Frequently Asked Questions A little help for a clearer picture.

Budget Sense is a personal budgeting app. Use it to plan income and expenses, record transactions, and compare your actual figures with your plan.

You can create your own groups and categories, monthly budgets, transaction templates, and scheduled transactions. The Dashboard provides a monthly overview, Analytics reveals spending patterns and changes, the Calendar organizes transactions by day, and Notes keeps additional information in one place.

Yes. Your account stores your categories, plans, transactions, templates, scheduled transactions, and notes. A new account starts empty, with no preset groups, categories, or financial data.

1. Create an account and verify your email to unlock all available features.
2. Open Income Builder or Expense Builder. Create a group, then add at least one category to it.
3. If you want to plan ahead, enter expected income and expense budgets in Income Planner and Expense Planner.
4. Record your first transactions and select the appropriate categories.
5. Check your results on the Dashboard. Once you have some history, use Analytics to explore comparisons and trends.

A group alone is not enough to record a transaction: you need a category. Setting a budget first is optional.

Verification unlocks Calendar, Analytics, Notes, Scheduled Transactions, Contact Support, Feedbak and Transaction Templates. You can still use the app and record transactions before verifying, but these sections remain locked.

After registering, follow the instructions in your verification email.

No. You enter your financial data manually; the app does not connect to your bank accounts or make payments. Scheduled transactions automatically create records in Budget Sense; they do not transfer money.

Yes. Budget Sense is a progressive web app (PWA) that you can install on your phone or computer directly through your browser. It does not yet have a separate app in Google Play or the App Store.

Open Budget Sense in your browser and follow the steps for your device:

• On Android: open Budget Sense in Chrome, tap the three-dot menu, and select “Install app” or “Add to home screen”. Follow the installation prompts.
• On iPhone: open Budget Sense in Safari, tap “Share”, select “Add to Home Screen”, and confirm.
• On a computer: open Budget Sense in Chrome, click the install icon on the right of the address bar if available, and confirm.

Once installed, you can open Budget Sense from its own icon. You use the same account and data as in the browser — there is no need to register again.

A group brings related categories together. A category identifies a specific kind of income or expense. For example, a Bills group might contain Electricity, Water, and Internet categories.

Create the group first, then add categories to it. When recording a transaction, select the category, such as Electricity. Income and expenses have separate groups and categories.

Use Income Builder and Expense Builder to create and edit groups and categories, arrange them, and archive categories you no longer need.

This structure is used when recording transactions, planning, and reviewing results. The Builders also show how many transactions are associated with each category.

Yes. You can choose a color for each group and each category to make them easier to recognize.

Yes. Use the move-up and move-down options to change the order of groups and categories.

You can also move a category to another group using the move option. The category moves together with everything associated with it, including its transactions. You do not need to recreate it.

When archiving a category, choose the current month or a future month. The category remains in the Builder and can be used for new transactions until the end of that month.

After that, it is no longer available when adding a transaction, even with an earlier date. Its data remains visible for past periods. Archived categories are marked with a warning triangle in the Planner.

Archiving cannot be undone. For example, choosing October allows you to use the category until the end of October.

Once archiving has taken effect, you can create a new category with the same name. This creates a new category; it does not undo the archiving of the original one.

You can delete a category only if it has no transactions. You can delete a group only if none of its categories has any transactions.

If a category has transaction history and you no longer need it, you can archive it.

Income Planner lets you set how much you expect to receive in each category and month. Expense Planner lets you set how much you plan to spend in each category for each month.

You can use different amounts throughout the year and compare your plan with actual approved transactions. Entering a planned amount does not create a transaction.

No. You only need an appropriate category. You can record income and expenses without entering planned amounts first.

Planning gives you something to compare against. For example, a €300 food budget lets you track how much of that budget you have used.

On desktop, the Planner is a table with categories in rows and months in columns. Planned and actual totals appear on the right and along the bottom.

On mobile, categories appear in a list. Tap a category to expand its months. Each month has an amount, an on/off switch, and a pencil icon for editing.

