Read the three amounts

  • Budget: the amount planned for the category and accounts you selected.
  • Spent: the expenses counted for the month you selected.
  • Remaining: Budget minus Spent. A negative amount means you have gone over the budget.

The progress bar helps you compare spent with budget. It does not know your future purchases. Having half the budget left halfway through the month may be useful context, but a large bill tomorrow can change the picture.

Investigate an unexpected figure

  1. Check the selected year and month.
  2. Check which accounts and currency the budget covers.
  3. Review transactions in the category for that period.
  4. Look for the wrong category, a duplicate entry, a split allocation or a voided record.

If a purchase is missing, check its account, category and date. Correct the entry or change which accounts the budget includes. Changing the budget amount will not fix a missing purchase.

Use the result for next month

Separate one-off costs from regular spending. A repair this month may not happen again next month, but your weekly groceries probably will.

When you change a budget, review the month you are looking at after saving. If it helps, note why you changed the amount so you can review that decision later.