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ProTech Budget

Zero-based envelope budgeting for your household — from the same family that keeps a shop’s numbers honest. Desktop-first and local-first: your money stays on your machine.

Version 1.0.0 Local-first One-time license Desktop-first

You’ll need Node.js installed, then unzip and double-click Launch.vbs. Windows only for now. No installer, no account, no email asked.

Unregistered copies are fully functional — a license key only records that the copy is yours. Changes land in the changelog.

How it budgets

Zero-based envelopes: every dollar gets a job before the month spends it for you.

✉️

Envelopes, zero-based

Give every dollar a job — rent, groceries, the car, the cushion. The budget starts from zero every time; no magic averages, no “about right.”

💵

Funded per paycheck

You budget the money you actually received, paycheck by paycheck — not an imaginary month. Weekly, bi-weekly, twice a month: the rhythm follows yours.

🔁

Rollover, per envelope

Each envelope decides what leftovers do — pile up toward a goal, or start fresh next month. Your rules, envelope by envelope.

🧮

Overspend always carries

An overspent envelope goes negative and stays negative until you cover it. Signed truth — the same rule Shop Manager applies to margins: never hide a loss.

📅

Bills, goals & debt

Bills with their due dates, goals with their targets, debts with a payoff plan — all living inside the same budget, not in three other apps.

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Accounts & import

Multiple accounts — checking, savings, cards — and import of the CSV/OFX files your bank already exports. No bank credentials, no linking anything.

Optional AI — the same deal as Shop Manager

Bring an Anthropic API key, or run the free local AI (Ollama) on your own PC. Everything below is optional — the app fully works with AI off.

🗂️

Auto-categorize

New transactions sorted into the right envelopes — you confirm, it learns.

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Receipt photo → transaction

Snap the receipt; the amount, the merchant and the envelope fill themselves in.

🤔

“Can I afford this?”

Ask before you buy — the answer comes from your envelopes, not from wishful thinking.

📖

Monthly review, in plain English

Every month, a plain-language rundown: where the money went, what ran over, what to adjust.

Yours, like everything ProTech

Local-first. No cloud account, no server of ours holding your finances, and no bank credentials on anyone’s server — you export a CSV/OFX file from your bank and import the file. Your money’s records live on your machine.

One-time license, like Shop Manager — pay once, own it, no subscription. Live bank sync may come later as an optional paid add-on; the core app never needs it.

What it costs

$10

Once. Not a month — once. Yours to keep, on as many of your own machines as you use.

Free with Tool Run

Already own ProTech Tool Run? Budget is yours at no charge — email me and I'll send your key.

Try it before you pay

The download above is the whole app. Nothing is locked, nothing nags, and it never expires — a key just records that the copy is yours.

Want a key? Email nuneztavarezjacob927@gmail.com — a real person answers.

The ProTech family

One idea, four tools: pay once, own it, your data on your machine — and numbers that never lie to you.

Straight answers

What do I need to run it?
Windows and Node.js — it’s a free install from nodejs.org. Unzip anywhere and double-click Launch.vbs; the app opens in its own window and runs entirely on your machine. There’s no installer yet, and no Mac build.
Do I need a license key to use it?
No. Every feature works unregistered — nothing is locked, nothing nags. A key records that the copy is yours, and it’s checked on your machine, so the app keeps working with no internet and would keep working even if this site disappeared.
Will it be a subscription?
No. One-time license, like Shop Manager. A live bank-sync service may come later as an optional paid add-on — the app itself never needs it.
Does it connect to my bank?
Not in the core app — on purpose. You import the CSV/OFX files you export yourself. No bank credentials on anyone’s server — ours included.

Questions about Budget? Email nuneztavarezjacob927@gmail.com — a real person answers.

Your paycheck. Your envelopes. Your machine.

Built to the same rules as the shop tools: pay once, own it, keep your data. It’s here — download it above and it runs on your machine, offline, today.

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