Budget Progress Tracking

Tracking your progress throughout the month is crucial for staying on budget. Balance provides visual indicators and real-time updates to help you and your partner stay on track together.

Where to Track Progress

Budget Tab (Main View)

The Budget tab shows all your categories with progress indicators:

For each category, you’ll see:

• Category name and icon
• Budget amount
• Amount spent so far
• Progress bar (visual indicator)
• Remaining amount or overage

Category Detail Page

Step 1: Open category from Budget tab

From the Budget tab (shown above), tap any category to view its details.

Step 2: View category detail page

The category detail page shows comprehensive budget information (shown in screenshot above).

Details include:

• Budgeted amount (large at top)
• Amount spent this month
• Amount remaining (or over budget)
• Progress bar with color coding
• Carry over amounts (if applicable)
• List of transactions in this category

Understanding Progress Bars

Progress bars provide at-a-glance budget status.

Visual Representation

[Screenshot: Progress bars at different fill levels with colors]

Progress bar shows:

• Length: How much of budget is used
• Color: Budget status (green/blue/yellow/red)
• Percentage: Exact usage

Example Progress

Early Month:

Groceries: $600 budgeted
$150 spent
Progress: 25% (1/4 filled)
Color: Green/Blue (on track)

Mid-Month:

Groceries: $600 budgeted
$400 spent
Progress: 67% (2/3 filled)
Color: Yellow (approaching limit)

Over Budget:

Groceries: $600 budgeted
$650 spent
Progress: 108% (overfilled)
Color: Red (over budget)

Color Indicators

Balance uses color to show budget health:

Green/Blue (Good)

0-70% of budget used

Entertainment: $300 budgeted
$150 spent
50% used
Status: On track ✓

Meaning:

• Plenty of budget left
• No concern
• Continue as normal

Yellow (Caution)

70-90% of budget used

Dining Out: $200 budgeted
$170 spent
85% used
Status: Approaching limit ⚠️

Meaning:

• Getting close to limit
• Be mindful of spending
• May want to slow down
• Still have room

Orange (Warning)

90-100% of budget used

Gas: $200 budgeted
$190 spent
95% used
Status: Almost at limit ⚠️⚠️

Meaning:

• Very close to budget
• Careful with additional spending
• Consider if any additional spending is necessary
• Still technically within budget

Red (Over Budget)

100%+ of budget used

Groceries: $600 budgeted
$650 spent
108% used
Status: Over budget ❌

Meaning:

• Exceeded budget
• Need to course-correct
• Discuss with partner
• May need to reduce other categories

Budget Status Text

Each category shows status text:

“Left to Spend” (Under Budget)

$150 left to spend

Meaning:

• You have $150 remaining in this category
• Can spend up to $150 more this month
• On track or doing well

“Over Budget” (Exceeded)

$50 over budget

Meaning:

• You’ve spent $50 more than budgeted
• Need to discuss and adjust
• Consider reducing other categories
• Or accept overage and adjust next month

For Income Categories

“Still Expected” (Under Expected)

Salary: $4,500 budgeted
$4,500 received
Status: Expected amount received ✓

“Over Expected” (More Than Expected)

Freelance: $1,000 budgeted
$1,500 received
Status: $500 over expected ✓

Good problem! More income than planned.

Carry Over Display

If category has carry over enabled:

Positive Carry Over

Entertainment: $300 budgeted
+ $50 carried over from previous months
Total available: $350

$200 spent this month
$150 remaining

Text shows:

$50 carried over from previous months

Color: Green (positive)

Negative Carry Over

Car Maintenance: $100 budgeted
- $150 negative balance carried over
Total available: -$50

You're already $50 over before any spending!

Text shows:

$150 negative balance carried over from previous months

Color: Red (warning)

Meaning: Need to “pay back” the overage from previous month.

Daily/Weekly Monitoring

Daily Check-Ins (5 minutes)

Every day or two:

1. Open Balance
2. Tap Budget tab
3. Quick scan of progress bars
4. Look for red (over budget)
5. Note any yellows (approaching limit)

Questions to ask:

• Any surprises?
• Any categories approaching limit?
• Need to slow spending anywhere?

