How the Recorder works

A record is one line in your own ledger. It has a date, a provider, an optional four-digit number, the amount you spent, the amount that came back, and an optional note. Nothing else is stored, and nothing is inferred.

The amount returned defaults to zero rather than being left blank on purpose. Recording a zero is a fact; skipping the row entirely is a gap, and gaps are what make monthly totals flattering.

Records are written to your browser's local storage under a namespaced, versioned key. That means they are tied to this browser on this device, they are not sent anywhere, there is no account, and no one else can read them — including the people who built the site.

The trade-off is that browser storage is not permanent. Clearing site data, using private browsing, or moving to a different device or browser will leave you with an empty ledger. The Backup page exists precisely because of this trade-off.

Every record can be edited in place or deleted outright. Editing loads the entry back into the form, so a correction is the same action as an entry. Deletion is immediate and permanent in this browser, so if you are unsure, export a backup first.

The search box matches on date, number, note text and provider name, and the provider filter narrows the list. The totals shown above the list always reflect what is currently visible, so a filtered view gives you filtered totals rather than the full ones.

Three habits carry most of the value:

• Record at the time, not at the end of the month, because memory reconstructs a friendlier version.
• Record every entry, especially the ones that returned nothing.
• Use the note field for context you will not remember — who, where, why — rather than for numbers that belong in the other fields.