Money - back to basics
Why MSR exists
A spending register is about as simple as personal finance gets: a running list of what came in, what went out, and your balance after every line. Personal finance apps buried that simplicity under budgets, goals, graphs, categories, and dashboards you never asked for.
I've been running my finances through Quicken for nearly 40 years — since not long after it first showed up on DOS. What made it great wasn't just the ledger. It was that I could enter transactions before they happened — a paycheck a week out, rent due the 1st — and then load what the bank actually cleared, and everything settled into the right order automatically. The register wasn't just a record of the past; it was a forecast I could trust, because it was built from real dates, not guesses. That combination — future entries and real cleared transactions living in one ordered list — is what gave me an honest cash flow view days or weeks out, not just a balance as of this morning. Somewhere along the way, that got buried under menus inside menus, sync delays, and a mobile app that feels bolted onto desktop software never built for a phone screen.
That's the gap MSR fills. It isn't trying to replace Quicken or out-feature the banking apps — it's built around recreating that one thing Quicken used to do so well: let you enter what you know is coming, even a rough weekly estimate for groceries or gas alongside the rent and paycheck dates you're sure of, and keep it all in order so your running balance tells you the truth a week or two out. No categories to wrestle with, no reports to configure. Just enough of a heads-up to see the tight week coming before it arrives.
What you get
A real register. Every account shows a familiar register view: date, payee, description, cleared marker, amount, and a running balance on every line. The balance is recalculated live, so it's always right — even if you enter transactions out of order.
See what's coming, not just what's happened. A register isn't limited to the past — write in a bill or a paycheck for the date it's actually due, even if that's next week, and it takes its place in the running balance right where it falls. Enter everything you know is coming for the month ahead — rent, subscriptions, your next payday — and MSR shows you, line by line, exactly where your balance runs tight before it happens. That's the moment to move money from savings on your own schedule, not scramble after an overdraft.
Quick entry, built for the phone. Tap +, enter the amount, flip the "Money In" switch for deposits, save. Seconds, not minutes. Editing is just as fast — tap the pencil on any row.
Multiple accounts. Track checking and savings across different banks. Each account has its own register and its own live balance, all visible at a glance on your account list.
Import from your bank. Load transactions straight from your bank's export files — CSV and QIF formats — with a preview before anything is saved, automatic date-format detection, and duplicate flagging so you don't import the same transaction twice.
A simple cleared workflow. Mark transactions cleared as they show up at your bank. Cleared rows lock so you can't change them by accident; tap again to unlock.
Reconcile against your statement. When a new bank statement arrives, tell MSR the end date and ending balance and it does the rest — clears out confirmed transactions, rolls your balance forward, and flags any discrepancy before anything is deleted. A free backup export is one tap away, every time.
Export whenever you want. Download a full CSV copy of any account's transactions via your phone's share sheet — save it, email it, back it up. No paywall on getting your own data out.
Your data stays yours. Sign in with your email and password. Your accounts and transactions are stored securely and are visible only to you.
How people use it
Enter a purchase in the moment — standing at the checkout, seconds after tapping your card. Check your real balance (including the transactions your bank hasn't processed yet) before deciding on a bigger buy. Plan the weeks ahead by entering every known bill and paycheck on its real date and watching the register for the day your balance gets thin. Import your bank file every month, every week, or every day. Mark things cleared, and delete what's reconciled. It's the old checkbook habit, minus the checkbook.
Made for mobile
MSR is designed phone-first. The register, quick entry, and balance checks are all built for one hand and a small screen. A companion web version covers the same features when a bigger screen is more comfortable.