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Comparisons, how-tos and the reasoning behind the product. No affiliate links, no sponsored anything.

• Mint alternatives in 2026 — what each one costs, and who it is for

  Mint shut down in March 2024. Two and a half years on, here is an honest map of what replaced it, what each option costs, and which kind of person each one fits. · Sep 27, 2026

• Actual Budget vs Firefly III vs Oikonome — three self-hosted finance apps, honestly compared

  All three are free to self-host and all three are good. They answer different questions. Here is which one to run for which job, from the people who make one of them. · Sep 27, 2026

• Self-host a budgeting app with Docker in about ten minutes

  A clone, one install command and a setup wizard. What you need, what the installer does, how bank sync works without handing anyone your credentials, and how to keep it backed up. · Sep 27, 2026

• One email a day — how the daily budget verdict works

  Most finance apps want you to open them. Oikonome sends one message each morning instead. Here is exactly what is in it, how the math works, and why fixed bills can never make you "over". · Sep 27, 2026

• Would your retirement have survived 1929? Replaying a plan against 98 years of markets

  An average-return projection hides the thing that actually breaks retirements, a crash in the first years. Here is how Oikonome replays your exact plan against every start year since 1928, and what the number it gives you means. · Sep 27, 2026

• Avalanche vs snowball — the same debts, two payoff orders, and what each one costs

  Both methods work. They differ in the order they clear your debts, which changes the total interest and the date you are done. Here is the arithmetic, and how the Debt page shows both at once. · Sep 27, 2026