A monthly budget in plain text

Checked November 2026 against the Apple and Google pages linked below. Coffee isn't affiliated with Apple or Google.

Write one cost per line, with a label and a colon, and put a word like Total underneath. In any text editor that's just a tidy list you add up yourself. In an editor that calculates, such as Coffee, the answer appears beside the word. For one month and a dozen lines, that's often all a budget needs. For years of history, charts or shared numbers, use a spreadsheet.

The budget

Rent: 400
Food: 200
Fun: 60
Total
Average
count
median
min
max

Coffee reads that and shows these beside the last six lines. They're drawn on screen and not added to your file:

These words don't count each other, so you can stack them as above and each one sees the same three amounts. Upper or lower case both work for Total, and sum does the same job.

The amounts themselves show no answer, because there's nothing to work out. They wait until something asks for them. A line that has a sum in it, such as Rent: 400 + 20, shows 420 and counts as 420. Bullets are fine too, so - Rent: 400 works, and Refund: -50 takes 50 off.

Try it here. Clear what's in the box and type the list above.

Trip budget.md

That box runs the website's copy of these rules in your browser, with UK-style numbers. The app itself is what the rest of this article describes.

What's left at the end of the month

Name your income on its own line, leave a blank line, then use prev, which means the answer on the line before:

income = 1500

Rent: 400
Food: 200
Fun: 60
Total
Left: income - prev

Coffee shows 1,500 beside the income, 660 beside Total, and 840 beside Left. The blank line matters. A named value with an answer counts towards the block it's in, so without the gap your income would be added to your costs.

Separate lists

A blank line or a heading starts a new list, and Total only sees the list directly above it. If you split costs into groups, give each total a name:

income = 1500

Rent: 400
Water: 30
bills = total

Food: 200
Fun: 60
daily = total

Left: income - bills - daily

The answers are 1,500, then 430, 260 and 810.

What doesn't count

Coffee would rather give no answer than a wrong one, so a line has to look like an amount. A few cases will catch you out:

• No colon. Rent 400 doesn't count, because it can't be told apart from Chapter 2.
• A number in the label. Chapter 2: 40 doesn't count, as a label has to be words only.
• Percentages, times and dates. Tax: 20%, Lunch: 12:30 and Due: 25 Dec are left out.
• Just one amount. Rent: 400 then Total shows nothing, as there's nothing to add it to.

If Total shows a smaller figure than you expect, look for one of these. A sentence in the middle of a list is skipped without ending the list, so you can leave yourself a note there.

With Rent: $400 and Food: $200, the total shows $600. Amounts that can't be compared, such as 1 km and $5, get no max at all. The format of numbers follows your Mac's region, so 1,234 depends on where you are. This guide explains it.

What happens to the answers

They stay out of the file. The note holds exactly what you typed, so opened in another editor it's a neat list with no answers. In Coffee, PDF, HTML and Print include answers as the note shows them, and Markdown and plain text exports don't. Clicking an answer copies it, and Edit > Copy with Answers puts line = answer on the clipboard. If you need a figure in the file itself, type it in.

The spreadsheet alternative

For many people a spreadsheet is the better tool. Numbers comes from Apple and starts every spreadsheet from a template. Select a column and the sum, average, minimum and maximum appear at the bottom of the window, with no formula to write. To keep one, drag it to a cell, or type a formula like SUM(C) to total the third column. Google Sheets has the same functions by name: SUM, AVERAGE, COUNT, MEDIAN, MIN and MAX.

A spreadsheet wins clearly when you want any of these:

• Twelve months side by side, with totals across as well as down
• Charts
• Sorting and filtering by category
• Figures that stay in the file wherever it's opened

Plain text wins when the budget is short and sits among other writing, such as a trip plan or a note about the month. It's one file you can read anywhere, with nothing to set up. If you only need a total now and then, that's enough.

If you don't use Coffee

The list works in any editor, but you do the sums. For sums in notes without Coffee, this comparison covers Math Notes in Apple Notes and dedicated apps such as Soulver. Coffee is a paid Mac app with a 14-day trial, and there's more on pricing here. It isn't worth buying for a budget alone when Numbers can do it.

Questions

How do I add up a list in a plain text note?

In Coffee, write each cost as Label: amount and put Total on the next line. The answer appears beside it. In an editor that doesn't calculate, you add it up yourself or paste the numbers into a spreadsheet.

Why does Rent 400 not count?

It has no colon, and Coffee can't tell it apart from something like Chapter 2. Write Rent: 400.

Do the totals get saved in my file?

No. Answers are drawn beside the line and the file keeps what you typed. PDF, HTML and Print from Coffee include them, and other editors won't show them.

Can a total cover several lists?

Not by itself. A blank line or heading starts a new list. Name each total, as in bills = total, and add the names together further down.

Should I use this instead of a spreadsheet?

For a short monthly list, it's fine. If you want charts, many months side by side or sorting by category, a spreadsheet is the better tool.