MPFOS — My Personal Finance OS

Net worth

—

Monthly surplus

—

Savings rate

—

Emergency fund

—

Recent transactions

Date	Description	Account	Amount	Clr

Spending this month

Envelope status

Net worth trend

Date	Description	Category	Envelope	Account	Type	Out	In	Balance	Clr	Memo

Paycheck details

Date

Deposit to account

Net amount received ($)

Allocated: $0.00 Unallocated: $0.00

Unallocated balance across all accounts

Envelope allocations

Envelope	Account	Monthly budget	Current balance	Suggested	Allocate ($)

Total funded

—

Spent this month

—

Over budget

—

Empty

—

Monthly net income

—

Total budgeted

—

Spent

—

Surplus

—

Budget vs actual

Category	Budget	Spent	Left	Progress	%

Budget vs actual chart

Total assets

—

Total debt

—

Net worth

—

Change (last entry)

—

Net worth trend

All accounts

Account	Type	Category	Balance	% of NW

By category

Weekly log

Date	Net worth	Change	Notes

Spending

Budget vs Actual

Monthly Trends

Cash Flow

Total income

—

Total expenses

—

Net cash flow

—

Savings rate

—

Spending by category

Category breakdown

Category	Amount	% of spending

Budget vs actual — all categories

Category	Budget	Spent	Remaining	Progress	Status

Monthly spending trends (last 6 months)

Month by month summary

Month	Income	Expenses	Net	Savings rate

Income sources

Source	Amount

Cleared vs uncleared

	Cleared ✓	Pending —	Total

Active goals

—

Goals on track

—

Total saved toward goals

—

Total goal targets

—

Retirement projection

Income sensitivity

Gross salary	Monthly net	Surplus	Savings rate

Transaction accounts (Checking, Savings, HYSA) — balances calculated live from your register.
Manual accounts (Retirement, HSA, Investment) — you update the balance periodically.
Debt accounts (Loan, Credit Card) — you update the balance as you pay it down. Always shows negative in net worth.

Profile

Name / label

Currency symbol

Date format

Theme

Annual gross income

Annual net income

Google Sheets connection

Not connected

1

Create a Google Sheet at sheets.google.com. Copy the Sheet ID from the URL.

2

Go to console.cloud.google.com → New Project → Enable Google Sheets API → Credentials → Create API Key and OAuth 2.0 Client ID (Web app, authorized origin: http://localhost:5500).

Sheet ID

API Key (for reading)

OAuth Client ID (for writing)

Portfolio — live price data (optional)

Alpha Vantage API Key Free tier: 25 requests/day. Used to automatically refresh stock and ETF prices in Portfolio screen.

Retirement & goals defaults

Current age

Retirement age

Expected return

Target retirement income ($)

Emergency fund target (months)

Categories

These are templates, not automatic entries. When a recurring bill is due, click "Log" to add it to the register with one click.

Templates

Name	Account	Category	Envelope	Amount	Frequency	Due day	Last logged

1

Account balances

›

2

Holdings detail

›

3

Full analysis

Add holdings to unlock portfolio analysis

Total portfolio value

—

All investment accounts

Total unrealized gain

—

Weighted expense ratio

—

Annual cost

Annual dividend income

—

Monthly average

Physical assets

—

Home, vehicles, other

True net worth

—

Financial + physical − debt

Holdings

Portfolio Overview

Allocation & Rebalancing

Dividend Income

Physical Assets

Liquidity

True Net Worth

Group by account

Name / Ticker	Account	Class	Sector	Shares	Price	Value	Cost basis	Gain/Loss	Gain %	Yield	YOC	Exp ratio	% of port

Asset class diversification

Sector concentration

Portfolio by account

Top holdings by weight

Portfolio stats

Target allocation

Set your target allocation to see drift and get rebalancing guidance.

Rebalancing guide

Set target allocations to see rebalancing recommendations.

Projected annual dividend income

Dividend calendar

Income by holding

Holding	Annual div/share	Shares	Annual income	Yield	Yield on cost

Income growth projection

Total physical assets

—

Real estate

—

Vehicles

—

Total appreciation

—

Liquidity shows how quickly and at what cost you can access your money. Net worth alone is misleading — $500K in a 401k feels very different from $500K in checking.

