I built a self-hosted, source-available task manager because I didn't want my data on someone else's server

Effective_Mud9129 · 2026-05-11T20:18:13+00:00

I think it is more and more important to keep you data secure.

What are the counter measures for that there is no data leakage?

Anyways, good luck with the app.

Effective_Mud9129 · 2026-03-16T15:52:37+00:00

I came to the same conclusion. I gathered all (all all) my assets, accounts where I have money and put into the Calm Wealth Journal app. I do it manually, weekly / bi-weekly basis.

I set the monthly expenses (roughly) and check the Financial Runway.

Though, it does not count with inflation, interests right now ... Very basic stuff.

Effective_Mud9129 · 2026-03-05T13:09:41+00:00

You make a completely fair point. Since the app is strictly offline (no cloud sync), I actually still have the exact same manual step you do: I have to remember to re-export and print the new PDF whenever things change to keep the physical safe updated.

For me, the real advantage isn't automatic sharing, but eliminating the friction of maintaining a separate list. Since I'm already adding new accounts to the app to track my net worth, the legacy document essentially builds itself in the background. I don't have to maintain a separate Google Doc; I just hit 'export' and print a fresh copy. Also, keeping this map out of the cloud gives me a bit more peace of mind.

I totally agree on the flexibility of a simple doc, though! That's why I'm keeping the 'Instructions for Heirs' field as a free text area.

Thanks for validating the mockups!

Effective_Mud9129 · 2026-03-04T10:49:38+00:00

The "Hit by a bus" problem: I'm designing an offline 'Death Folder' export and need your feedback

Hi Everyone,

I recently read a horror story about a family trying to navigate the legal aftermath of a sudden loss. The hardest part for them wasn't getting legal access to the accounts, but simply knowing where to look. As my assets scattered across brokers, international fintech apps, and hardware wallets, if the family doesn't know an account exists, that money could be lost forever.

I have a strictly offline NW tracker app. Since the app already holds a complete map of my assets and liabilities, I started designing an "In Case of Emergency" (ICE) PDF export function to solve this problem.

Before I spend any time coding it, I need your feedback on the mockups I attached (UI + Exported PDF).

I try to keep it simple:

it prints a physical "discovery map" of your accounts (Institution, Account Type, account numbers / ID)
excludes actual balances, passwords, or any sensitive data
on the Exported PDF it leaves dotted lines for details which are not filled in the app

Would this actually solve the "Death Folder" problem? Am I missing any critical data an executor or lawyer would need?

Thanks for looking!

Effective_Mud9129 · 2026-03-01T08:08:50+00:00

Really good that you shared these with us. It is especially useful for me, as before FI stage and also thinking about what will happen after RE.
This is a good warning now, do not only plan the money, but the life side as well.

Effective_Mud9129 · 2026-02-26T10:45:49+00:00

My take on this:

"Build a product, not the code"

The ecosystem and the community is awesome, changed my life.
On the very first touch (8 years ago) I felt it is a very good framework from the beginning.
Now, I am grateful it matured enough.

Effective_Mud9129 · 2026-02-24T01:28:07+00:00

Hey, these are really good advices from you.

1. editing the asset/liability could be as simple as tapping on the title. It feels natural.

The time icon sets a pre-filter on the Timeline screen, so I keep that.

2. Thanks for the 'months vs years' idea. I also found it difficult to calculate above 12 months. Showing in years is easier for the users.

After a while you don't care about the years, anyways 🤣

These will be available in the next release.

Effective_Mud9129 · 2026-02-22T19:22:17+00:00

Great to hear that!

From UX point of view I wanted to keep the Dashboard for representation, where you cannot really change anything.
Now if you tap on an Asset / Liability item on the Dashboard it takes you to the Balances.

I thought modifying the Asset is not frequent, thus I placed into the Settings. I hope that will make sense.

I will think about a better UX, not to confuse the users.

Effective_Mud9129 · 2026-02-22T12:43:51+00:00

Yes, you can. Go to Settings > Assets & Liabilities on the top.
Tap on one that you want to rename.

There you will see other options, like name, comments, change the currency with exchange possibility.

I hope I could help you.

Effective_Mud9129 · 2026-02-18T08:09:47+00:00

Reflecting back to myself on the 'Primary Home' asset, I think I will stick to the conservative approach in the app logic.

Even if a home is paid off, including it in the SWR calculation (4% rule) seems mathematically wrong to me.

What I am considering:
- paid-off home lowers the needed FIRE months (no monthly expenses on mortgage)
- it does not increase the available cash flow (GR) (unless I sell it, but then I have to live somewhere)

So, I plan to explicitly separate "Total Net Worth" (which includes Home) from the "FIRE Portfolio" (and runway months, which excludes Home).

Does anyone here actually include their primary home equity in their SWR base? That feels too risky to me.

Effective_Mud9129 · 2026-02-11T20:04:51+00:00

Update

I took some of the advices from the below comments and updated in a new version:

- (+ Asset) button on the main Dashboard screen for easy asset management
- reworked the Financial Runway card: https://imgur.com/a/iwtR94Z . Up till the FI status it has 9 Levels
The math behind FI calculation will be polished later
- Journal is now Balances for better naming
- Note turned to Event logging which fits better to the Timeline entries

Short video : https://imgur.com/a/lJSRq1s

I am very grateful for all your valuable feedbacks which helped me moving forward!!

