The Paychecks view on the Budget tab shows every paycheck in the month as a column, next to the categories you already know. Each cell is the money one paycheck gives one category this month. Use it to plan a month paycheck by paycheck, before the money arrives.
Along the top is Earlier money, what was already unfunded when the month began, and then one column for each paycheck in date order. To the right of the columns are each category's Funded, Scheduled and Assigned, and a Covered? check.
Two kinds of cell
- An arrived paycheck's cell is Funded. The deposit has landed, and the amount in the cell is real cash set aside for that category. It saves when you leave the cell.
- An expected paycheck's cell is Scheduled. It is a promise to yourself: when the paycheck arrives, that amount is funded. Nothing moves until then. It saves as you type.
Every save can be undone from the note that appears at the bottom, and one Undo reverses everything the gesture did.
A paycheck can't give more than it brings in
Each column shows what its paycheck has not planned yet. If you type more than that, nothing is saved and the cell says why. For example, Alex's 10/09 paycheck has $1,400.91 left, so typing $1,500.00 in Groceries gives "Not saved. This paycheck has $1,400.91 left; $1,500.00 is $99.09 more than it brought in." Press Esc to put the old amount back.
Covered?
Assigned is your plan for the category this month. Covered? compares it with what the paychecks give the category, Funded plus Scheduled:
- ✓ Covered: the paychecks give at least what you assigned.
- ◔ $X not covered: the plan is bigger than the paychecks give so far.
- ▲ $X over Assigned: the paychecks give more than you planned.
Raising Assigned always asks you first
If you put more into a category than its Assigned says, Forward doesn't change your plan on its own. It asks first.
Example. Dining out has Assigned $350.00. You type $75.00 in Alex's 10/09 paycheck. With $150.00 already Funded and $200.00 Scheduled, the paychecks would give Dining out $425.00, which is $75.00 more than the plan. Nothing is saved yet, and a bar asks "Raise Dining out's Assigned from $350.00 to $425.00?"
- Raise and save saves your amount and raises Assigned to $425.00. Undo takes both back together.
- Cancel saves nothing and puts the cell back as it was.
The same question appears when you accept suggestions or use a quick split. If several categories would be raised, one question lists them all. Putting less into a cell never lowers Assigned, and a cell that stays within Assigned never asks.
Suggestions
By default the grid shows no suggestions, so you can fill it in by hand. Tap Suggest funding to see them. A suggestion is a grey chip under a cell, like "↳ $111.13", with a ✓ to accept it and a × to dismiss it. The cell itself stays empty and editable. A suggestion is never saved until you accept it, and accepting only schedules the amount; it doesn't move money.
- Accept suggestions and Dismiss in a paycheck's heading act on that paycheck's column.
- Dismiss row hides every suggestion on a category.
- Dismiss all hides every suggestion in the month, and Hide suggestions turns them off. Each dismissal has its own Undo.
A dismissed suggestion stays dismissed. It comes back only if something it was based on changes: the category's Assigned, the bill's amount or due date, or the paycheck's amount.
Suggestions never overfill a paycheck
A suggestion only appears where the paycheck has money left for it. Example. Alex's 10/23 paycheck is $2,400.00 and your cells already use all of it, so it shows no suggestion; an HSA share that would have gone there is suggested on a paycheck that still has room, or not at all if none has.
Bills are never suggested after they are due
For a bill with a due date, Forward only suggests a paycheck dated on or before that day. Example. Electric is due on the 20th, so its $140.00 is suggested on Sam's 10/15 paycheck, not on Alex's 10/23. If no paycheck on or before the due date has room, the category says how much is short, for example "$300.00 short: no paycheck on or before Oct 28 has room", instead of suggesting a later paycheck.
Quick splits
Open a category's name to see it across the whole month. Spread the rest evenly, All on next paycheck, Same as last month and Clear scheduled each fill the expected paychecks' cells in one step, with one Undo. They never touch an arrived paycheck.
A closed month
A month you have closed shows its grid read-only: no cell can be edited and there are no suggestions.
What to do
To plan a month by hand:
- Open Budget and choose Paychecks.
- Type an amount in a category's cell under each paycheck. Expected cells save as you type; leave an arrived cell to save it.
- If a bar asks to raise Assigned, tap Raise and save to accept the new plan, or Cancel to leave it as it was.
- Check each row's Covered?, and each column's not planned yet amount, until nothing is left over.
If you'd rather start from suggestions, tap Suggest funding, then accept the ones you want and dismiss the rest.