Tier 1 — Emergency liquid

—

Available today

Emergency coverage

—

months of expenses

Total liquid (T1+T2)

—

Within a week

Liquidity ratio

—

% of net worth accessible quickly

Liquidity breakdown

Tier 1 — Emergency liquid

Tier 2 — Liquid within a week

Tier 3 — Accessible with cost

Tier 4 — Illiquid

Liquidity chart

Insights

Scenario: what if you lost your income today?

Complete net worth breakdown

Net worth composition

True net worth trend

Wealth milestones

💰 Income & Paycheck

🏥 Health Plan

📈 401k Optimizer

🛡 Insurance

💊 HSA vs FSA

💳 Loan vs Invest

Paycheck details

Pay frequency

Gross per paycheck (before taxes)

Net per paycheck (take-home) Find this on your pay stub or bank deposit amount

Deductions per paycheck (optional)

Federal tax withheld

State tax withheld

401k contribution

Health insurance premium

Annualized breakdown

Enter paycheck details to see your annualized income breakdown.

Effective tax rates

Enter gross and net amounts above.

Compare up to 4 health plans side by side. Add your plan details and we'll calculate your true annual cost across three usage scenarios.

Your 401k details

Annual salary (auto-fills from income)

Employer match rate (%)e.g. 100 = dollar-for-dollar match

Match cap (% of salary)e.g. 6 = match up to 6% of salary

Current contribution (%)

State income tax rate (%)

Summary

Enter your 401k details to see optimization analysis.

Contribution rate analysisFederal tax brackets applied automatically

Contribution %	Your contribution/yr	Employer match/yr	Total to 401k	Take-home reduction	Tax savings/yr	Net cost to you	Status

Life insurance needs

Annual income to replace ($)

Years of income replacement needed

Outstanding debts ($)

Existing assets ($)

Employer-provided coverage ($)

Disability insurance

Monthly gross income ($)

Short-term disability coverage (%)% of income your employer covers short-term

Short-term waiting period (days)

Long-term disability coverage (%)% of income your employer covers long-term

Your situation

Health plan type

Estimated annual medical expenses ($)

Marginal tax rate (%) — auto-fills from income

Employer HSA contribution ($)

Employer FSA contribution ($)

Your planned HSA/FSA contribution ($)

Expected unused balance (FSA rollover limit: $640)

HSA vs FSA comparison

Enter your details to see the comparison.

Loan details

Extra monthly amount available ($)How much extra could you put toward debt or investing each month?

Expected investment return (%)

Analysis

Add a loan and extra monthly amount to see the analysis.

Retirement balance

—

Projected at retirement

—

Monthly income (est.)

—

FIRE number

—

Projection

Contributions

Priority Stack

Insights

Benchmarks

Monte Carlo projection

Shaded area = 10th–90th percentile across 500 simulations. Line = median outcome.

Adjust assumptions

Monthly contribution ($)—

Retirement age—

Expected return (%)—

Withdrawal rate (%)—

Scenarios

Conservative

—

5% return

Base case

—

7% return

Optimistic

—

9% return

Scenario	Balance	Monthly income	Probability

FIRE calculator

Roth conversion opportunity

Contribution tracker

Account	Type	Balance	Monthly contrib.	Annual pace	2025 limit	Headroom	Status

Account tax buckets

Optimal dollar priority order

Financial advisors universally recommend this sequence. Each step should be completed before moving to the next.

2025 contribution limits

How you compare — your age

Key retirement planning numbers

Historical market data

Welcome to MPFOS

MPFOS — My Personal Finance OS. Everything lives in your own Google Sheet — no accounts, no servers, no subscriptions. Follow the checklist below to get set up in about 15 minutes.

Getting Started Checklist0 of 8 complete

Install VS Code — free at code.visualstudio.com. This lets the app run at localhost so Google sign-in works.
Install Live Server extension — inside VS Code, click the Extensions icon (left sidebar), search "Live Server", install it. Then open FinanceOS.html and click "Go Live" in the bottom right.
Create a Google Sheet — go to sheets.google.com, create a blank spreadsheet, name it "My Finances". Copy the Sheet ID from the URL (the long string between /d/ and /edit).
Get a Google API Key — go to console.cloud.google.com → New Project → APIs & Services → Enable Google Sheets API → Credentials → Create API Key. Copy it.
Get an OAuth Client ID — in the same Credentials page → Create Credentials → OAuth 2.0 Client ID → Web application → add http://localhost:5500 as an authorized origin → Copy the Client ID.
Connect your sheet — go to Settings in MPFOS, paste your Sheet ID, API Key, and OAuth Client ID, click Connect. The app will read and write to your sheet automatically.
Add your accounts — go to Accounts, click "+ New account". Add each checking, savings, HYSA, retirement, HSA, and debt account. When you create a transaction account, the app will ask for your current balance to set the opening balance.
Add your envelopes — go to Envelopes, click "+ New envelope". Create one envelope per budget category linked to the right account. Then go to Paycheck Allocator and run your first allocation.

