How to make a budget, step by step
Making a budget means giving every euro you have a place. You start from To assign, which is what does not have a place yet, and you spread it across the envelopes.
Assigning in one sentence
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.
A first month with the November numbers
- The salaries arrive. Everything that comes in goes to To assign: no envelope is full yet.
- You assign. Groceries €600.00, Transport €200.00, Leisure €150.00, Health €80.00, Casa Milano €1,500.00, Casa Cortina €200.00, Luca's 18th birthday €150.00, Emergency fund €500.00 and Holidays €300.00. €3,680.00 in all.
- You look at To assign. The number at the top says how many euros do not have a place yet: in the example €310.00. If it is below zero you assigned more than you have, and the number turns red.
- You spend. Every expense comes out of the envelope of its category. A credit card expense reduces the envelope, and you do not need an envelope to pay the card.
- At the end of the month. What is left in an envelope carries over to the next month. What is missing does not carry over: it is taken out of To assign.
How to assign faster
- In the cell. Click the Assigned of a row and type an amount, or +50 to add 50 euros, −20 to take away 20 or =usual to bring it to usually. Enter saves, Tab moves to the row below, Esc cancels.
- With Assign. For one envelope, for the chosen ones or for all: pick a source (according to goals, like last month, what was spent last month, the average of the last 3 months, usually) and see the preview before you confirm. If To assign is not enough for all, the envelopes are filled in the filling order, which is a list of its own and does not change the order of the Budget.
- With Move. The Available of an envelope moves to another one, never beyond what is there.
Edge cases
- Assigning to collections. You cannot: a collection shows the total and has no money of its own.
- You made a mistake. Cmd Z undoes the last assignment, up to twenty.
- A finished group. A group with a zero balance for more than seven days, with no budget and no goal in the month, goes by itself into Other archived groups. If you archive it yourself, what is left goes back to To assign.
- Free account. The Budget is in Premium; with Free you keep accounts, transactions and shared expenses.
Where to find it in the app
On the computer, open the Budget: at the top To assign and the Assign… button, below the table with a row for every envelope.