Budget lines organize your transactions into categories that track spending and income patterns. Each line
operates as an independent container where transactions accumulate according to your chosen budgeting mode.
The app calculates totals, displays progress, and provides detailed spending analysis for each line throughout
your budget cycles.
Creating, editing, and deleting lines
When you create a budget line, you provide a name and color that identify the line throughout the app.
The app immediately adds the created line to your Budget Overview, but it shows no activity until you assign transactions to it.
- Targets Mode: the create and edit form includes a target amount field that sets your spending goal for the current
and future cycles.
- Envelope Mode: the create and edit form includes an initial funding field where you transfer money from your unbudgeted
funds pool into the new line.
Editing a line allows you to change its name or color at any time. These changes update the line across all
historical records and carry forward into future cycles without triggering recalculations.
In Targets Mode, you can also modify the target amount, which affects
the current cycle and all future cycles while refreshing calculations that
compare spending against the target, such as “Remaining Amount” and status
bar percentages.
Reading the Budget Overview page
The Budget Overview page displays all active budget lines in a table format with each line showing its name,
color, and current cycle activity. Below each line name, a status bar fills from left to right representing
spending as a percentage of a comparison metric that varies by mode.
- Tracking Mode: the status bar shows current
cycle activity compared to previous cycle totals (spending $70 this cycle versus $100 last cycle
displays as 70%).
- Targets Mode: the status bar represents spending against your defined target.
- Envelope Mode: the status bar shows spending against available funds, which includes carryover from the previous cycle plus net transfers
into the envelope.
The status bar changes color based on spending thresholds to provide quick visual feedback. The page also shows
an aggregated total of spending across all active lines for the current cycle, and includes a graph comparing
current and previous cycle activity. In Targets Mode, additional statistics display total targeted spending and
remaining targeted spending across all lines. In Envelope Mode, a remaining funding section shows total
available funds across all envelopes, and a line transfer history section records movements between envelopes
and transfers from the unbudgeted funds pool.
Status bar colors
While viewing the main Budget page, each line has a status bar shown underneath the line’s name.
This bar shows the amount spent as a percentage of the line’s spending limit, as defined in the chart below:
| Budget Mode | Amount | Limit |
|---|
| Tracking | Expenses and income transactions assigned to that line | The total of all expenses and income in the previous cycle |
| Targets | Expenses and income transactions assigned to that line | The most recently defined line target at the end of the cycle |
| Envelope | Expenses and income transactions assigned to that line, which doesn’t include envelope transfers | The funds which carried over from the previous cycle, plus the net transferred funds into the envelope |
| Threshold | Color | |
|---|
| Income, >100% | Dark Green | |
| Income, 0-100% | Green | |
| Spending, 0-60% | Blue | |
| Spending, 60-75% | Yellow | |
| Spending, 75-90% | Orange | |
| Spending, 90-100% | Red | |
| Spending, >100% | Dark Red | |
Reading the Budget Line Detail page
The detail page for an individual budget line presents a comprehensive view of that line’s activity over time.
A graph displays all historical spending for the line, while a transaction table lists every transaction
assigned to the line across all past periods. The inspector pane displays spending statistics for multiple time ranges
including “Spending this Cycle,” “Spending Last Month,” and “Spending Last Year.” Positive amounts appear in
green while negative amounts display in red.
- Tracking Mode: This mode focuses on past spending displaying only current cycle metrics and past
cycle spending going back one year.
- Targets Mode: The Budget Line Detail page includes a targets section showing “Targeted Amount” and
“Remaining Amount” for the current cycle, along with a target history section that records all past and
current target values you’ve set for the line.
- Envelope Mode: The detail page has a funding section showing “Remaining Funds” available in the
envelope/line and provides a funding history showing all transfers into and out of the line, including
movements from the unbudgeted funds pool and exchanges with other budget lines.
