Practical tools for finances that are real, not tidy.

Why we started this

Most budgeting advice is written for a version of your finances that doesn't exist — steady paychecks, round numbers, no debt, no surprises. Real budgets are messier: irregular income, a side hustle that pays on its own schedule, a credit card balance from three years ago that never quite disappeared.

We started building spreadsheets because we needed them ourselves, for exactly that kind of messy, real financial life. A budget tracker that didn't assume a tidy paycheck. A debt payoff plan that didn't require a finance degree to understand. A way to track side income without a panic every April.

Once the tools worked for us, we cleaned them up, documented the formulas, and started sharing them. That's still the whole business: build a spreadsheet, use it ourselves, refine it until it's worth selling, and sell it once — not as a subscription, not as a funnel into something bigger.

What we believe

• Clarity over complexity. If a formula needs a tutorial to understand, it's not done yet.
• No shame. Debt, irregular income, and financial stress are common, not embarrassing. Our tools are written for people who are figuring it out, not people who already have it figured out.
• One-time pricing, on principle. A spreadsheet doesn't cost us more to maintain the longer you own it. Charging a subscription for a static file felt wrong, so we don't.
• You should own your data. Every tool is a plain Excel or Google Sheets file. Your numbers live on your device or in your own cloud account — never on our servers.

Who's behind it

MyClearBudget is run as a small, brand-forward operation under Trailhead Standard, LLC rather than a single public-facing personality. We built it this way on purpose — the spreadsheets are meant to speak for themselves. If you have questions about the company or want to talk to a real person, reach out; a real member of the team answers every message.