Where spreadsheets win
- Total control over layout and formulas.
- Free, and good for one-off planning like a wedding or a move.
Where they lose
- Every purchase has to be typed. Miss a few and the totals are wrong.
- They don't know what's safe to spend today, or warn you before you overspend.
- Hard to use on your phone, at the moment you're paying.
What an automatic app adds
- Purchases log themselves from bank alerts and Apple Pay.
- A daily number that updates with every purchase.
- Budgets, goals and subscription reminders in one place.
The honest answer
If you enjoy spreadsheets and update them every day, keep going. If you've started and stopped before, the problem was the typing, not you. An app like Expensly on the App Store removes the typing, so the plan keeps working on busy days too. You can still export your history as a PDF whenever you want it.