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Self-Hosting Firefly III: Personal Finance Tracking

Firefly III is a comprehensive personal finance manager. Track transactions, budgets, and financial goals with complete data privacy.

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What Is Firefly III?


Firely III is a self-hosted personal finance manager that helps you track where your money goes.


Features


Accounts

  • Asset accounts (checking, savings)
  • Expense accounts (groceries, rent)
  • Revenue accounts (salary, freelance)
  • Liability accounts (credit cards, loans)

    • Transactions

  • Withdrawals (spending)
  • Deposits (income)
  • Transfers (between accounts)
  • Recurring transactions
  • Split transactions

    • Budgets

  • Monthly budget limits per category
  • Track spending against budgets
  • Visual budget utilization

    • Reports

  • Income vs expense
  • Budget overview
  • Category breakdown
  • Net worth over time
  • Audit reports

    • Multi-Currency

    Track accounts in different currencies with automatic exchange rates.


    Bank Import

    Import transactions from bank exports (CSV, OFX, QIF). Use the Data Importer companion tool for automated imports.


    Firefly III vs Actual Budget


  • Firefly III: Comprehensive finance tracking (transactions, accounts, reports)
  • Actual Budget: Focused on envelope budgeting
  • Firefly III for complete financial picture
  • Actual Budget for budget-focused management

    • Deployment


    1. Deploy Firefly III on TinyPod

    2. Create accounts matching your real bank accounts

    3. Import historical transactions or start fresh

    4. Set up budgets

    5. Record transactions (or import regularly)


    Resources: 1 CPU, 512 MB RAM with PostgreSQL.


    Privacy Advantage


    Financial data is among the most sensitive personal information. Self-hosting means:

  • No third party sees your spending
  • No bank credential sharing
  • No data mining for targeted ads
  • Complete control over your financial data