For people who pay for most things in cash
Cash is the hardest money to track because nothing records it for you: there is no statement, no feed and no notification. The way that lasts is to log the payments you remember in one line each, mark the ones you are unsure of as rough, and count the cash in your wallet now and then to catch what slipped. Tavala is built for that: a Cash wallet you count, a capture bar that takes ~45 as an estimate, one entry for the days you forgot, and a balance check that saves the difference as spending you did not log. It works offline and needs no bank.
- Cash in any currency, one line per payment, offlineTavala
- Cash envelopes, shared on two phonesGoodbudget
- A long-established manual tracker with many accountsMoney Manager
- A free cash wallet now, bank sync laterSpendee
- A free, open-source tracker that keeps data on your phoneCashew
Track the big payments exactly and the small ones roughly
Most cash budgets fail on the coffee, not the rent. The fix is not more discipline but less precision where precision does not matter: log rent, school fees and the market run to the unit, and let a bus ride or a snack be a round guess. In Tavala a ~ before the amount marks it as an estimate (~45 lunch); estimates count in every total like any other entry and carry an Estimated tag, so you can correct one when the real figure turns up.
When days go by unlogged, log the stretch as one rough figure. After three days without an entry, the capture bar's placeholder asks what the last days roughly cost, and ~150 last 3 days saves one estimated entry dated today, not one per day. The phrases work in the six languages the bar reads, from since friday to seit freitag and desde el viernes.
Count the cash, not every coin
The number that matters with cash is what is in your wallet. Count it once a week, open the Cash wallet in Tavala and tap Update balance: it says what Tavala has ("Tavala has €240.00 in Cash. What does reality say?") and what the difference is. If you hold less than Tavala expects, It's spending I didn't log opens the form with the difference filled in, so the week's spending ends up right even though a few payments went unrecorded. If the difference was never spending, such as a wrong starting figure, save it as a balance correction instead; that changes the balance and nothing else.
After a trip, the trip's summary offers Count your cash for each Cash wallet the trip used, the same check for the money you carried abroad.
A cash withdrawal is not spending
Taking 6,000 from the ATM does not cost you 6,000; spending it does. In Tavala a withdrawal is a transfer from the bank wallet to the Cash wallet, counted as neither income nor spending, and each cash payment is spending from the Cash wallet. Counting the withdrawal as spending and then the payments again is the most common way a cash budget doubles itself. With a bank connection (for banks in the United States and Canada), Tavala suggests your Cash wallet as the other side of a withdrawal when you have one Cash wallet in that currency; everywhere else the withdrawal is one line you type.
A week in Skopje, mostly in cash
A teacher in Skopje who pays the market, the bus and the pharmacy in cash and the supermarket by card. Main currency: the Macedonian denar. They withdraw cash on Monday and count what is left on Sunday.
MKD 6,420.00Spending in MKD, the withdrawal not included
| Entry | Typed as, with the rate kept on the entry | Counts in MKD as |
|---|---|---|
| Cash from the ATMMonday, bank account to Cash (MKD) | MKD 6,000.00Same currency | A transfer: MKD 6,000.00 arrives |
| Green marketTuesday, Cash | -MKD 1,240.00Same currency | -MKD 1,240.00 |
| PharmacyWednesday, Cash | -MKD 890.00Same currency | -MKD 890.00 |
| Coffees and buses~1500 last 3 days, one estimate, Cash | -MKD 1,500.00Same currency | -MKD 1,500.00 |
| SupermarketSaturday, debit card (bank account) | -MKD 2,480.00Same currency | -MKD 2,480.00 |
| Not loggedSunday's count: It's spending I didn't log, Cash | -MKD 310.00Same currency | -MKD 310.00 |
| SpendingThe withdrawal not included | - | -MKD 6,420.00 |
On Sunday Tavala expects MKD 2,370.00 in Cash; the teacher counts MKD 2,060.00, and saves the difference as one expense. The week cost MKD 6,420.00, with the withdrawal counted once, as a transfer, and every payment from the Cash wallet counted as spending.
One currency and two wallets, the bank account and Cash, fit the free plan with room to spare.
Two more scenarios: a salary in the bank, a household in cash, and dollars in a drawer, pesos for the weekTwo more scenarios
A salary in the bank, a household in cash
A household in Pune paid by bank transfer, who pay the vegetable seller, the auto-rickshaw and the person who helps at home in cash, and most shops through UPI from the bank account. Main currency: the rupee.
