Cover overspending

Pull money into an envelope that has gone negative, from one with room to spare.

An envelope with a negative Available has been overspent. Covering it pulls the shortfall from an envelope that has money left, which settles the overspend inside this month instead of letting it reach next month’s To Budget.

This is available in envelope mode.

Before you begin

  • An envelope with a negative Available.
  • Another envelope with enough Available to give.

Steps

To cover overspending, follow these steps:

  1. Open the Budget tab and tap the row showing a negative amount.
  2. Tap Cover.
  3. Choose the envelope to take the money from.
  4. Tap Save.

The negative envelope returns to zero, and the one you took from falls by the same amount.

What happens if you leave it

Nothing at all, this month. The numbers you see stay exactly as they are.

Next month is where it lands. By default the overspent envelope resets to zero and the amount you went over is deducted from next month’s To Budget, so the whole budget absorbs it rather than that one category.

That is often the honest outcome, and leaving it alone is a legitimate choice. Cover it when you would rather the trade be explicit, and when you know which envelope should pay for it.

Note

A category set to Carries debt behaves differently: its negative balance stays on the envelope until you pay it back, and it never touches To Budget. Refer to Carry overspending in a category.

Next steps