In both layouts, use the pencil to change the plan. Selecting the amount opens the related transactions for current and past months.

Select the year, category, and month, then use the pencil icon to edit the amount. Enter the amount and save.

On mobile, expand the category first. On desktop, use the pencil that appears beside the relevant amount. If you leave Repeat to Following Months unchecked, only the selected month changes.

Yes, for both income and expenses. For example, you can plan higher heating costs in winter or additional income only in December.

Edit each month separately, or repeat an amount to following months when it should stay the same.

It saves the amount for the selected month and applies it to every following month through the end of the same year. Existing planned amounts in those following months are overwritten.

For example, entering €100 for March with this option enabled sets March and April–December to €100. January and February stay unchanged.

Yes. Use the month's on/off switch in either Planner. An excluded category does not contribute to that month's planned total, but remains part of your structure.

You can still add a transaction to it. Doing so automatically activates the category for the transaction's month. Its previously entered planned amount is used; if there is none, the amount is 0.

It shows how completely the category's months have been planned. A month with an amount greater than 0 counts as planned. A month in which the category is switched off also counts as planned. An active month with an amount of 0 does not.

100% means all months have been planned. It does not mean you have spent the entire budget.

For expenses, green means spending is below budget and red means it is above budget. For income, green means you have received more than planned and red means less.

In both Planners, light gray means the actual amount exactly matches the plan, and dark gray means there are no transactions yet. These colors compare actual figures with the plan; they do not indicate transaction approval status.

The Planner shows planned and actual totals by category and by month. Actual amounts come from approved transactions. The chart above the plan helps you follow planned and actual figures throughout the year.

For details, select a category's amount for the current month or a past month to open the transactions behind it.

• This Month: from the first day of the month through today.
• Last Month: the entire previous calendar month.
• Last 3 Months: the previous two months plus the current month through today.
• Last 6 Months: the previous five months plus the current month through today.
• This Year: January 1 through today.
• Previous Year: the entire previous calendar year.

For example, on October 22, Last 3 Months covers August 1–October 22.

Open New Transaction. Enter the date and time, choose Income or Expense, select a category, and enter the amount. You can also use a template and add a comment.

A manually created transaction is saved as approved. If you want to exclude it from calculations, remove its approval after saving.

Approved transactions are included in financial calculations, including actual amounts in the Planners, Dashboard, and Analytics.

Unapproved transactions remain saved and visible in All Transactions, but are excluded from financial calculations until approved. For example, you can leave an automatically created bill expense unapproved until you check its amount.

Open All Transactions. Use search, the From–To date range, the Income or Expense filter, and the Approved or Unapproved filter. You can also sort by date.

Clear the filters to return to the full list.

Yes. Edit a transaction to correct its details, or delete it if it should not remain in your history.

If you want to keep the record but exclude it from calculations, remove its approval instead of deleting it.

A transaction is a record of income or an expense. It affects calculations when approved.

A template is a saved set of details you reuse to create a new transaction faster.

A scheduled transaction is a rule that creates transaction records automatically on a schedule. It does not make payments.

For example, a recorded electricity bill is a transaction; saved details for entering the next bill are a template; automatically creating a record each month is a scheduled transaction.

You can create a template in two ways:

• Directly using New Transaction Template: enter a name, type, category, and amount, add an optional comment, and select Create. You do not need an existing transaction.
• From an existing transaction: give the template a name and save its details, including type, category, amount, and comment.

When adding a new transaction, select the template, review the filled-in details, and save. The date and time are set to the moment you use the template. The template itself does not count as income or spending.

After the end of the month selected for archiving its category, the associated template remains visible. Attempting to run it displays an error and does not create a transaction. You can delete the template or change its category to an active one so you can use it again.

Yes. In Transaction Templates, you can edit a template's name and saved details. Use search, filter by Income or Expense, and sort by position, date, or amount to find the template you need.

Enter the details of an income or expense and set a schedule. Budget Sense creates the records automatically at the scheduled time, even when you are not signed in.

