How to create an expense budget

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Expense budgets are for regular spending, like groceries. Once one is set up, categorise merchants and transactions into that category so you can track actual spend against the amount you set.

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1. A quick summary

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Add expense budgets on the Expense list. Use Quick add to create several at once from suggested amounts, or Add budget for the full setup.

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The period (weekly, fortnightly, monthly, or custom) is set in Budget settings for the whole list, not on this form.

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2. Quick add

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On Expense budgets, tap Quick add. You'll see suggested categories with amounts filled from your real transactions for the period in Budget settings.

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Edit any amount, then tap Add on each row you want to create.

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3. Add a budget with the full setup

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On the Expense list, tap add, then Add budget. Then enter:

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• 1. Category - pick an existing one or create a new expense category
• 2. Amount - often pre-filled from your usual spend if accounts are connected
• 3. Rollover budget - tap Yes if leftover or overspend should carry forward, then pick a start date
• 4. Colour and emoji, if you want

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If this is money you put away each cycle, turn on Savings category? on the category. It stays in the expense list and is included in leftover, but it is not treated as spending in Money Insights or cashflow leftover. Read How savings categories work.

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4. Save

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Tap the green save button. On the full setup you can often save and finish, or add another expense budget straight after.

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Then categorise those transactions so actuals track against the amount. For the wider picture, read Budget feature overview.

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You're all ready to go 🎉

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Woohoo! You've just set up an expense budget. If you run into any issues while setting everything up, feel free to get in touch with us at hello@budgetbuddie.co.nz

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