[Wildgoose]

The double-entry accounting is what makes GnuCash so wonderful to use.

Everything has to balance.

Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. If you take money from your bank account and spend it on electricity then the amount you have spent on electricity goes up by the entered amount and your bank balance goes down by the same amount.

By picking some sensible (broad) categories you can see at a glance how much you are spending in each category.

[Wildgoose]

Incidentally, only the main document with the file suffix ".gnucash" is required. You can e-mail/backup that file and you can also use the Android App that is available to view it on your 'phone if you are an Android user. (Sadly the mobile app isn't available on iOS).