Budgeting Basics
Alto follows envelope budgeting principles: you only budget money you actually have, you assign every dollar a job, and spending reduces the amount available in the category you spent from.
Ready to Assign
Ready to Assign is the money you have available to give jobs to right now. When you assign money to categories or savings goals, Ready to Assign goes down. When you receive income (like a paycheck), Ready to Assign goes up.
- If Ready to Assign is positive, you have money waiting for a job.
- If Ready to Assign is near 0, most of your money is already planned.
The budget balance equation
Alto maintains a fundamental equation that ensures your budget always reflects reality:
This equation means that every dollar in your cash accounts is accounted for somewhere in your budget:
- Ready to Assign: Money not yet given a job
- Category Available: Sum of all expense category available amounts (assigned minus spent)
- Savings Balance: Money set aside in savings goals
If this equation doesn't balance, something is wrong. Alto uses this equation internally to validate budget integrity. When you delete accounts, add transactions, or make assignments, Alto ensures this equation stays balanced.
Income categories
In Alto, income categories help you keep paychecks (and other income) organized. When you categorize an inflow as income, Alto treats it as money you can assign in the Budget page.
- Use income categories for paychecks, side income, reimbursements, and other inflows you want to plan with.
- If an inflow on a cash account is really a refund, categorize it to the original expense category instead (this reduces net spent).
- Transfers between accounts are not income.
- Credit card inflows are not income—they represent payments or refunds that reduce what you owe.
Assigned, Spent, Available
Every expense category shows three numbers that tell you what’s going on:
- Assigned: how much you planned to spend/save for that category in the current window.
- Spent: how much you actually spent (based on your categorized transactions).
- Available: what’s left to spend before you need to move money in from somewhere else.
Pay period vs month
Alto is designed around paycheck planning. In the pay period view, you’re answering: “What needs to be funded before my next paycheck?” You can also switch to a monthly view when you want a calendar-based overview.
- Use pay period view for day-to-day decisions and staying on track.
- Use monthly view for a broader look at the month’s obligations.
Due dates and “what shows up”
Due dates help Alto surface relevant expenses for the current window. Categories without due dates are still valid; they’re just more flexible and may be hidden if you filter to “Due only”.
- If you’re budgeting paycheck-to-paycheck, due dates make it easy to spot what needs to be funded before the next check.
Credit cards
Credit cards are debt accounts that track what you owe. When you add a credit card, Alto automatically creates a payment category for tracking payments to that card.
- Credit card outflows (spending) increase your balance—you owe more.
- Credit card inflows (payments, refunds) decrease your balance—you owe less. All inflows show as "paid" transactions.
- Payments are recorded as transfers from a cash account. The cash side is categorized to the card's auto-created payment category.
Credit cards appear in the right sidebar under Accounts. For each card, you'll see: Spent (how much you charged this period), Paid (payments this period), and Balance (total amount owed).
Refunds and reimbursements
How refunds work depends on the account type:
- Cash accounts: Categorize refunds to the original expense category. This reduces net spent and increases available in that category. If you don't need the extra money there, you can "collect" it back and assign it somewhere else.
- Credit cards: Refunds simply show as "paid" transactions that reduce your balance. No categorization needed since credit card transactions aren't categorized to expense categories.