The budget app for digital nomads' real life

Cash Compass logs amounts as you enter them. For a sustainable nomad workflow: each time you spend in a non-USD currency, log the USD-equivalent at the time of transaction. Wise and Revolut both show you the exact USD at point of conversion or spend. This keeps your budget categories comparable across countries — a $40 dinner in Lisbon and a $40 dinner in Mexico City both land in the Dining category at the same value. If you need true multi-currency wallets with live exchange rates, Cash Compass is not the right pick — look at Spendee or Wallet by BudgetBakers. For USD-tracking nomads (the majority of U.S. expat workers), the manual USD-equivalent approach is simpler and avoids the rate-fluctuation noise. The 2024 Wise transparent-cost report showed average expat conversion fees ran 0.5-1.5% per transaction — log net-of-fees if you want maximum accuracy.

U.S. citizens owe federal income tax on worldwide income regardless of where they live. The Foreign Earned Income Exclusion (FEIE) for 2024 was $126,500 — earned income up to that amount can be excluded if you meet the Physical Presence Test (330 full days outside the U.S. in any 12-month period) or the Bona Fide Residence Test. State income tax depends on your last U.S. domicile — Texas, Florida, Washington, and Nevada have no state income tax, so many nomads establish residency there before going abroad. Cash Compass does not do tax filing or FEIE calculations, but the CSV export with location tags helps you (or a tax preparer like Bright!Tax or Greenback specializing in expats) document the days-abroad math. The 2024 IRS expat-filing data showed about 9.1 million Americans living abroad were required to file.

Indirectly. Tag each location-month as its own category cluster (Country: Portugal, Country: Mexico, etc.) and after 60-90 days in each base you have real data on what your nomad lifestyle actually costs there — not Nomad List averages but your personal numbers. Many nomads find that their personal cost in a 'cheap' destination ends up only 15-20% lower than in a 'expensive' one because their habits move with them. Cash Compass shows the difference between assumed savings and real savings. Useful when deciding whether to extend a contract in one base or move to the next.

Tag each income deposit by client and currency — Client: ACME (USD), Client: Berlin GmbH (EUR), Client: Tokyo Co (JPY). Log the USD-equivalent at the time of receipt so your income totals stay comparable. Cash Compass shows running totals per client and per currency tag. For tax purposes, U.S. citizens report all income converted to USD using the IRS-published exchange rates (yearly average for income items, spot rate for individual transactions if you prefer). The 2024 IRS publication 525 outlines the conversion method. If you bill in multiple currencies regularly and need true accounting software, look at Wave or QuickBooks Self-Employed with multi-currency add-on. Cash Compass is honest about being a tracker, not a books-of-record system.