere else.

Yes. Export all transactions as a CSV file and save it on your device, iCloud, Google Drive, etc.

Yes, via CSV import with validation -> See how CSV import works in BentoMoney.

Three options in Settings:

• Erase transactions only (keeps budget settings)
• Reset budget (keeps transactions)
• Clear all data (factory reset)

Yes. No internet connection is ever required.

We encourage you to reach out to us, at [email protected] and are more than happy to assist with your issues to be best of our abilities.

Email us at [email protected]. We read everything and user feedback directly shapes our roadmap.

BentoMoney treats your first day as Day One—it doesn't assume anything about spending before you started tracking. If you begin on the 20th of the month, the app calculates your daily budget based on the remaining days, not the full month. Your first full month of accurate tracking starts the following month. This is intentional: the app only works with data it actually has.

Not yet—iOS only for now. Android is on the roadmap.

All current iPhone sizes, from iPhone SE to iPhone Pro Max.

No, BentoMoney is iPhone-only. The app is designed around quick, on-the-go transaction logging—the kind you do right after buying a coffee or paying for groceries. An iPad version isn't planned.