₹47,190.00Spending in INR, withdrawals not included
| Entry | Typed as, with the rate kept on the entry | Counts in INR as |
|---|---|---|
| Salary1st, bank account (INR) | +₹78,000.00Same currency | +₹78,000.00 |
| Cash from the ATM2nd and 16th, bank account to Cash | ₹14,000.00Same currency | A transfer: ₹14,000.00 arrives |
| Help at home1st, Cash | -₹6,000.00Same currency | -₹6,000.00 |
| Vegetables and milkThrough the month, Cash | -₹4,350.00Same currency | -₹4,350.00 |
| Auto-rickshaws~1200 since the 20th, one estimate, Cash | -₹1,200.00Same currency | -₹1,200.00 |
| Groceries and shops by UPIThrough the month, bank account | -₹11,640.00Same currency | -₹11,640.00 |
| Rent5th, bank account | -₹24,000.00Same currency | -₹24,000.00 |
| Income | - | +₹78,000.00 |
| SpendingWithdrawals not included | - | -₹47,190.00 |
The month's spending is ₹47,190.00 against ₹78,000.00 of salary. The ₹14,000.00 withdrawn is a transfer, so it never counts twice; what the household spent in cash is counted when it was spent, and a category budget for help at home or for vegetables reads the cash and the UPI payments together.
UPI payments come from the bank account, so they are entries in the bank wallet; Tavala does not connect to banks in India, so that wallet is one you update yourself, one line per payment or a weekly total.
Dollars in a drawer, pesos for the week
A couple in Buenos Aires who keep their savings in US dollar notes and change some into pesos for the week. They think in dollars, so the dollar is their main currency. Two Cash wallets: one in dollars, one in pesos.
$105.12Spending in USD, in dollars, at each day's reference rate
| Entry | Typed as, with the rate kept on the entry | Counts in USD as |
|---|---|---|
| Dollars changed to pesosMonday, Cash USD to Cash ARS | $200.001 USD = 1480.00 ARS (your own rate) | A transfer: ARS 296,000.00 arrives |
| GroceriesTuesday, Cash ARS | -ARS 98,500.001 ARS = 0.0006897 USD (example) | -$67.94 |
| PharmacyWednesday, Cash ARS | -ARS 21,300.001 ARS = 0.0006897 USD (example) | -$14.69 |
| TaxisThrough the week, Cash ARS | -ARS 18,600.001 ARS = 0.0006897 USD (example) | -$12.83 |
| Cafés~14000 cafes, an estimate, Cash ARS | -ARS 14,000.001 ARS = 0.0006897 USD (example) | -$9.66 |
| SpendingIn dollars, at each day's reference rate | - | -$105.12 |
The $200.00 changed into pesos is a transfer at the rate the couple actually got, typed on that transfer: ARS 296,000.00 arrive in the peso wallet. The week's spending counts as $105.12 at each day's reference rate, kept on every entry, so a week of fast-moving prices stays what it cost in dollars that week.
When the rate they got differs from the reference rate, the peso wallet's value in dollars on the Money tab moves with today's rate while the spending does not. Dollars and pesos are two wallet currencies, inside the free plan.
Apps people use to track cash, on the rows that matter for cash
How each app takes a payment typed by hand, whether it works without a connection, how it handles more than one currency, and the price, from each app's own pages.
