The short version
- Ready to Budget is money available to allocate. It is not your total bank balance or permission to spend it all.
- Starting balances supply the initial money. Assigning it gives it jobs without moving it between bank accounts.
- A new month does not free up money that already has a job. New income and earlier unassigned money can give you more to allocate.
- Future-month assignments reserve money. A scheduled paycheck is not money you have received.
When you first add your accounts
ReadyCents starts with cash in your eligible on-budget checking, savings, money-market, and cash accounts. Credit limits and money you owe are not cash you can assign. Accounts kept outside the budget do not supply spending money simply because they appear in your account list.
In a fresh budget with no existing assignments, spending, or payment reserves, that starting cash is waiting to be allocated. It may already have real-world purposes, such as rent, savings, upcoming bills, or paying a card. Your next step is to give it those jobs in ReadyCents.
Example: starting with $30,000
This simplified example uses fictional amounts and assumes no debt, transactions, adjustments, or future commitments.
Start with the accounts you already have
Watch three fictional accounts become a plan. Nothing here is saved to your real budget.
| Envelope | Assigned | Activity | Available |
|---|---|---|---|
| Envelope 1 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Envelope 2 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Envelope 3 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Envelope 4 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
Simplified product illustration. Fictional USD amounts, no changes to your accounts.
Read the example without animation
- You add on-budget cash accounts totaling $30,000. Ready to Budget starts at $30,000.
- You assign $20,000 to savings envelopes and $10,000 to bills and everyday expenses.
- Ready to Budget is now $0. Your accounts still total $30,000, but all of it has a job.
| After this step | Cash in accounts | Ready to Budget |
|---|---|---|
| Add starting balances | $30,000 | $30,000 |
| Assign $20,000 to savings | $30,000 | $10,000 |
| Assign $10,000 to bills and spending | $30,000 | $0 |
The illustration adds $5,000 in checking, $25,000 in savings, and a $12,000 retirement tracking account kept outside this budget. Only checking and savings supply the $30,000 to allocate. It assigns $20,000 to emergencies, $2,500 to rent and bills, $1,500 to everyday spending, and $6,000 to future expenses. Ready to Budget reaches zero without changing any account balance.
To decide whether you can buy something, check the relevant envelope's Available amount. Do not treat the full bank balance as spare spending money.
What changes when a new month begins
ReadyCents does not give you the same starting balance to assign again. Positive money already held in envelopes carries forward in Available, even when the new month's Assigned column starts at zero.
If all earlier money already has jobs and nothing else changes, Ready to Budget starts the next month at zero. When a $3,000 paycheck is recorded as income to Ready to Budget, you have $3,000 of new money to allocate. Assigning it all brings Ready to Budget back to zero.
The selected month matters: a paycheck dated in October does not become September income. If you use a custom budget-cycle start day, transaction dates follow that cycle.
Unassigned money is not lost at month-end
If you assign only $28,000 of the original $30,000, the remaining $2,000 still needs jobs. With no other changes, it carries into the next month as unassigned money.
This is why Ready to Budget is not always equal to this month's income. It can also contain money that you had not assigned earlier.
Assigning money to a future month
You can give money you already have a job in a later month. Here is an example with no other income, spending, or budget changes:
- In January, you have $2,000 unassigned in Ready to Budget.
- Switch to February and assign $1,000 to your rent envelope for February's rent.
- Switch back to January. Ready to Budget now shows $1,000, because the other $1,000 already has a job in February.
You can allocate that remaining $1,000 in January, in February, or split it between them. It is the same $1,000, not an extra $1,000 for each month. Assigning money ahead is a commitment, not new income.
The calculation accounts for later assignments and recorded later income, so money is not reserved twice. A future month that is overassigned needs attention in that month. Check both months when moving assignments forward or backward.
Scheduled or projected paychecks do not count as received cash. Record actual income accurately; do not mark an expected paycheck as received merely to make a plan balance.
Why the amount can change beyond income and assignments
- Spending: covered spending reduces cash and the envelope together. Missing transactions or uncovered spending can make the picture unreliable.
- Income destination: an inflow sent directly to an envelope is not also new Ready to Budget money. Transfers between your own on-budget cash accounts do not create income.
- Card payments: money reserved to pay a card already has a job. It is not spare cash to allocate again.
- Corrections and rules: balance corrections, overspending behavior, and automatic funding settings can affect the breakdown.
A zero total does not, by itself, prove every account is correct or every shortage is covered.
Check the numbers in your own budget
- Open Budget and choose the month you want to understand.
- Select Ready to Budget. Its Breakdown tab opens first.
- Compare Cash in budget accounts with money already in envelopes, card-payment reserves, and any future assignments or shortages shown.
- If a balance looks wrong, check the account transactions and reconcile against your bank before changing assignments just to make the total look right.
Quick Fill and Manual are separate tabs for assigning money. Reading the Breakdown does not change your budget.
