This has been a fun read given that we came up with similar methods but from different directions. Mine wasn't Civilization inspired although I played a lot of Meier's Alpha Centauri back in the day. :) I thought more along easily tracking daily transactions on the goal like cashiers or accounts do with a ledger. No online integration, forecasting, etc. Fairly simple addition, subtraction, arbitrary values if needed, and daily/monthly reports.

I also divided my expenses by the day but also the week: paid weekly. Had to make sure I never went passed the minimum I needed for bills. Also, made sure I had enough in the account for my largest, non-rent bill as splitting it by day didn't guarantee the amount would be there. Far as ledger, I went with MoneyWise app for Android. Just loaded it, typed in description/amount, hit save, and done. Can set to an arbitrary balance which gave me starting point (or occasional reset). Then, remove amount for day at the beginning or at least once I woke up haha. Then, just continue tracking expenses.

Might try your method at some point as it's interesting.

Note: Originally posted in Disqus on the page. Reposted here for anyone else's benefit.