This is useful for salary, rent, or subscriptions. Creating the record does not mean money has actually been received or paid: the app does not make payments.

If the category is archived, its scheduled transactions remain visible but stop running after the end of the selected archive month. You can delete them or change their category to an active one so they can run on their schedule again.

Available schedules are:

• Once: on a specific date and time.
• Daily: every day.
• Weekly: on a selected day of the week.
• Monthly: on a selected day or at the end of the month.
• Yearly: in a selected month and on a selected day, or at the end of that month.

The fields change according to the frequency. For monthly schedules, if the selected day does not exist, the record is created on the month's last day. For example, a schedule set for the 31st runs on April 30.

Not Until sets a date before which the scheduled transaction must not run. It controls when execution can begin; it is not an end date.

Max Repeats limits the number of executions. You can also stop future executions manually by making the scheduled transaction inactive.

With Auto Approval enabled, records created by the schedule are approved and included in financial calculations.

With it disabled, records are still created, but remain unapproved and excluded from calculations. You can review and approve them manually.

Yes. You can edit its details and schedule, make it inactive to stop future executions, or delete it.

Editing or deleting the schedule only affects future executions. Transactions already created stay unchanged. To correct one of those, edit the transaction itself.

Stashes let you organize and track amounts separately for different purposes. You can use them for:

• Savings and emergency funds.
• Specific goals, such as a holiday, a car, home improvements, or education.
• Setting money aside for gifts, insurance, annual payments, and other future expenses.
• Tracking cash, money in bank accounts, or funds in digital wallets.
• Separate personal or family funds.
• Tracking loans, other debts, and repayments.

You can also link stashes to income and expenses and transfer amounts between them. A stash does not need to have a target or represent savings.

Stashes are virtual records. Budget Sense does not hold money or make actual payments or bank transfers.

Open your profile menu and select New Stash. When creating a stash, you can enter:

• Name: a required field that helps you identify the stash.
• Color: makes stashes easier to distinguish visually.
• Opening balance: an optional amount to start tracking with. A regular stash can start at zero.
• Target: an optional amount you want to reach.

For example, you could create a “Holiday” stash with an opening balance of €200 and a target of €1,000. You can also create multiple stashes with the same name.

To track a debt, enable Track a loan. Instead of an opening balance and target, you enter the amount left to repay. This amount is required.

You cannot change a stash’s type after creation from regular to loan or vice versa.

Yes. A target amount is optional. You can use a stash simply to track a balance and its movements.

For example, a “Cash” stash could represent the money in your wallet, while an “Annual payments” stash could track funds set aside for upcoming expenses.

You can also start at zero, without a target, and link expenses to the stash. In this case, the negative balance represents accumulated spending, such as purchases made with a particular bank card.

When a stash represents a bank account or digital wallet, its records are for your own tracking and do not move real money.

When you set a target amount, the stash shows the current balance, target, amount remaining to reach it, and percentage progress.

The balance can exceed the target. For example, with a €500 target and a €600 balance, progress is 120%, while the progress bar remains visually full.

In a regular stash, you can record money added or withdrawn. You can include an optional comment with a manual operation to explain what it relates to.

The balance is recalculated after each operation, and the movement is kept in the stash history. For example, if you start with €200, add €150, and withdraw €50, the new balance will be €300.

These standalone operations do not automatically create income or expenses in your main budget. If you want the amount to be included there too, record a standard transaction and link it to the stash.

Yes. When you withdraw money directly from a regular stash, you can record an amount greater than its available balance.

For example, if you have €100 and withdraw €150, the balance becomes −€50. This lets you track situations where the funds used exceed the amount available.

Transfers to another stash work differently: you can only transfer an amount available in the source stash.

When transferring between two regular stashes, the amount is subtracted from the source and added to the destination. Their combined balance stays the same.

For example, if you transfer €100 from “Emergency fund” to “Holiday”, the first stash decreases by €100 and the second increases by the same amount.