| App | Adding an expense by hand | Works offline | Currencies | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tavala | One typed lineAmount, currency, date and category, in six languages | Every screenChanges sync when you are back online | Every currency in one space155 currencies and 96 cryptocurrencies; 2 per space on the free plan | Free; Plus $39.99 a yearor $6.99 a month on the web |
| Goodbudget | Manual entry firstQFX, OFX and CSV import (CSV "for advanced users") | Not documented"available wherever you have internet access" | OneIts own comparison table: multiple currencies "N" | $80 a yearor $10 a month on the web (Premium) |
| Money Manager | Manual entryBookmarks, repeats; Excel import through a .tsv file | Not statedNo sync between devices; backups by email or cloud drive | A main and sub-currenciesEntries in any currency; totals in the one you choose | $19.99 a year (US App Store)Or $2.49 a month; a separate $5.99 ad-free app exists |
| Spendee | Manual, bank feed or fileFile import on the web only, into cash wallets | Not stated | A currency per walletA wallet's currency is fixed once it has entries | $14.99 a year (Plus)Premium $35.99 a year, with bank sync; 7-day trial |
| Cashew | Manual or from notificationsCSV and Google Sheets import | Data on your deviceOffline use not stated in those words | Multi-currencyOne currency per account; totals in the primary one | Free; Pro $11.99 a yearOr $1.49 a month, $19.99 once (US App Store) |
| Toshl | Quick manual entry4 taps; 8 file formats imported on the web | Not stated | Real multi-currency305 currencies, crypto and gold; main currency changeable | $19.99 a year (Pro)Or $2.99 a month; Medici $39.99 a year; 30-day trial |
Most of these apps were built around typing, so cash suits them. Goodbudget turns envelopes into a digital stand-in for cash, in one currency, and describes itself as available wherever you have internet access. Money Manager has been a manual tracker for years, with a main currency and sub-currencies and an ad-supported free version. Spendee's free plan is one cash wallet and one budget, with bank sync on its Premium plan. Cashew is free and open source, keeps data on your phone and can add spending from Android notifications. Toshl lists 305 currencies and a four-tap entry. What Tavala adds for cash is the way back when you did not log: a ~ for a guess, one entry for the days you forgot, and a cash count that saves the difference as spending, on every screen offline.
Where Tavala falls short for cash
- Tavala cannot see your cash: the count is yours, and the app only knows what you log or correct.
- No receipt scanner: entries are typed, one line each.
- The Today's spending widget is on iPhone, iPad and Mac; there is no Android widget yet, so logging on Android starts in the app.
- No bank connection outside the United States and Canada, so a withdrawal from a bank anywhere else is one line you type.
- Entries in a shared space do not show who added them, which matters when two people share a household's cash.
What it costs
Tavala is free to start, with no account: everything on this page works on the free plan. The free plan holds wallets in 2 currencies per space, counted from the wallets, not from what you spend: paying in a third currency from an existing wallet never needs another slot, and archiving the last wallet in a currency frees its slot while its history stays.
Tavala Plus, $39.99 a year or $6.99 a month on the web, adds every currency at once, every device in sync and spaces shared with up to six people, for a household that shares its cash. In the app stores Plus is priced by country, lower in many countries where cash is common.
See pricing. There is no free trial; the free plan is the trial.
How this page was made
We compared only what each app's own pages say about price, currencies, offline use, bank connections and sharing, on 25 October 2026, and we check the prices again every quarter. The scenarios are illustrations with example rates. Tavala publishes this page; where another app fits better, it says so. Corrections to support@tavala.io.
Questions about tracking cash
- What is the best way to track cash spending?
- Log what you remember in one line as you pay, mark guesses as rough, and count the cash in your wallet once a week. The count catches what you forgot, so the total ends up right without logging every coin.
- Is an ATM withdrawal an expense?
- No. It moves money from your bank account to your cash, so in Tavala it is a transfer between two wallets. The spending is counted when you spend the cash.
- What if I forget to log cash for a few days?
- Log the stretch as one rough figure: ~150 last 3 days saves one estimated entry dated today. You can also log each day on its own date, such as 20 lunch 2 days ago.
- How do I fix my cash balance when it does not match?
- Open the Cash wallet and tap Update balance, then type what you counted. If the difference is spending you did not log, choose It's spending I didn't log; otherwise save it as a correction, which moves the balance and nothing else.
- Does Tavala work without internet?
- Yes, on every screen. Entries made offline are saved at once and, with an account, sync when you are back online. Without an account nothing leaves the device.
- Can I track cash in two currencies?
- Yes. Make a Cash wallet in each currency; a change of one into the other is a transfer with the rate you got. Two wallet currencies fit the free plan.
Go further
- Expense trackerOne typed line per payment, in any currency.
- Offline-firstEvery screen, no signal needed.
- No bank linkingA complete budget without a bank feed.
- How to track expenses by handWithout giving up in week two.
- Budget apps that don't connect to your bankWhat you give up, and what you keep.
- Budgeting apps for couplesThe honest list, by how you keep your money.
Start with what you spent today.
There is no account to create and no card to enter. Pick your currency, add what you paid, and Home shows what is left.