You are being asked to type in personal numbers, so you should know what happens to them. Here is how each kind of Money Detective tool works, what it does not do and where to read the full privacy policy.
Written by Alex BPublished 10 November 2026
Money Detective is built around practical household money tools for Australians.
Money Detective makes two kinds of things: free web tools that run in your browser, and Excel spreadsheets you download and use on your own computer. This page explains in plain words how each one handles your figures. The privacy policy is the full and authoritative statement, and if anything here differs from it, the policy is the one to rely on.
Our paid and free budget spreadsheets are Excel (.xlsx) files. You type your own figures into your own copy. They do not connect to your bank, and we do not receive what you enter. The tools are manual by design: you decide what goes in.
They calculate estimates from the figures you enter. A spreadsheet cannot know about a bill you leave out, or a price that changes. See the full list of spreadsheets and how to choose.
The free Payday Check works out an estimate of what may be safe to spend before payday. According to our privacy policy, the figures you type (such as money available, bills and expenses) are calculated in your browser and passed to the result page in the part of the web address after the # symbol, which browsers do not send to our server or to Google Analytics, and we do not save them to a database.
If you choose to email yourself a copy of the result, your first name, email address and the figures you entered are sent through a server function to our email provider to deliver that one email. If you tick the newsletter box, your name and email address are sent to our email marketing platform. We record anonymous events, for example that a check was started or completed, but not the amounts you entered.
Some tools let you choose a PDF, such as a bank statement or an energy bill. Those PDFs are read inside your own web browser using a copy of an open-source library called pdf.js, hosted on our website. According to our privacy policy:
We never ask for your online banking login. Our analytics may record that a tool was used, such as that it started or finished, but not file names or statement content.
Many of our guides include a small calculator, such as the rego per pay calculator, the emergency fund calculator or the buy now pay later repayment calendar. These run in your browser using a script on our site. The figures you type are not saved in your browser's storage and are not sent to us. We record only an anonymous event that a calculator was used, with its name and not the amounts. Results are estimates from the figures you enter. Official fee tables inside them, such as Queensland rego fees, are dated on the page and can change.
The Energy Plan Check compares your electricity bill with plans for your situation. It covers New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, the ACT and Victoria, and it does not cover Western Australia or the Northern Territory. It is an estimate based on your bill and the plans it can see.
Money Detective is built around practical household money tools for Australians. Guides are written to answer a real question with a worked example, and examples are labelled when the figures are invented. If you find something wrong, tell us through the contact page and we will look at it.
This article provides general information only. It does not take into account your personal objectives, financial situation or needs, and it is not financial advice. Examples use invented figures. Money Detective's tools provide estimates and planning information. Consider your own circumstances, and seek independent advice if you need it, before making financial decisions.