Budget by group and parts
A euro is assigned in three places: to a category with no group, to the total of a group or to a part of a group. Never to collections. The group stays the main envelope; parts are for when there is something inside the group that needs a cap of its own.
Parts in one sentence
A part is a cap of its own for a category inside a group: that money stays inside the group but is reserved for that category. What is left is the rest of the group.
A worked example with the November numbers
You assign €1,500.00 to Casa Milano. If you do nothing else, that money covers any expense of the group. Then you decide that the Mortgage has a part of €1,100.00 and the Electricity a part of €90.00.
| Row | Assigned | Spent | Available |
|---|---|---|---|
| Casa Milano | €1,500.00 | €1,210.00 | €290.00 |
| Mortgage, part | €1,100.00 | €1,100.00 | €0.00 |
| Electricity, part | €90.00 | €110.00 | −€20.00 |
| Rest of the group | €310.00 | €0.00 | €310.00 |
Internet, Building fees and Maintenance have no part: they count on the rest of the group, which is calculated (the group minus the parts) and cannot be typed in.
When a part is overspent
The electricity bill is €110.00 and the part had €90.00. The part is an envelope of its own: during the month it stays red, saying €20.00 over what was planned, and the rest of the group is not touched. You can cover it right away with Move €20.00 from the rest. If it is still red at the end of the month the rest of the group covers it, and €290.00 carries over to December.
Edge cases
- Parts bigger than the group. If you reduce the group below the sum of the parts, the app refuses and tells you by how much to reduce the parts first. If instead you raise a part above the group budget, the group widens by itself and the difference comes out of To assign.
- Part created mid-month. Expenses already recorded in that category are read onto the part, which can start already used up or red. Nothing is rewritten in the past.
- Part removed. The money it still had stays in the group, inside the rest: it does not go back to To assign. If it was red, the red moves to the rest.
- The rest is not enough. If the rest also goes below zero, at the end of the month the rule of every envelope applies: the red does not carry over to the next month and is taken out of To assign.
Where to find it in the app
On the computer, open the Budget and open a group with the arrow: parts are typed in the Assigned cell like any other envelope, the rest is calculated and cannot be typed in.