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The Simple System
Tracker
2026
A simpler way to track money

The Simple System

Track your income, spending, savings, and net worth – all in one place. Built on the 60 / 20 / 20 rule. Open Setup when you're ready to begin.

The Rule

60 / 20 / 20

Three buckets. Every dollar of take-home income goes into one of them.

60%
Essentials
20%
Savings
20%
Non-essentials
60% · Essentials
The non-negotiables

Rent, groceries, bills, transport, insurance. Debt payments live here too – they're non-negotiable, like rent. Goal: keep this at or below 60%.

20% · Savings
Pay yourself first

Retirement, tax-advantaged savings, emergency fund. Move this money before you spend on anything else. Always.

20% · Non-Essentials
Intentional, not leftover

Travel, dining, activities, joy. Earned – not what's left over. This is the bucket you spend without guilt.

Debt payments live inside the 60% bucket. Treat them like rent – non-negotiable, just another essential outgoing. As you clear debt, that share of the 60% frees up for other needs or redirects to savings. This single shift is often what makes the math finally work.
The Map

How the tabs work

Three logs, three places. Day-to-day spending goes in Transactions. Savings contributions go on the Savings tab. Debt payments go on Debt. Don't double-log.
Instructions · This page. Read first.
Setup · Enter your details, income, and budget targets once. Everything else updates automatically.
Budget · Budget vs actual for any month, plus an annual overview across all 12 months.
Transactions · Log every income and expense here daily. Savings and Debt have their own logs.
Debt · Log every debt payment. Remaining balance updates automatically.
Savings · Set goals and log contributions. Current portfolio values live on the Net Worth tab.
Net Worth · Assets minus liabilities. Update each account monthly from your banking apps. Five minutes a month.
Getting Started
About 15 min

First-time setup

Eight steps. After that, it's just maintenance.

  1. Open the Setup tab and fill in your name and tracking year.
  2. Enter Partner 1 and Partner 2 names – leave Partner 2 blank if tracking solo. Everything adjusts automatically.
  3. Enter your monthly take-home income (after tax) and confirm your 60/20/20 targets.
  4. Set your monthly budget for each category. Add, rename, or remove freely to match your life. Be hyper-specific. "Spotify" is better than "Subscriptions". "Tim Hortons" is better than "Coffee". The more granular you start, the more clearly your spending patterns show up. You can always merge later — you can't un-blur the past. Categories are yours. Add anything. Rename anything. Remove anything unused. Categories with logged history are locked from deletion (rename instead) so you never accidentally lose data.
  5. Open the Savings tab – enter starting balances and annual goals for each account.
  6. Open the Debt tab – enter starting balances for each debt.
  7. Start logging transactions in the Transactions tab as they happen.
  8. Open the Net Worth tab – rename accounts to match your real accounts (e.g. "Chequing" → "TD Chequing"), add or remove as needed.
Your Data, Your Control

Saving and moving your data

Your data stays inside this browser on this computer – nothing is ever sent to a server. The tracker remembers your entries between visits automatically.

For best results: use Chrome on a laptop, and click Backup to file once a month. It saves a snapshot you can restore from in one click if anything ever goes wrong – a switched browser, a cleared cache, a new computer.
Backup to File (your safety net)
Saves a complete snapshot to your Downloads folder. Do this once a month. This is the only file you can restore from.
Restore from File
Loads a previous backup. This is how you move data to a new browser or computer, or recover after clearing your browser data.
Export CSV
Year's activity in spreadsheet format. Useful for sharing with an accountant. Not a backup – cannot be loaded back into the tracker.
Print
Formats the current tab for paper or PDF.
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Step 1
About 15 min total

About you

Set who's tracking. Leave Partner 2 blank if tracking solo – all formulas adjust automatically.

Set these once. Changing them later won't undo what you've already entered – it just affects new defaults and what symbol shows up.
Step 2

60 / 20 / 20 targets

Set the percentages once. Defaults follow the 60/20/20 rule. Should add up to 100%.

Housing rule of thumb % of income, max
Keep rent or mortgage at or below this share of your monthly net income.
Step 3

Monthly income

Take-home pay after tax. Add as many income sources as you like.

Step 4

Monthly budget

Set how much you plan to spend in each category each month. Rename, add, or remove freely.

At a glance

Budget summary

Updates live as you type.

Budget vs Actual

Budget & Annual Plan

Compare what you planned to what you actually spent. Pick a single month or scan all 12 at once.

Daily Log

Transactions

Log every income and expense here. Savings contributions and debt payments have their own tabs. Pick a Section first (Income / Essential / Non-Essential) – the Category dropdown updates automatically.

0 transactions
Debt Tracker

Debt

Enter starting balances. Log each payment below as it happens. Remaining balance shrinks automatically. Categories live on the Setup tab – add or rename a debt there.

Savings & Investments

Savings

Set starting balances and annual goals. Log every contribution. Current portfolio value is tracked on the Net Worth tab. Categories live on the Setup tab.

Snapshot

Net Worth

Update each account monthly from your banking app. Five minutes a month. Rename accounts freely. Add or remove as needed.

Quick backup recommended