You cannot transfer more than the available balance in the source stash. This restriction applies even though a direct withdrawal could allow a negative balance.

A loan stash can receive repayments from another stash but cannot transfer money out. Such a repayment reduces the source stash’s balance and records the repaid amount in the loan stash.

A transfer between stashes does not create standalone income or an expense in your main budget and does not make an actual bank transfer.

When creating a stash, enable Track a loan and enter the amount left to repay. This mode tracks debt and repayments rather than savings growth.

Use Record repayment to record a repaid amount or Increase outstanding to add to the debt.

The stash shows:

• Outstanding: the remaining debt, displayed as the main figure.
• Repaid: the total amount repaid.
• Loan total: the total recorded loan amount.
• The repayment percentage and a progress bar.

For example, with a total recorded loan amount of €6,000 and repayments of €1,000, €5,000 remains outstanding and progress is 16.67%.

You can review the history and edit or delete individual operations. The figures are recalculated based on your records.

You can record a repayment that exceeds the outstanding debt. In this case, the stash shows Overpaid and the overpaid amount, with progress displayed as 100% repaid.

For example, with a total recorded loan amount of €6,200 and recorded repayments of €6,800, the overpayment is €600.

If you later edit or delete a repayment, the figures are recalculated. The stash may show an outstanding balance again.

When creating a standard transaction, you can select a stash in the optional Stash field.

In a regular stash, approved income increases the balance, while approved expenses reduce it. For example, if the stash holds €500 and an approved €100 expense is applied to it, the balance becomes €400.

Unapproved transactions remain visible but do not change the balance. They appear faded and crossed out, as they do in the transaction list, and affect the balance only after approval.

You can track linked movements in the stash history. Editing or deleting a linked transaction recalculates the balance.

The linked income or expense remains a standard transaction and is included in your main budget under the usual Budget Sense transaction rules. Recording an expense from a stash does not make an actual payment.

Yes. You can select a stash in a Scheduled Transaction. Transactions created by the schedule use that stash and affect it after approval.

For example, for regular loan repayments:

1. Create a stash with Track a loan enabled.
2. Create a Scheduled Transaction for the repayment.
3. Link it to the loan stash.

If Auto-approve is enabled, the resulting transaction is approved automatically and the repayment is reflected in the loan. Otherwise, the transaction remains unapproved and does not change the debt until you approve it.

You do not need to record the same repayment separately in the stash.

The Scheduled Transaction records an operation in Budget Sense; it does not make an actual payment to the lender.

Standalone stash operations do not directly affect the Dashboard or your main budget. Adding money to a stash is not automatically income, and withdrawing money is not automatically an expense.

• An operation directly in a stash: changes the tracked balance or debt.
• A transfer between stashes: moves funds between them without creating standalone income or an expense.
• A standard transaction linked to a stash: is included in your main budget under the usual transaction rules.

For example, moving €200 from “Cash” to “Holiday” does not mean you have spent €200. If you later pay for a hotel and record an expense linked to “Holiday”, it is counted as a standard expense.

Yes. You can edit your stashes and review their movement history. More entries load as you scroll, allowing you to browse older operations.

You can edit or delete individual manual operations. Editing or deleting a linked standard transaction is also reflected in the stash.

After a change, the balance is recalculated. For a loan stash, the outstanding debt, repaid amount, and repayment percentage are updated too.

The stash’s type — regular or loan — cannot be changed after creation.

Yes. Create a regular stash with a zero opening balance and no target, then link the expenses you want to track separately.

For example, you can name a stash after a bank card and select it when recording purchases made with that card. If the linked approved expenses total €150, the balance will be −€150.

In this case, the negative balance represents accumulated spending, rather than the card’s available balance or necessarily a debt.

If you add money or link income to the same stash, those amounts will increase its balance, so it will no longer represent only the total expenses.

Yes. You can select a stash in a transaction template. When you use the template, the resulting transaction uses the selected stash.

This is useful for frequent purchases or income that you want to link to the same place for tracking funds.

The template itself does not change the balance. The change comes from the transaction created using it and follows the transaction approval rules.