Screens at a glance

Dashboard →

Your financial snapshot. Net worth, surplus, savings rate, recent transactions, envelope status.

Register →

Every transaction you enter. Running balance per account. Search, filter, reconcile.

Paycheck Allocator →

Assign every dollar of your paycheck to an envelope before spending. The core of envelope budgeting.

Envelopes →

Budget buckets. Each envelope tracks money earmarked for one purpose — Rent, Food, Car, etc.

Budget →

Budget vs actual spending by category. Progress bars. Filter by month.

Net Worth →

All accounts, total assets, total debt, net worth trend chart, weekly log.

Reports →

Spending breakdowns, monthly trends, income sources, cleared vs pending.

Goals & Planning →

Track savings goals, retirement projection, income sensitivity, custom goals.

Recurring →

Templates for regular bills. One-click to log rent, car payment, subscriptions.

Accounts →

Add/edit/delete accounts. Transaction accounts auto-balance. Manual accounts you update.

Common tasks

Add a transaction →

Click "+ Add transaction" or use the button at top right of most screens.

Allocate paycheck →

Go to Paycheck Allocator, enter net amount, adjust splits, click Apply.

Balance checkbook →

Go to Accounts or Register, click Reconcile on an account, enter your bank balance.

Close the month →

In Register, click "Close month". Processes rollovers and archives old transactions.

Key concepts

Envelope budgeting — what it is and why it works ▾

Every dollar gets assigned a job before you spend it.

Envelope budgeting comes from the old practice of putting physical cash into labeled envelopes — one for rent, one for groceries, one for gas. When the envelope is empty, you stop spending in that category.

In MPFOS:

Each envelope represents one spending category or savings goal
When you get paid, you "fund" each envelope through the Paycheck Allocator
When you spend money, you tag the transaction to an envelope — the balance decreases
You always know exactly how much is left in each envelope
The "unallocated balance" in the Paycheck Allocator shows money sitting in your accounts without a job — should always be near $0

Why it works better than traditional budgeting:

You make spending decisions before you spend, not after
You can see immediately if a purchase will overdraw an envelope
Savings goals (house fund, vacation) get funded deliberately each paycheck

Book balance vs Cleared balance vs Uncleared ▾

Three different views of what's in your account.

Book balance

Every transaction you have entered in MPFOS, regardless of whether the bank has processed it yet. This is what you think you have based on everything you know.

Cleared balance

Only transactions you've marked with a ✓ checkmark — meaning they've appeared on your bank statement and you've confirmed them. This is what your bank says you have.

Uncleared

The difference — transactions you've entered but the bank hasn't posted yet. Could be a check in the mail, a pending debit card charge, or a transaction you entered early.

Which one to use day to day?

Use the book balance for spending decisions — it accounts for everything including what hasn't posted yet. Use the cleared balance when balancing against your bank statement.

Reconciliation — how to balance your checkbook ▾

Making sure your register matches your bank statement.

1

Get your bank statement (online or paper) showing all transactions that have posted.

2

In MPFOS, go to Accounts or Register and click Reconcile on the account.

3

Enter the ending balance from your bank statement in the "Bank statement balance" field.

4

Go through the list of uncleared transactions. Check off each one that appears on your bank statement.

5

When the difference reaches $0.00 — you're balanced. Click Done.

6

If there's still a difference after checking everything: either find the missing transaction, or post an Adjustment with a note (bank fee, interest, receipt you lost). The adjustment keeps your audit trail clean.

How often should I reconcile?

Once a month when you get your statement is enough. Some people do it weekly. The more often you do it, the easier it is because there are fewer transactions to compare.

Transaction accounts vs manual accounts ▾

How different account types work in MPFOS.

Transaction accounts (Checking, Savings, HYSA)

Balance is calculated automatically from every transaction you enter in the register. You never manually set the balance — it's always the sum of all your transactions.

