User Guide

Free vs. Unlimited

ClutterFree Expenses is free to download and use. The free tier lets you:

• Track up to 10 expenses
• Use up to 2 categories (the default "Other" category, plus 1 you create)

For a one-time €3.99 upgrade, Unlimited removes all limits and unlocks:

• Unlimited expenses
• Unlimited custom categories
• The Accounts feature, for splitting expenses across multiple bank accounts or people

You can purchase Unlimited at any time from Settings → Upgrade to Unlimited, or when you hit a limit. There's no subscription — it's a one-time purchase tied to your Apple ID. If you ever delete and reinstall the app, tap Restore Purchases from the upgrade screen.

If you bought ClutterFree Expenses before version 2.0, you keep Unlimited access automatically — no action needed.

Adding an Expense

Tap the + button in the top-right of any tab. The expense inspector lets you set:

• Title — what you're tracking (max 20 characters).
• Amount — the cost per occurrence in your selected currency.
• Active toggle — turn off to mark an expense as inactive without deleting it. Inactive expenses don't count toward your monthly total.
• Date — when the next payment is due.
• Repeat toggle — turn on for recurring expenses.
• Frequency — for recurring expenses, set how often (every N days, weeks, months, or years).
• Category — pick from your list, or create a new one inline.
• Account — only shown if Accounts are enabled (Unlimited).
• Notes — optional free-text notes.
• Image or emoji — tap the picture in the inspector to attach a custom image, pick an emoji, or fall back to the category icon.

Expense Types

Every expense is one of three types, derived from how you fill in the inspector:

• Recurring — has a frequency (e.g. €80 every week). Counts toward future months.
• One-time — has a date but no frequency. Only counts in the month it's due.
• Inactive — paused. Doesn't appear in totals, statistics, or upcoming filters.

Timeline View

Understanding Expense Amounts

In the Timeline view, you might see two amounts per expense:

• The main amount in regular text — the cost of a single occurrence.
• A grey amount below — only appears when the expense occurs multiple times in the same month, showing the total for that month.

Example: Weekly Grocery Shopping

In August 2025, this expense will appear like this:

The grey €400 appears because the expense occurs multiple times in August

The monthly total (€400) is calculated as:

• August 2025 has 5 occurrences of this weekly expense (1st, 8th, 15th, 22nd, 29th).
• €80 × 5 = €400 total for August.

This total is included in your monthly summary at the top of the Timeline. Marking the expense as paid reduces the total by €80 each time.

Example: Bi-weekly Gym Membership

The grey €50 appears because the expense occurs twice in August (4th and 18th)

Marking as Paid

When an expense is due, you can mark it as paid in two ways:

• Swipe right on the row in the Timeline.
• Tap the row to open the inspector, then tap Mark as paid.

For recurring expenses, this advances the next due date by one frequency interval. For one-time expenses, it deletes the expense (since it's done).

Overdue expenses (past their due date) are flagged with a red warning icon.

List View

The List view shows every expense, grouped however you choose. Use the toolbar menu to control:

• Filter — All, Upcoming (next 30 days), or Active only.
• Sort — by amount (descending or ascending) or by title.
• Group by — None, Category, or Frequency.
• View mode — Normal or Compact (denser rows).

Display Period

Tap the period chip in any section header to cycle through how amounts are normalized:

• Yearly — annualized cost
• Monthly — average per month
• Weekly — average per week
• Daily — average per day

So a €80/week grocery expense shows as €4,160 yearly, €347 monthly, €80 weekly, or €11.40 daily — same expense, different lens.

Statistics View

Statistics gives you the big-picture view of your spending:

• Overall expenses — yearly, monthly, and weekly totals across all active expenses.
• By category — switch between bar chart and pie chart by tapping the chip in the section header.
• By month — a horizontally scrolling chart showing the past and upcoming months, color-coded by category. Scrolls to the current month by default.

Search View

Quickly find expenses by title or notes content. The search is case-insensitive and updates as you type.

Categories

Categories help you organize and color-code your spending. Manage them in Settings → Categories:

• Create new categories with a custom name, SF Symbol icon, and color.
• Reorder categories by long-pressing and dragging (in edit mode).
• Set a default category that's pre-selected for new expenses.
• Deleting a category reassigns its expenses to the default — you never lose data.

Free users can have up to 2 categories total (including the default). Unlimited removes the limit.

Accounts Unlimited

Accounts let you tag each expense with a payment source — useful for tracking spending across multiple bank accounts, shared expenses with a partner, or business vs. personal.

Enable Accounts in Settings → Accounts, then create your accounts (e.g. "Checking", "Joint", "Business"). Once enabled, an Account picker appears in the expense inspector and an Accounts filter appears in the toolbar of the Timeline and List views.

Accounts is part of the Unlimited upgrade. Free users see an "Unlock Accounts" prompt instead.

Settings

• Currency — pick from any common ISO currency.
• Categories — manage your category list.
• Accounts — manage your account list (Unlimited).
• Upgrade to Unlimited / Restore Purchases — manage your purchase.
• Website, Terms, User Guide, Support — quick links.

Data & Privacy

• All your data is stored on-device and synced via iCloud across your Apple devices.
• No data leaves your devices and goes to any third-party server.
• No analytics, no tracking, no ads.
• Backups happen automatically as part of your iCloud backup.