Yes. The Calendar shows the names of stashes linked to transactions. This also includes upcoming Scheduled Transactions with a selected stash.

You can use Calendar search to find entries by the linked stash’s name.

For example, search for “Car loan” to find linked entries, including upcoming scheduled repayments.

The Dashboard summarizes the selected month's finances: income, budget, spending, Budget Usage, Unused Budget, Remaining, Savings, and overspending. For the current month, it can also show an overspending forecast.

Below the overview is a breakdown by group and category, with a switch between expenses and income. Change the selected month to review another period.

It shows the percentage of your planned expense budget that you have spent: spending ÷ budget × 100. For example, spending €600 from a €1,000 budget means 60% has been used.

Up to and including 90% is OK. Above 90% through 100% is Caution. Above 100% is Over.

Net Overspent is the amount by which total spending exceeds the total budget. If the total budget has not been exceeded, it is 0.

Category Excess adds up the overspending in categories that have exceeded their own limits. Unused amounts in other categories do not reduce it.

For example, suppose two categories each have a €100 budget, with spending of €130 and €50. Category Excess is €30, but Net Overspent is 0: total spending is €180 against a €200 budget.

It is the sum of the amounts still unused in categories that have not exhausted their budgets. Overspending in other categories is not deducted.

For example, if one category has €100 left and another is €30 over budget, Unused Budget is €100. Remaining in this example is €70. These figures overlap and should not be added together.

It shows the total budget minus all spending for the month, with a minimum of 0. Overspending in one category reduces what is left of the overall budget.

For example, a €1,000 budget with €800 spent leaves €200. If spending reaches €1,100, Remaining is 0 and Net Overspent is €100.

This is the amount left in your expense plan, not your actual bank balance.

Savings is income minus the planned expense budget and any Net Overspent amount. The value cannot be negative.

For example, with €2,000 income and a €1,500 budget, Savings is €500 as long as total spending stays within budget. If spending reaches €1,600, Savings falls to €400.

Unused budget remains allocated to planned expenses and is not added to Savings. This figure does not mean money has actually been transferred to a savings account.

This estimates how much total spending could exceed the budget by the end of the current month if you continue spending at the same daily average.

For example, a €1,500 budget and projected spending of €1,800 give a projected overspend of €300.

The forecast is calculated only for the current month, after at least four days have elapsed and spending has been recorded on at least four different days. It is not an overspend that has already occurred, and it can change as you record further expenses.

The breakdown lets you compare each category's budget with its actual amount. It shows the difference, transaction count, largest transaction, and, for expenses, percentages of budget and income.

This helps you identify categories that are over plan and those contributing most to total spending. Switch between expenses and income to view the relevant breakdown.

Analytics shows how you spend over a selected period: how much of your budget and income you have used, where spending is concentrated, how it is split between weekdays and weekends, and how it compares with an earlier period.

It includes Daily Burn Rate, Breached Caps, Zero-Spend Days, Top Category Spend, transaction counts, rankings, and charts. Results are recalculated when you change the period.

For an unfinished period, spending is compared with corresponding dates in the preceding period. For example, October 1–22 is compared with September 1–22, while August 1–October 22 is compared with May 1–July 22.

For Last 6 Months, the comparison dates are shifted six months back. This Year is compared with the corresponding dates in the previous year. A completed Last Month is compared with the entire month before it, and Previous Year with the entire year before that.

Trend shows the percentage increase or decrease in spending compared with the comparison period.

It shows the percentage of income spent during the selected period: spending ÷ income × 100.

For example, €600 spending and €1,000 income give 60%. A value above 100% means spending exceeds income for the period. Income Consumption compares spending with income, while Budget Usage compares spending with the planned budget.

It shows the combined amount and share of the five highest-spending categories. Spending in all remaining categories is shown as Other.

For example, 70% in the Top 5 means those five categories account for 70% of all spending in the period. This helps you see where most of your spending is concentrated.