Manual accounts (Retirement, HSA, Investment)

Balance is updated manually. These accounts change because of market performance (your 401k going up or down), not because of transactions you make. You update them periodically — weekly, monthly, whenever you check.

Debt accounts (Loan, Credit Card)

Balance is updated manually. Always shows as negative in net worth. Update the balance as you make payments. Example: your car loan starts at -$11,223. Each month after your payment, update it to the new lower balance.

Tip

After updating manual account balances, MPFOS will ask if you want to log your net worth — say yes to keep your trend chart current.

Rollover vs reset envelopes ▾

What happens to leftover money at month end.

Rollover

Unused balance carries forward to next month. Good for:

Savings goals (Christmas fund, vacation, house fund)
Irregular expenses (car maintenance, medical)
Any category where you're building up a buffer

Reset

Balance zeroes out at month end. Good for:

Fixed monthly expenses (rent, car payment, phone)
Categories where you want a fresh start each month
Discretionary spending (dining out, entertainment)

How it works in MPFOS

When you click "Close month" in the Register, reset envelopes automatically post a zeroing adjustment. Rollover envelopes carry their balance forward with no action needed.

Net worth — how it's calculated ▾

Assets minus debt, updated automatically.

Formula

Net Worth = Total Assets − Total Debt

What counts as assets

All transaction account balances (checking, savings, HYSA) — live from register
All manual account balances you've entered (retirement, HSA, investments)

What counts as debt

All Debt and Credit Card accounts — always negative
Example: car loan of $11,223 shows as -$11,223

Keeping it accurate

Transaction accounts are always accurate because every transaction updates them. Manual accounts are only as accurate as your last update — aim to update them once a month. Log a net worth entry each time you update to keep the trend chart meaningful.

Step-by-step workflows

I just got paid — what do I do? ▾

The paycheck workflow from start to finish.

1

Go to Paycheck Allocator in the sidebar.

2

Enter today's date and select the account your paycheck was deposited to.

3

Enter your net take-home pay (after taxes — what actually hit your account).

4

The app suggests splits based on your envelope monthly budgets. Review them — adjust any amounts. The "Unallocated" counter should reach $0.00.

5

Click Apply allocation. The app logs the paycheck deposit and creates allocation entries for each envelope.

6

Check the Register to confirm everything looks right.

Tips

If you get paid bi-weekly, run the allocator twice a month
The "unallocated balance" panel shows money sitting without a job — allocate it
You can adjust allocations freely — the suggested amounts are just a starting point

End of month — closing out ▾

What to do when a month is done.

1

Make sure all transactions for the month are entered in the Register.

2

Reconcile each transaction account against your bank statement (Register → Reconcile button on each account card).

3

Review the Reports screen for the month — check Budget vs Actual tab to see where you over or underspent.

4

Update manual account balances (Net Worth → Update manual accounts) with current retirement, HSA, and debt balances from your statements.

5

Log a net worth entry (Net Worth → + Log entry) to record this month's snapshot.

6

In Register, click Close month. Enter the month just ended. Confirm — this archives transactions and processes envelope rollovers/resets.

My register balance doesn't match my bank — what now? ▾

Troubleshooting the most common issue.

Most common reasons

Pending transactions — you entered something that hasn't posted yet, or the bank posted something you didn't enter
Missing transaction — a purchase, fee, or deposit you forgot to enter
Bank fee — monthly fee, ATM fee, overdraft fee not in the register
Interest income — HYSA interest posted to your account
Duplicate entry — you entered the same transaction twice

How to find it

1

Go to Register → click Reconcile on the account in question.

2

Enter your bank statement balance. The app shows the difference.

3

Check off each cleared transaction. The difference should shrink toward zero.

4

If you can't find it, post an Adjustment with a note explaining the difference. This keeps the register accurate without breaking anything.

Setting up for your parents (separate instance) ▾

Running MPFOS independently for someone else.

1

Give your parents a copy of MPFOS.html — same file you use.

2

They install VS Code and Live Server on their own computer (same steps as you).

3

They create their own Google Sheet in their own Google account.

4

They get their own API key and OAuth Client ID from Google Cloud (free).

5

They open MPFOS.html, go to Settings, enter their Sheet ID and credentials.

6

Then customize — their account names, envelopes, categories, income. Everything is independent of your setup.

When you get an update

Give them the new MPFOS.html. Their data is in their Google Sheet — replacing the HTML file has zero effect on their data. They just configure their credentials again in Settings (or it restores from localStorage automatically).

