Kakeibo: log spending, see the pattern
The problem
Section titled “The problem”Tracking expenses fails for two reasons. Logging takes too long, so people stop. And a list of transactions doesn’t tell you anything about your habits.
Kakeibo (家計簿, “household ledger”) is a Japanese method that fixes the second problem: you don’t just record what you spent, you reflect on it. Porul adds the first fix, a fast entry screen.
How Porul handles it
Section titled “How Porul handles it”Log an entry in seconds
Section titled “Log an entry in seconds”Tap the + button on the home screen. Choose Expense, Income or Saving, type the amount on the built-in numpad, then pick what it was for.
- Amount and date. The date and time default to now. Change them to log something from earlier.
- What it was for. Start typing and Porul suggests matching categories. It also learns the things you log often, so your usual purchases rise to the top as quick suggestions.
- Log or Add another. Save and close, or save and stay to enter the next one.
The three natures: Need, Want, Oops
Section titled “The three natures: Need, Want, Oops”Every expense gets one tag:
| Tag | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Need | Essential spending: things you have to pay for. |
| Want | Spending you chose: nice to have. |
| Oops | Spending you regret or didn’t plan: mistakes. |
The tag is your own judgement. Porul never changes it, and it never tells you a tag was right or wrong.
The three domains: Personal, Social, Career
Section titled “The three domains: Personal, Social, Career”Expenses also carry a domain: Personal (for you), Social (family, friends, gifts) or Career (work and growth). Together, nature and domain give a small grid of how your spending is spread. See Analytics.
Prefer no categories?
Section titled “Prefer no categories?”You can switch on a simpler mode in Settings that skips the category step for income and savings.
Review and export
Section titled “Review and export”The Transactions screen lists your entries by day, in three tabs: Expenses, Income and Savings.
- Filter by period (Today, Week, Month, Year or a custom range), nature, domain or category, and search by name.
- Sort by newest, oldest, highest or lowest.
- Swipe to delete. There is a five-second Undo.
- Export what you see as CSV or PDF.
About the Savings type
Section titled “About the Savings type”A saving logged on the Kakeibo screen is money you set aside outside your budget, such as cash you hand to a family member. It leaves your spendable income and appears under Budget, Savings, where you can withdraw it later. Money for a goal is added from the Budget page, not from here. See Goals.
Example
Section titled “Example”On Friday evening you buy dinner for 60 with a friend, then buy a snack for 12 on the way home.
- Tap +, choose Expense, type
60, and start typing “dinner”. - Choose Want, and set the domain to Social. Tap Add another.
- Type
12, “snack”, Oops (you weren’t hungry). Tap Log.
The home screen now shows your day: Spent Today 72, with Want 60 and Oops 12 in the breakdown. Next time you type “dinner”, Porul remembers your usual tags.