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| Offer A | Offer B | |
|---|---|---|
| Total Interest Paid | ||
| Months to Payoff |
| Stay Put | Consolidate | |
|---|---|---|
| Total Interest Paid | ||
| Months to Payoff | ||
| Fee | — |
| Metric | Current | Scenario | Change |
|---|
Choose a folder on your computer where backup files will be saved automatically. A cloud-synced folder (iCloud Drive, Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive) means your backups are always off-device.
Folder backups require a desktop browser (Chrome or Edge on a Mac or PC).
CSV files for all tables are also written automatically to a cashpad-exports/ subfolder on every backup. Use these as a human-readable copy of your data.
Save a backup file to your device, or restore from a previously saved file.
A log of automatic and manual backups. Restore any entry to roll back to that point.
No backup history yet.
Click Preview to see which files would be deleted before committing.
This will replace all your current data with the data from the backup file.
This cannot be undone. If you want to keep your current data, click Cancel and use Backup first.
Each time you use CashPad, do these two things:
Most budgeting apps force a standard monthly cycle. CashPad adapts to your payday schedule instead. Each budget period spans from today to the end of your current pay cycle. This matches your spending plan to the money you have right now and will receive in your next paycheck.
Calculate Funds Available
Enter your current cash balances plus any paychecks you normally receive. CashPad combines your current cash and all entered paychecks to determine your total Funds Available.
Divide Funds Across Three Buckets
Allocate your money into three clear categories:
Assign Every Dollar
The sum of your bucket totals becomes your Planned Spending. Subtracting your planned spending from your Funds Available leaves your Unassigned Cash. Assign every dollar until your Unassigned Cash hits zero.
The Dashboard displays your four key metrics at a glance: Budget Period End, Funds Available, Planned Spending, and Unassigned Cash.
Set Up Your Backup Folder First
CashPad stores your data locally in your browser. Without a designated backup location, clearing your browser data wipes out your records completely.
The Safest Approach
Open Backup / Recovery and select a folder on a cloud-synced drive (such as iCloud Drive, Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive, or another cloud storage service). CashPad automatically saves a fresh copy every time you make a change. If you prefer to wait, select Backup Now under Backup / Recovery to manually save a copy before starting and/or after finishing your CashPad session.
Mobile Limitations (iOS & iPadOS)
iOS and iPadOS block automatic folder backups and background downloads. While the app runs smoothly on Apple mobile devices, you must trigger backups manually. For seamless automatic backups, run CashPad on a Mac or PC using Chrome or Edge.
Keep Your Numbers Current
CashPad operates independently of bank servers and never updates balances automatically. Regularly update your account balances to maintain an accurate financial plan.
Protect Your Privacy
CashPad requires only dollar amounts and broad account names — never enter account numbers, passwords, or personal identifiers.
Control Your Data
Your financial records remain strictly on your local device. CashPad never transmits your data through external links or remote user accounts.
How do I get started?
Begin on the Cash page — enter your current account balances. Then go to the Paycheck page and confirm your income sources and anchor date. From there, fill in your Bills, Expenses, and Savings to build your spending plan. The Dashboard updates as you go.
What is the Budget Period, and how long does it last?
The budget period runs from today through the last day of your current pay cycle. The length depends on your pay interval: 7 days for weekly, 14 days for bi-weekly, 15 days for semi-monthly, or one month for monthly.
What's the difference between Bills and Expenses?
Bills are fixed obligations with a specific due date — rent, insurance, a car payment. Expenses are flexible, day-to-day spending — groceries, gas, dining out.
What does Unassigned Cash mean?
It's the difference between your Funds Available and your Planned Spending. Positive means you have unassigned cash. Negative means your plan exceeds what you have.
Can I add multiple bank accounts or income sources?
Yes. The Cash page supports multiple accounts. The Paycheck page supports multiple income sources.
What is Net Worth in CashPad?
Net Worth is the sum of all your assets (cash accounts, savings funds, and investment/asset accounts) minus all your liabilities (debt accounts). Track it on the Net Worth page, under the Reports dropdown.
What is Savings Goals?
Savings Goals (under Reports) is a status view of every savings fund you've set a goal on — a target amount and date, entered on the fund itself in Savings. Each fund shows as a card with a progress bar and a status: On Track, Behind, Met, or Expired.
How does Emergency Fund tracking work?
Check This is my Emergency Fund on any one savings fund and CashPad treats it as your designated emergency reserve — only one fund can be flagged at a time. If it has no goal yet, CashPad suggests a target of 3 or 6 months of your bills and expenses. It always shows on Savings Goals with its own status, even before a goal is set.
What is Financial Health?
Financial Health (first item under Reports) is a one-glance summary of how you're doing: Net Worth trend, Savings Goals status, Emergency Fund status, and Retirement Target status, each with a link through to its full report.
What is Retirement Target?
A card on the Savings Goals page where you can set a target net worth, an optional target date, and an assumed growth rate. CashPad tracks whether you're On Track or Behind based on your progress since the target was set.
What does "Requires manual scheduling" mean on a bill?
Most bills are on autopay — nothing to do but track them. Some aren't: you have to log into the biller's site and schedule the payment yourself each period. Check Requires manual scheduling on a bill and CashPad flags it as Manual on its detail panel, then reminds you on the Alerts page when that bill is coming due and hasn't been scheduled yet. Click Mark Scheduled once you've set it up with the biller, and the reminder clears until next period.
What are the Debt Payoff Planner, Compare Card Offers, and Balance Transfer & Consolidation tools?
All three live under Tools and work with your real Debt accounts. Debt Payoff Planner simulates paying off everything you owe using Snowball or Avalanche strategy and shows a payoff date. Compare Card Offers compares two hypothetical credit card offers side by side — useful before applying for a new card. Balance Transfer & Consolidation compares keeping your real debts as-is against moving them to one new consolidation loan or balance-transfer offer.
What is Scenario Planner?
Scenario Planner (under Tools) lets you test changes to your income, bills, and expenses without touching your real data — see the effect on your monthly Net Cash Flow, then save named scenarios to compare later on the Scenario Comparison report.
CashPad stores all your data locally in your browser. It is never sent to a server or synced to the cloud automatically.
Manual backup
Go to Backup / Recovery and click Backup Now. CashPad saves a .sqlite file. If you have a backup folder set, it goes there — otherwise it downloads to your Downloads folder.
Automatic backup — recommended
Configure a backup folder in Backup / Recovery and CashPad backs up automatically every time you save. Use a cloud-synced folder (iCloud Drive, Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive) for off-device protection.
Restoring a backup
Go to Backup / Recovery and click Restore from File. Select your backup file. This replaces all current data — click Backup Now first if you want to keep what you have.
Moving to a new device
Click Backup Now on your old device, move the file to the new device, then use Restore from File to load it.
Have a question or comment? Email us at support@cashpadapp.com — we'd love to hear from you.
Send a Diagnostics Report
If you're experiencing a technical issue, send a diagnostics report to CashPad Support. The report contains information to help us find the reason for your problem — no account names, balances, or personal data.
Clicking the button will open your email client with the report pre-filled. Add a description of your problem at the top of the email, then review and send.