FAQ

Is my data safe? ▾

Security and privacy explained.

Your data goes directly from your browser to your Google Sheet — nothing is stored on any server other than your own Google account. The app has no backend, no database, and no accounts of its own.

The app runs locally at localhost:5500 (via VS Code Live Server). No one outside your computer can access it. The only external connection is the Google Sheets API — the same connection you'd use logging into Google Sheets normally.

Most important security step: make sure your Google account has a strong password and two-factor authentication. That protects your sheet regardless of how you access it.

What's the difference between a category and an envelope? ▾

They sound similar but serve different purposes.

Category — a label describing what a transaction is. Used for reporting and analysis. Examples: Groceries, Dining Out, Gas, Paycheck. You can have many categories and they're just for organization.

Envelope — a budget bucket linked to an account with a monthly amount. Has a running balance. Examples: Food ($300/mo), Rent ($1,500/mo), House Fund. Envelopes are funded by your paycheck and depleted by spending.

When you add a transaction, you pick both. Category = what it was. Envelope = which budget bucket it comes from. Often they match (category "Rent" → envelope "Rent") but not always (category "Groceries" → envelope "Food").

Can I use this on my phone? ▾

Mobile access options.

Not directly — the app requires VS Code Live Server running on your computer. It's designed for desktop use when you're logging transactions at your computer.

For on-the-go tracking, the best workflow is: keep a note on your phone (Notes app, Google Keep) of purchases during the day, then enter them in MPFOS when you get home. Many people find this works better anyway — it forces you to think about each transaction.

Your underlying Google Sheet is accessible from any device through the Google Sheets app — you can view your data on mobile even if you can't use the full MPFOS interface.

What if I need to edit or delete a transaction? ▾

Fixing mistakes in the register.

Edit: click any row in the Register. The Add Transaction drawer opens pre-filled with that transaction's details. Change what you need and click Update.

Delete: click the red ✕ button on the right side of any row. You'll be asked to confirm. Deleting a transaction removes it from the running balance and the linked envelope.

Tip: if you accidentally delete something, you can re-enter it. If you've already closed that month, you can view the archive in localStorage (browser developer tools → Application → Local Storage → look for fos_archive_MM_YYYY).

What if I get a new version of the app? ▾

Updating without losing your data.

Your data lives in two places: your Google Sheet (permanent) and your browser's localStorage (local cache). Neither is affected by replacing the HTML file.

1

Download the new MPFOS.html file.

2

Replace your old file with the new one (same filename, same folder).

3

Open it in VS Code, click Go Live.

4

Your localStorage data loads automatically. If your Sheet is connected, it syncs within seconds.

Settings (credentials, profile name, theme) restore from localStorage. If something looks off, just go to Settings and re-enter your configuration — it takes 30 seconds.

How do I import my ClearCheckbook history? ▾

Migrating your transaction history.

1

In ClearCheckbook: go to Import/Export → Export Transactions → CSV.

2

Open the CSV in Excel or Google Sheets.

3

Match columns to MPFOS format: Date (MM/DD/YYYY), Description, Category, EnvelopeID (leave blank), AccountID (your account's ID from MPFOS), Type (Withdrawal/Deposit), Amount (negative for withdrawals), blank, Cleared (TRUE/FALSE), Memo, blank, ID (leave blank).

4

Open your Google Sheet, go to the Register tab, paste starting at row 2.

5

In MPFOS, click ↻ Sync in the sidebar. Your history loads in.

Note: account IDs in MPFOS are generated codes like "a1234567890". You'll need to update the AccountID column in your import with the correct IDs from your MPFOS accounts.

The app won't connect to Google Sheets — what's wrong? ▾

Common connection issues and fixes.

API key errors (reading)

Make sure Google Sheets API is enabled in your Google Cloud project
Check that the API key is copied correctly with no extra spaces
Make sure the Sheet ID is correct (from the URL, between /d/ and /edit)

OAuth errors (writing)

Make sure http://localhost:5500 is added as an authorized origin in your OAuth Client ID settings
Make sure you're running the app at localhost:5500 (via Live Server) not by opening the file directly
If a popup was blocked, allow popups for localhost in your browser settings
OAuth tokens expire after 1 hour — the app will ask you to sign in again automatically

Still not working?

The app works without a sheet connection — all data saves to localStorage. You can use it fully offline and connect the sheet later.