FAQ
My account balance looks wrong. What happened?
PennyWallet calculates all balances by replaying every transaction from inception, starting from the Initial Balance you set when creating the account.
Common causes:
- Wrong initial balance — edit the account in Settings and correct it
- Missing transactions — check if some entries were accidentally deleted
- Renamed account — if you renamed an account, old transactions still reference the old name and won't be counted. Avoid renaming accounts with existing transactions.
Can I change an account's name?
Yes, but with a caveat: the account name is stored as plain text inside each transaction row in the Markdown files. Renaming via Settings updates the config, but existing .md files are not updated. Old transactions will reference the old name, causing balance discrepancies.
If you need to rename, also do a find-and-replace in your vault's Markdown files for the old account name.
What happens if I delete a transaction?
The transaction is removed from the monthly .md file and the frontmatter cache (income/expense totals) is recalculated immediately. Wallet balances in the Finance Overview update on the next render.
Can I have multiple credit cards?
Yes. Add each card as a separate Credit Card account. Each tracks its own outstanding debt independently.
How do I record a cash withdrawal from an ATM?
Use a Transfer:
- From: your bank account
- To: your cash account
- Amount: the withdrawal amount
How do I record paying a credit card bill?
Use a Repayment:
- From: the bank / cash account you paid from
- To: the credit card you're paying off
- Amount: the payment amount
See Credit Card Workflow for a full walkthrough.
Can I use decimal amounts?
Yes. Go to Settings → PennyWallet → General → Decimal Places and switch to 2 decimal places. New transactions will accept .00 amounts. Existing integer transactions are unaffected.
Where is my data stored? Is it synced?
All data is in your Obsidian vault as plain .md and .json files — wherever your vault lives (local folder, iCloud, Obsidian Sync, Dropbox, etc.). PennyWallet does not send any data anywhere.
I accidentally changed the folder name in Settings. Now my transactions aren't showing.
Change the folder name back to the original value in Settings → PennyWallet → Folder Name. The plugin reads from whichever folder name is currently set — it does not move files automatically.
Can I use PennyWallet on mobile (iOS / Android)?
Yes. All features work on mobile, including the transaction form and all three views. For quick mobile entry without opening Obsidian manually, see URI Handler & iOS Shortcuts.
Something broke after I manually edited a .md file.
Check that:
- The date column uses
MM/DDformat (notYYYY-MM-DD) - Empty columns use
-not an empty string - The table separator row (
|---|---|...) is present and has the correct number of columns (8) - The amount is a plain number without commas, currency symbols, or spaces
How do I restore an archived account?
Go to Settings → PennyWallet → Archived Accounts and click the Unarchive button next to the account. It will move back to Active Accounts and reappear in the Add Transaction form.
The interface is in the wrong language. How do I change it?
PennyWallet automatically matches Obsidian's language setting — it displays in Traditional Chinese if Obsidian is set to Chinese, and English otherwise. To change the language, update your Obsidian interface language in Settings → General → Language, then restart Obsidian.
How do I report a bug or request a feature?
Open an issue on GitHub.