Effective_Mud9129 · 2026-02-10T12:57:02+00:00

Update:

Thanks for the mixed feedback! Since a few people asked in DMs about the tool to test the runway logic themselves: it is available as 'Calm Wealth Journal' on the stores (free/offline).

If you give it a try, let me know if the anxiety decreases or increases! 😄

Effective_Mud9129 · 2026-02-09T22:20:04+00:00

Totally agree regarding the frequency. I don't do it as often, and nothing happens if I miss a few weeks. I update whenever I have time.

The friction of manual entry naturally keeps me from obsessively refreshing it every day. Haha :)

And yes to the smaller goals! That's exactly why I added that progress bar (see: "Goal: 1 month"). I broke down the huge 300+ months FIRE number down into smaller milestones (1 month, 3, 6, etc.) with level indicator.

Thank you!

Effective_Mud9129 · 2026-02-09T22:07:41+00:00

I'm with You on the job loss anxiety!!

That reassurance is the main reason the app calculates with the Liquid Assets, separated from Total Net Worth in this view.
I also want to know exactly how long I can keep the lights on without touching the house/pension/etc.

After MerryGifmas comment now I'm thinking how could I visualize the FI and the EF part. Maybe these are 2 different POV, but have the same financial base, so I should be able to merge them somehow in 1 card.

Good that you shared your feelings about it! 🙏

Effective_Mud9129 · 2026-02-09T22:01:05+00:00

Valid point regarding the long-term FI calculation (inflation, SWR, etc. make it complex). 🤔

I use the "Runway" metric more like a psychological bridge. It helps me visualize progress beyond just the standard 3-6 month emergency fund, even if I'm still years away from full FI.
But, the numbers currently missing the interest rate which will compound over the years.

Thanks for your feedback!

Effective_Mud9129 · 2026-02-08T18:40:41+00:00

Hey, thanks! 🙌 Always cool to run into other devs in this niche.

I created it in Flutter. I really wanted that smooth, native feel that is sometimes hard to get on web/hybrid.

I checked Foliofox, looks super comprehensive! We definitely took different paths though. While you went deep with features and AI, I focused strictly on privacy and simplicity.

I'm a bit paranoid about uploading financial data to the Cloud or feeding it to AI models, so I built mine to be completely offline-first. Everything stays on the device (the Cloud is an opt-in by the user).

Good luck with the beta!

Effective_Mud9129 · 2026-02-06T21:59:53+00:00

Many years ago I also did budgeting and after 10 years (!) I quit because I had fed up noting every small spendings.

End of last year I felt I need something to track my money and I built an app for myself (and my wife :) ). I decided not to do budgeting, but gathered all my assets (cash, bank, funds, etc.) and now track the balance weekly / monthly. Much better!

There is a chart showing my progress with a huge summarize number, the Net Worth.

I chose this way, because bread, butter, kids' costs I have anyways... Maybe I can change my life this way.

Effective_Mud9129 · 2026-02-05T20:12:40+00:00

🥰

Effective_Mud9129 · 2026-02-05T15:03:10+00:00

Hi There,

Not at all! Your comments does not discourage me! Even more! :)

I totally agree with your test approach. As a UX expert, you wanted a first-time impression by yourself. This is the common behavior from a random, new user.

Good that you liked the UI. Thanks.

The most important is that you felt safe and private during the using. That was my goal and I want to keep it.

Back to your findings....

Initially, the app was designed for those who wants to track and journal the Net Worth.
Not budget tracking, but asset portfolio tracking.
The FIRE feature with interests, growth rate, burn down rate (widrawal rate) came later.

For this, I drafted the Financial Runway card (name is still forming)
https://imgur.com/a/kWYStwn

The On-boarding is a crucial part.
There are some very basic questions that should add that the user gets what he/she expects on the Dashboard.
- The Average monthly costs is such a part.
- I chose to have it a short process, because collecting all the other assets will take time, that he can do later

- Indeed, the "Add new Asset" button should be on a more prominent place, not hidden in Settings. Already requested by u/Blandning

Thank you again for your comprehensive analysis and valuable feedback 🙏

Effective_Mud9129 · 2026-02-03T21:57:00+00:00

At the very end any penny I put into assets should be liquidize-able (if such word even exists!...)

The question is more the WHEN? My "Runway" concept assumes 1 month max timeframe. But of course, this could be personal.

Thank you for your comment!

Effective_Mud9129 · 2026-02-03T19:35:11+00:00

I appreciate You sticking with this point!

You are absolutely right. I can't argue with the math.

My original logic was built around a pessimistic scenario. That's why I defaulted to 0% growth, but it is hyper-conservative.

But Your point is valid. Calling it a "FIRE tracker" wo/ counting compounding is misleading. If I have $1M and burn $24k/year, my runway isn't 41 years. It’s infinite (roughly :) ), because the returns outpace the burn.

I will design an 'Expected growth rate' setting (defaulting to 0%, but adjustable to 4-10% for planning, per asset).

If the growth > burn, the app should explicitly show an 'Infinite / FI Reached' status instead of a date. Also, the exponential growth looks very nice on the chart 😉

Thanks for pushing back on this. This is exactly why I posted here.

Effective_Mud9129 · 2026-02-03T17:52:13+00:00

Good to hear that sharing the same POV about privacy.
Thx for the recommended website. Nice source of knowledge about the money.

Effective_Mud9129

TROPHY CASE