Recipe
Track personal spending — without any of the social baggage
Some expenses are just yours. Log them in a solo ledger that doesn't prompt you to invite anyone, doesn't suggest splits, and doesn't live in a group nobody else needs to see.
Last reviewed: January 2026
Bill-splitting apps treat solo spending as a second-class citizen — you can usually do it, but the UI keeps suggesting you split or invite someone. The personal ledger in Split The Bill is the opposite: a private space that exists purely for "what did I spend on what this month?" with no group features in sight. It exists because the other features (groups, splits, loans) become more useful when you can also see your unshared spending alongside them in the rollups. This guide covers entry, categorisation, and the monthly view.
Step-by-step
- 1
Open My Spending
On the sidebar, click My Spending (under DAILY). This is `/personal` — the solo ledger. The list shows every personal expense newest-first, with a total-by-currency strip at the top.
Note: bills you uploaded but never split also show up here (they're still your spending, just not split with anyone). That's by design — your "spending" view should match what your bank statement shows.
- 2
Log an expense
Click Log expense → fill in the amount, currency, description ("Coffee", "Gym membership", "Train to Belgrade"), an optional date, an optional category, and an optional payment method. Save.
Use short descriptions — you're the only one reading them. "Costa coffee + croissant" is fine; you don't need to write a paragraph.
- 3
Categorize as you go
The Category dropdown has 7 buckets (restaurant, groceries, transport, lodging, entertainment, shopping, other). Pick one — it takes a second and the monthly rollup will show you where the money actually went.
Uncategorized expenses are allowed but they all land in "other" in the rollups, which is less useful. Five seconds at log-time saves an hour of "what was this?" at month-end.
- 4
Check the monthly rollup
On `/reports`, switch to the monthly view. You'll see your spending broken down by category, by group, and (for shared bills) by peer. Personal-ledger entries show alongside group splits so the total reflects everything you actually spent.
If you set monthly budgets on `/budgets`, the progress bars on the dashboard widget also include personal-ledger entries against the matching categories.
- 5
Export to CSV at month-end
Need to file expenses or just want a backup? Click the CSV button on `/bills` → downloads every bill (personal + shared) with the columns date, category, currency, amount, description. Open in Excel or Sheets.
The export is user-scoped (you only see your bills) and the response carries `Cache-Control: no-store, private` so a CDN can never serve someone else's rows by accident.
When NOT to use the personal ledger
If an expense involves another person — even loosely, like "I covered Bob's coffee" — use a group or a manual debt instead. The personal ledger doesn't carry split or settle-up state, so converting a personal entry to a shared one later is a manual re-entry.
A clean rule: if the money came out of YOUR pocket and nobody owes you a cent of it back, it's personal. Anything else is shared.
Categorization tips
The 7 categories are intentionally broad — fine-grained classification is where personal-finance apps die. "Coffee" can be either "restaurant" (eating out) or "groceries" (beans at home) — pick whichever way you mentally bucket it and be consistent.
Uploaded bills get a category suggested by AI on parse — check it, since a stray utility or bank receipt can land in "other" if the AI wasn't sure. Use the personal ledger by hand for things WITHOUT a receipt: tips, parking, vending machines, train tickets.
Combining with a monthly budget
On `/budgets`, set a soft cap per category (e.g. "$300/month on restaurants"). The dashboard widget shows progress as you log expenses — personal-ledger entries count, group-bill shares count, everything counts.
The cap is a gentle warning, not a block. Going over it doesn't prevent anything; the widget just turns amber, and you decide what to do about it.
Frequently asked questions
Is the personal ledger free?▾
Yes — fully free on every tier. The free tier's only meaningful limit is OCR (10 receipt-photos per 30 days). Personal-ledger entries you type by hand don't consume any quota.
Can I attach a receipt photo to a personal expense?▾
Yes — the photo upload field is on the log-expense form. The receipt is stored against the bill the same way uploaded bills work; just no split is created.
Will my friends see my personal spending?▾
No. The personal ledger is account-scoped. Friends only see bills you explicitly attach to groups they're in.
Can I import from another app?▾
There is a Splitwise CSV importer, but it reads your export and shows you a verified preview rather than writing the entries for you. For the personal ledger, paste from a spreadsheet manually (each row = one entry).
How do I edit or delete a personal entry?▾
Click the row → opens the bill detail. Edit any field; delete via the trash icon (inline confirm required, per project UI rule).
Does it work offline?▾
The app is a PWA, so the list page works offline (cached). New entries require a connection to persist to the server. Offline-first creation is a roadmap item.
How does this differ from a budget app like YNAB?▾
Smaller scope. YNAB is a full envelope-budgeting system with reconciliation, transfers, debt payoff plans, etc. The Split The Bill personal ledger is a log + category + rollup — enough for "where did my money go this month?" but not a replacement for a serious budgeting tool.
Free tier covers most recipes. Pro is 100 receipts every 30 days + private invite links.
