Budgeting Tool with Numbers + Shortcuts

The Case for Default Applications Link to heading

Simple, built-in apps often outperform complex specialized tools because they’re easier to use, more efficient, and more reliable. They’re designed for common tasks, optimized for usability, and focused on getting the job done without unnecessary complexity.

Prerequisite Link to heading

Numbers Icon
Shortcuts icon

What do we expect from Budget? Link to heading

Budget Sheets

The budgeting tool will feature two key sheets: a ‘Budget’ sheet for setting allocations and a ‘Transactions’ sheet for logging expenses. At the start of each month, users define their budget, while day-to-day updates happen in the ‘Transactions’ sheet. Changes there will automatically update the ‘Budget’ sheet, keeping everything in sync in real time.

Doing this in Numbers Link to heading

Thankfully, all these features come built into a default Numbers template, making for a smooth, hassle-free experience.

New Sheet

Let’s proceed to validate the functionality of this process:

On to the Shortcut Link to heading

Once you get the hang of Shortcuts, you start to see just how powerful iOS really is. It’s like having IFTTT baked directly into the system.

Here’s the shortcut that adds a transaction to the sheet:

Shortcut

Link to Shortcut

Before Test Link to heading

Here are the screenshots of cleaned up Numbers sheet before we start adding Transactions

Cleaned Numbers

Cleaned Transactions Sheet

Shortcut in Action on macOS Link to heading

Shortcut in Action - iOS Link to heading

References Link to heading