How your budget works
Separate money you have, money you expect, and money you have already given a job.
Ready to Assign
Ready to Assign reflects recorded income and opening cash, less assignments to expenses and savings. Categorize received income correctly; an uncategorized inflow is not automatically a paycheck.
Future assignments also reserve money. Expected income belongs in planning and does not become received income until recorded.
Targets and assignments
A target describes what you plan to cover. Assigning reserves money for that purpose. Spending reduces what is available in the category, while a categorized expense refund reduces net spending.
Assigning money does not move it between bank accounts. Record a transfer separately when you move money at the bank.
Windows belong to categories
A pay period helps you decide what to fund before the next paycheck. Each category still follows its own recurrence or spending window. A monthly spending envelope remains the same envelope across multiple paycheck views.
Savings keep a running balance. Credit-card payment reserves carry forward. Review the dates and category type before interpreting a remaining amount.
Debt and transfers
Credit cards and loans track what you owe. Payments are transfers from cash to the debt account, not new income. Categorized card purchases and refunds contribute to the appropriate spending calculations.
Your account balances, Ready to Assign, and category available amounts describe different parts of the same plan. Check missing or duplicate activity when they do not match what you expect.