Assign money to an envelope

Give an envelope its share of the money you hold this month.

Assigning is the core move of an envelope budget. It takes money out of To Budget and commits it to one category, which is how a number in your bank account becomes an answer to “can I spend this”.

Before you begin

Steps

To assign money to an envelope, follow these steps:

  1. Open the Budget tab and move to the month you want to budget.

  2. Tap the envelope’s row.

  3. Tap Assign.

  4. Enter the amount this envelope should have for the month.

    Assign replaces the month’s amount rather than adding to it. Entering 200 in an envelope already holding 150 budgeted leaves it at 200, not 350.

  5. Tap Save.

To Budget falls by the difference, and the row’s Available rises by it.

Assign until To Budget reads zero

Zero is the target. It does not mean you have spent everything; it means every unit of money you hold is committed to something.

Work in the order that money actually leaves you:

  1. Bills you cannot avoid this month
  2. Things you spend on every month, such as groceries and fuel
  3. Money set aside for bills that are not monthly
  4. Whatever is left, into savings goals
Tip

Assign only what you have today. Money that arrives later in the month lands in To Budget when it arrives, and you assign it then. Budgeting money you expect but do not hold is the habit an envelope budget exists to break.

If it says Overbudgeted

You have assigned more than you hold. Take money back out of an envelope, either by assigning it a smaller amount or by moving money out of it, until the header reads zero or better.

Leaving it negative is not harmless: every envelope is now promising money that some other envelope is also promising.

Next steps