TEXTBOOKS

Balance your BOOKS with TEXTS.

beta

The app is in private beta while I work out a few more bugs and make sure everything is top notch. If you're participating in the beta, you'll see a (?) icon in the upper right when you sign in. This will send feedback straight to me. Details help but any feedback is appreciated.

(Note: When setting up your account, please do this from a computer. I've not set up a mobile ready version of the site.)

The simplest way to use Textbooks is to create a budget, and track some expenses through SMS.

To really get the most out of it:

• add your recurring income
• add your recurring expenses
• add your budgets
• add your goals

There's a simple tutorial coming soon. Check out the help page.

About Textbooks

Thanks for checking out Textbooks. I've been building it over the last year and in earnest the last several months. Over the years I've tried out a lot of apps and systems to help me stay on top of my finances but none of them worked for me.

Track your spending via SMS

Entering transactions by texting them to an app is what I wanted to do. SMS is nearly ubilquitous, it doesn't require any particular OS or phone, and it's something I do every day without giving it much thought. Why not use it to track my spending? I just need an app to turn by texts into transactions. That's where it all started.

Idle hands…

Most modern budgeting apps take a very automated approach. So much so that you really don't have to think about it. And with AI, this trend will only continue. Your finances shouldn't be controlled by an system you never touch. Textbooks wants to put your spending in your hands.

Reduce friction (and fiction)

The other side of budgeting tools require too much up front. There is a bit of work to get any budget together and this is time well spent but I've tried remembering to input my receipts or add an expense to a spreadsheet. I want to do it… I just never do.

And so… Textbooks

Textbooks uses a bit of automation to take care of repeated spending and income. Things you don't want to keep logging. For everything else, it uses SMS to track you spending:

Just bought a gift, text the app: $49.30 misc gift for Mom from Freshie & Zero.

This will record a transaction of $49.30 for your Misc budget with these notes "gift for Mom from Freshie & Zero".

That's the basic idea. There is also the SAVE TO BUDGET/SPEND balance. This shows you a practical picture of your money by removing any recurring expenses and budgets so you really know what's going on with your money.