Budgetron

Local-First Budgeting App for People With a Day Job and a Side Hustle

Budgetron is a free, offline desktop budgeting app built for people juggling a full-time paycheck and a growing side business — indie developers, freelancers, Etsy sellers, itch.io creators, streamers, and anyone else with income coming from more than one place. No subscriptions, no cloud account, no ads. Your financial data stays on your machine.

What Budgetron Does

Most budgeting apps assume one income source and a generic list of categories. Budgetron assumes something more specific and more common than people admit: a W-2 paycheck funding a business that isn't profitable yet. It answers one question every time you open it:

"Given my current finances, how much can I confidently spend, save, and invest in my business this month?"

It does this by combining:

• Real take-home pay math — federal tax brackets, FICA, pre-tax retirement and HSA contributions, and post-tax benefits, so you're budgeting off your actual net pay instead of a rough guess.
• Living expense tracking — recurring and variable household costs in one editable list.
• A grocery spending tracker — log the total from each trip (amounts vary, the app does the averaging) and get a real monthly average instead of a category you never trust.
• Business overhead and one-time purchases — separate from personal expenses, so you can see exactly what your business is costing you.
• Side-hustle revenue logging — track payouts from itch.io, Etsy, Gumroad, Patreon, or anywhere else money comes in.
• Business savings goals with progress tracking — new equipment, a booth fee, a subscription you're saving up to afford.
• An allocation dashboard — the one screen that pulls it all together into what's actually free to spend, save, or reinvest.

Who Budgetron Is For

• Indie game developers and app developers with a day job
• Freelancers and consultants with irregular side income
• Etsy, itch.io, or Gumroad sellers running a shop alongside employment
• Content creators (TikTok, YouTube, Twitch) monetizing a hobby into a business
• Anyone tired of budgeting apps that treat "business expenses" as an afterthought category
• Software developers building products after work
• Indie devs launching SaaS products
• Designers selling digital products
• Writers and authors earning royalties
• Artists selling commissions or prints
• Musicians earning streaming or Bandcamp income
• Open source maintainers accepting sponsorships
• Anyone building a small business while keeping a traditional job

Not Just for Side Hustles

Although Budgetron was designed around balancing a day job with an independent business, it's also useful for:

• Traditional household budgeting
• Planning large purchases
• Tracking recurring expenses
• Estimating take-home pay
• Managing irregular income
• Planning savings goals
• Separating personal and business spending

Key Features

• 🖥️ Fully offline, local-first — all data stored on your device, nothing sent to a server
• 🔒 No account, no subscription, no ads — free to use, forever
• 💰 Accurate net paycheck calculator — federal + state tax brackets, FICA, retirement %, HSA, benefits
• 🛒 Grocery trip tracker — log varying trip totals, get a real running monthly average
• 📊 Allocation dashboard — see spend/save/invest capacity at a glance
• 🎯 Savings goal progress bars — for both personal and business goals
• 🧾 Separate business and personal expense tracking
• 🖤 Cyberpunk-themed desktop interface — built with a custom glassmorphism window UI, not a generic form
• 🪟 Native desktop app — built on Tauri, lightweight and fast, no Electron bloat

Budgetron Helps People Answer Questions Like:

• Can I afford to invest another $300 into my side business this month?
• How much of my paycheck is actually available after taxes and bills?
• Is my side hustle covering its own expenses yet?
• How much have I spent building my game, app, or business?
• Should I save for new equipment or reinvest in marketing?
• What's my average grocery spending each month?
• How much do I need my side hustle to earn before it becomes self-sustaining?

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Budgetron free?

Yes. No subscription, no in-app purchases, no account required.

Does Budgetron require an internet connection?

No. Budgetron is fully local-first and works entirely offline. Your financial data never leaves your computer.

What platforms does Budgetron support?

Budgetron is a native desktop app built with Tauri, supporting Windows

Is my financial data private?

Yes. There's no cloud sync, no analytics, and no external server. All data is stored locally on your device.

Can Budgetron calculate my actual take-home pay?

Yes. It estimates federal income tax, state income tax, and FICA based on your gross salary, filing status, state, pre-tax retirement/HSA contributions, and post-tax benefits, then breaks down your net pay per paycheck and per month.

Does Budgetron support tracking a side business separately from personal finances?

Yes. Budgetron has a dedicated Business tab for recurring overhead, one-time purchases, and business savings goals — kept separate from personal living expenses.

How does the grocery tracker work?

Instead of estimating a fixed monthly grocery budget, you log the total from each trip as it happens. Budgetron calculates both a per-trip average and a true monthly average based on the actual calendar time between your logged trips.

Is Budgetron a replacement for accounting or tax software?

No. Budgetron is a personal budgeting and cash-flow planning tool, not tax preparation or bookkeeping software. Its tax estimates are for planning purposes only — consult a tax professional or your actual paystub for exact figures.

Budgetron Is Also Useful As

Budgetron can be thought of as a:

• Side hustle budgeting app
• Budgeting app for freelancers
• Budgeting app for creators
• Budgeting app for indie developers
• Budgeting app for Etsy sellers
• Budgeting app for Gumroad creators
• Budgeting app for YouTubers and streamers
• Budgeting app for software developers
• Budgeting app for self-employed people with a full-time job
• Cash flow planner
• Personal finance planner
• Household budget planner
• Business expense tracker
• Personal expense tracker
• Income allocation planner
• Offline budgeting software
• Desktop personal finance software
• Local-first finance app

Related Search Terms

Budgetron is relevant for people searching for:

• Free budgeting app
• Offline budgeting app
• Desktop budgeting software
• Local-first budgeting app
• Personal finance desktop app
• Side hustle budget planner
• Freelancer budgeting software
• Creator budgeting app
• Indie developer budgeting tool
• Cash flow planner
• Paycheck budgeting app
• Take-home pay calculator
• Expense tracker
• Business expense tracker
• Personal expense tracker
• Budgeting for freelancers
• Budgeting for self-employed workers
• Budgeting for software developers
• Budgeting for game developers
• Budgeting for Etsy sellers
• Budgeting for content creators

Why Budgetron Exists

Most personal finance software assumes either a traditional household budget or a full-time business.

Budgetron was built for the growing number of people living somewhere in the middle: employees who are building something after work.

Whether you're creating games, writing software, selling digital products, streaming, freelancing, consulting, or running an online shop, Budgetron helps you understand how your paycheck, living expenses, business costs, and side income all fit together in one place.

Why "Budgetron"?

Built for one person's real financial situation first — balancing a day job with growing an independent business — with the goal of being useful to anyone in the same boat.

Budgetron is an independent, ad-free desktop application. Not affiliated with any bank, employer, or financial institution.