Frequently Asked Questions

Two big ways. First, it’s forward-looking — the whole point is to see what’s coming, not to log what’s gone. Second, it’s private and on your device — it doesn’t connect to your bank, doesn’t ask for an account, and never uploads your information anywhere. Most apps are backward-looking and bank-connected; FundsSentinel is deliberately the opposite, because I think foresight and privacy are what actually help.

Anyone who’s ever felt that quiet worry about money — whether you’re earning a decent income and still can’t figure out why you keep coming up short, or you’re stretched thin and know the money coming in doesn’t quite cover what’s going out. I built it from the first situation: good income, constant surprises, no idea how I kept falling behind. But it helps just as much in the second — because when money is tight, the hardest part is the fog. FundsSentinel turns that fog into a clear picture: exactly how big the gap is, exactly when it hits, and what you have to work with. Seeing it clearly is the first step to bridging it. It’s for individuals, couples, and families who want to stop being surprised and start planning ahead — whatever their starting point.

Not at all. That’s the whole idea. FundsSentinel grew out of a spreadsheet I refined for twenty years, and the app exists so you don’t have to build or understand any of that. You enter what you have, what comes in, and what goes out — and it does the forecasting for you.

It takes three things — your current cash, the money you have coming in, and your recurring bills — and projects them forward day by day for the next twelve months. That projection shows you the lowest point your balance will reach, and exactly when. If a shortfall is coming, you’ll see it ahead of time instead of discovering it the hard way.

This is the heart of it. After you see your forecast, you set a daily spending allowance — one number for weekdays, one for weekends. That becomes your “drumbeat”: the amount you can comfortably spend each day without getting ahead of what’s actually coming in. As you adjust it, you watch your forecast respond — so you can tune it until you’re staying solvent, or until you’re building toward a savings goal.

Yes — it works toward either goal. Set your allowance so your lowest point stays above zero, and you stay ahead. Set it a little lower, and a surplus starts to accumulate toward a savings target. Same simple lever, your choice of outcome.

You log your spending as you go, with a quick tap. I know that sounds like work, but it’s actually the point — that small act of awareness is a big part of what changes your relationship with money. It’s not nagging; it’s the habit that keeps the forecast honest and keeps you in control.

No — and that’s on purpose. FundsSentinel doesn’t link to your bank accounts. I made that choice for two reasons: privacy, because nothing about your money ever leaves your device, and awareness, because logging your own spending is part of what rebuilds the habit. It’s not about automating your finances away from you — it’s about putting you back in charge of them.

Everything lives on your own device. There’s no account, no server, and no company — including me — that can see a single number. Your finances are yours alone. The one thing this means for you: please export a backup now and then (it takes a second in Settings), so your data is safe if you ever lose or change your device.

It stays on your device. Nothing is deleted, nothing is taken away, and you can always export it. Your information is never held hostage.

FundsSentinel is $19.98 per year. That keeps the app independent, private, and free of ads or data-selling — your information is never the product.

Because “free” apps usually make their money another way — ads, or selling your data. I didn’t want to build that. The annual price means the app works for you and only you, with nothing to sell and no one to answer to but the people who use it. You’re paying for a tool that’s genuinely on your side.

It’s an annual license — you pay once a year for full access. When the year is up, you renew to keep going. Your data is never deleted if you don’t, and you can always export it.

Yes. If FundsSentinel isn’t right for you, just request a refund within 14 days, no hard feelings.

Checkout is handled by Polar, a trusted payment platform that processes everything securely and emails your license key automatically. I never see or store your payment details.

Export a backup from your old device (Settings → Export), move the file to your new phone, install FundsSentinel there, and import it. Your full history and setup come right along with you.

FundsSentinel runs on one device and gives you a single, shared picture of your household’s money. Couples and families use it as a common reference point — one forecast you look at together and plan around — rather than separate logins. Honestly, everyone working from the same clear picture is often exactly what takes the friction out of money conversations.

First — don’t panic, and don’t feel ashamed. That’s FundsSentinel doing its job: catching the problem early, while you still have time and options. Sometimes the answer is tuning your daily allowance or delaying a discretionary purchase. But if the gap is bigger than that — if the money coming in genuinely doesn’t cover what’s going out — seeing it clearly is still the win. Now you know the exact size of the gap and the date it arrives, which is what lets you plan: which bills to prioritize, where to find extra income, or where to ask for help — with weeks of runway instead of a nasty surprise. The forecast doesn’t judge you. It just makes sure you’re never caught off guard.

It’s built from your starting cash, the transactions you’ve logged, and your scheduled income and bills projected forward — adjusted by your daily allowance. If something looks off, check that your starting cash is current and your scheduled items have the right amounts and dates. Lowering your allowance lifts the projection; raising it lowers it.

Yes. Because everything lives on your device, FundsSentinel works without an internet connection — on a plane, in a basement, anywhere.

If it’s not answered here, reach out at support@fundssentinel.com — I read these myself.