It shows how much was spent on weekdays and on weekends, along with the weekend share of total spending for the period. This helps you compare when your spending occurs.

Daily Burn Rate is average spending per day over the period being reviewed. For a current period, it uses elapsed days, including days with no spending. For example, €600 over 20 days is an average of €30 per day.

The spending ceiling is the daily budget guide shown alongside the rate. For the current month, it divides the remaining budget by the remaining days, including today. For example, €300 remaining over 10 days gives a ceiling of €30 per day.

Comparing the two shows whether your current spending pace is above or below the displayed daily guide.

It shows how many applicable monthly category budgets have been exceeded, relative to the total number of applicable budgets.

For a period covering several months, each monthly budget is counted separately. If one category is over budget in three months, that counts as three breached caps, not one. This measures the number of overruns, not their combined monetary amount.

These are days in the period being reviewed with no recorded spending. Analytics shows their count and percentage of the period.

For example, 2 zero-spend days out of 20 days are 10%. The figure reflects your records: the app cannot account for an expense you have not entered.

It shows the category with the highest total spending in the selected period, its amount, and its share of all spending.

For example, Food — €500 (25%) means Food is the largest spending category and accounts for a quarter of spending in the period.

Analytics includes:

• Top Spending Categories: categories with the highest total spending.
• Top Repeat Breachers: categories that repeatedly exceed their budgets.
• Fastest Growing Categories and Biggest Spending Decreases: where spending changes compared with the comparison period.
• Largest Transactions: the biggest individual amounts.
• Top Budget Shifts: changes in planned amounts.
• Most Frequent Categories: categories with the most transactions.
• Highest Spend Days: days with the highest total spending.
• Yearly Spending Trend: how spending changes throughout the year.

The budget and spending over time chart compares cumulative spending with the previous period and the budget pace. Insights depend on the selected period and available data.

You can change your display name, timezone, start day of the week, and currency symbol.

No. Only the displayed symbol changes. The values stay the same and no exchange rate is applied.

For example, changing € to $ changes the display from €100 to $100 without converting the amount.

It summarizes your account and activity: total income and expenses, transaction and category counts, display name, email, currency symbol, timezone, latest change, and account creation date.

Open Security & Privacy. Enter your current password, your new password, and confirmation of the new password, then select Change Password.

Open the Danger Zone in Security & Privacy to request account deletion. Deletion is not immediate: you have 48 hours to cancel the request using the option to keep your account in Security & Privacy.

If you do not cancel, your account, personal data, settings, and history are permanently deleted after the grace period, in accordance with the Privacy Policy. Permanent deletion cannot be undone.

Privacy Mode blurs all monetary amounts throughout the app. It is useful when using Budget Sense around other people or sharing your screen.

Open your profile menu and enable Privacy Mode. The setting is in the same menu on desktop and mobile. Switch it off to see the amounts again.

The mode hides amounts visually; it does not change your data or calculations. Category names, percentages, and transaction counts can remain visible.

Open Feedback. The form includes your display name, email, and a field for your message.

For a problem, describe where it happens, the steps you took, what you expected, and what actually happened. Mention whether you are using a phone or computer. For a suggestion, explain what you would like to do and why it would help.

If you have a question or need help, open Contact Support from the menu.

1. Select the topic of your request.
2. Choose where you use Budget Sense, such as a desktop or mobile browser.
3. Enter a brief subject and a detailed description, then submit your request.

If you are reporting a problem, explain what you did, what you expected, and what actually happened. Include your device and browser details if relevant.

The Calendar organizes transactions by day and shows upcoming scheduled transactions. Use search and the Income, Expense, and Scheduled filters to find what you need.

Each day has separate income and expense totals. These include only approved transactions that have already occurred. Unapproved transactions and upcoming scheduled transactions are excluded from the daily totals.

Use the previous and next arrows, or select the month at the top of the Calendar to jump directly to another month.

Notes keeps information that does not need to be attached to a specific transaction. Each note has a title and content.

For example, you can save a reminder about a future expense, a calculation, or a question to check when planning.