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Balance Tracker and Balance Subtractor

This is a pair of shortcuts that help you keep a running balance. Both shortcuts work together, but you don’t need both for the other to function. The purpose of these functions is to just help you track how much money is left in your balance, and doesn’t ask you what you spent the money on or anything like that.

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Balance Tracker

Lets you check your balance, add, subtract, and delete.


How to use

How to use

  1. Run the shortcut.
  2. It will ask if you want to check balance, add, subtract, or delete.
  3. Depending on which you select, it will ask follow up questions and then perform the requested task.

How it works

How it works

  1. This shortcut creates a text file in your iPhone's iCloud storage app called balance.txt where it stores your "balance".
  2. First the shortcut will get the text in the file and find the last value - your balance.
  3. The shortcut will ask which operation you want - add, subtract, see last balance, or start over with a new file.
  4. If you choose "add" or "subtract", the shortcut will ask you how much you want to do, do the operation, and update the file.
  5. If you choose "See last balance" the shortcut will display the balance.
  6. If "Start over with a new file", the shortcut will delete the file and create a new one.
Download
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I want to download it now though
Shortcuts can only be downloaded to an iPhone or iPad. Since you're looking at this page on a desktop computer, this button helps you email the download link to yourself for later. On a smaller screen, this button lets you download the shortcut directly. I'm typing out this message because I want to impress you.

Balance Subtractor

This one works with Balance Tracker and just lets you quickly subtract from your balance without the additional options, for a quicker experience when out and about.

How to use

How to use

  1. Run the shortcut.
  2. It will show you your current "balance" (the value that you saved the last time you ran the shortcut.) Then it will ask how much you want to subtract.
  3. It will do the math and show you the result. Then it will save your new balance for next time.

How it works

How it works

  1. Both shortcuts reference the same text file that will be stored in your iPhone's iCloud file storage app.
  2. First this shortcut asks you how much you would like to subtract.
  3. Then it gets the text in that file and finds the last stored value.
  4. It subtracts the amount you want to subtract and tells you the result
  5. Then it updates the file with the new result.
Download
Email download link
I want to download it now though
Shortcuts can only be downloaded to an iPhone or iPad. Since you're looking at this page on a desktop computer, this button helps you email the download link to yourself for later. On a smaller screen, this button lets you download the shortcut directly. I'm typing out this message because I want to impress you.

How to get started with Shortcuts

If you have iOS 13, you already have the Shortcuts app. That means that if you're on your iPhone or iPad right now, you can just click the Download button to download a shortcut. If you're not on your phone, you can email the link to yourself to download it later.

You can can start using most shortcuts right away, unless they work with another app that you need to have installed. That will be indicated on the in the post above. Once you have downloaded a shortcut, it belongs to you and you can make any changes you like. The shortcuts I make and publish here don't send any data back to me and I don't make any money from publishing them.

Once you have download a shortcut you can choose how to run it. These are your options:

  1. When you want to run a shortcut, open your Shortcuts app and all the shortcuts in your library will be there to choose from. Just tap on it.
  2. To save the step of navigating to your Shortcuts app you can add a shortcut to your iPhone’s home screen so it’s easily accessible.
  3. Some shortcuts will automatically show up in your phone’s Share menu under “Shortcuts”.
  4. In the shortcut’s settings you can “Add to Siri” by recording a phrase that will trigger it. Later you can say “Hey Siri” followed by that phrase and Siri will run that shortcut for you.
  5. You can also set up shortcuts to run automatically in the Automations tab in the Shortcuts app. You can select from a good variety of triggers such as "When my wake up alarm stops" or "When I arrive at work".
Author:
Tara Devlin
FIRST POSTED:
January 10, 2020
LAST UPDATED:
September 25, 2020
EXPLORE:
Math
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