Weekly Review (15 minutes)

Once per week:

1. Go through each category
2. Check spent vs. budgeted
3. Calculate pace

Pace calculation:

Week 2 of 4-week month:

Groceries:
- Budgeted: $600
- Spent: $350
- 50% of month passed
- Used: 58% of budget
- Pace: Slightly high

On-track would be:
50% of month = 50% of budget
$600 × 0.50 = $300 expected
Actual: $350 (over pace by $50)

If over pace: Slow down spending in this category.

Couple Check-Ins

Weekly Budget Date (15 minutes):

Saturday morning with coffee:

1. Open Balance together
2. Go through each category
3. Discuss progress
4. Note any concerns
5. Plan spending for coming week

Questions:

• How are we doing overall?
• Any categories need attention?
• Any upcoming large expenses?
• What’s working well?
• What needs adjustment?

Mid-Month Adjustments

When to Adjust Mid-Month

Generally, avoid mid-month changes. Let the month play out.

Exceptions:

1. Major Life Change

• Lost job
• Emergency expense
• Income change

2. Discovered Budget Error

• Forgot a major expense
• Entered wrong amount
• Math error in allocation

3. One-Time Necessary Adjustment

• Car broke down (increase Car Maintenance)
• Medical emergency (increase Medical)
• Balance by reducing discretionary

How to Make Mid-Month Adjustment

Example: Car repair needed

Current budget:

Car Maintenance: $100 budgeted
$50 spent
Repair needed: $400

Adjustment:

Option 1: Increase Car Maintenance, reduce others

Car Maintenance: $100 → $500 (+$400)

Offset by reducing:
- Dining Out: $300 → $150 (-$150)
- Entertainment: $200 → $100 (-$100)
- Personal Spending: $400 → $250 (-$150)
Total: -$400

Option 2: Accept going over budget this month

Leave budget as-is
Accept $400 overage
Reduce expenses next month to recover

Communication:

• Discuss with partner before adjusting
• Agree on approach
• Both understand impact

Uncategorized Transactions Impact

Uncategorized transactions don’t affect budget progress!

Example

Budget tab shows:
Groceries: $450/$600 spent (75%)

But you have:
- 5 uncategorized transactions totaling $100
- 2 of them are probably groceries ($50)

Real grocery spending: $450 + $50 = $500
Real progress: $500/$600 (83%)

Why this matters:

• Progress bars only show categorized transactions
• Uncategorized creates false sense of budget health
• Must categorize all transactions for accurate tracking

Best practice: Categorize transactions daily so progress bars are accurate.

Using Progress Data to Improve

Identify Patterns

After 2-3 months, patterns emerge:

Consistently Over Budget:

Dining Out:
- Month 1: $300 budgeted, $380 spent (27% over)
- Month 2: $300 budgeted, $350 spent (17% over)
- Month 3: $300 budgeted, $370 spent (23% over)

Pattern: Consistently spend ~$350-380
Action: Increase budget to $375

Consistently Under Budget:

Entertainment:
- Month 1: $300 budgeted, $180 spent
- Month 2: $300 budgeted, $210 spent
- Month 3: $300 budgeted, $150 spent

Pattern: Consistently spend ~$150-210
Action: Reduce budget to $225, reallocate $75 elsewhere

Adjust Budgets Based on Data

Use your progress tracking as data for better budgets:

1. Track for 2-3 months
2. Calculate average actual spending per category
3. Adjust budget to match reality
4. Or adjust behavior to match budget

Example:

Groceries tracking:
- Month 1: $600 budget, $680 actual
- Month 2: $600 budget, $650 actual
- Month 3: $600 budget, $670 actual
- Average: $667

Options:
A) Increase budget to $700 (accept reality + buffer)
B) Keep $600, focus on reducing actual spend
C) Meet in middle: Budget $650, try to reduce

Choose based on priorities and capacity!

Budget vs. Actual Report

Month-End Review

Last day of month:

Create comparison:

Analysis:

• Over on: Groceries ($50), Entertainment ($60)
• Under on: Dining Out ($20), Gas ($20)
• Net: $70 over budget (1% over)

Actions for next month:

• Increase Entertainment to $300 (consistent pattern)
• Groceries: Try to reduce, or increase to $650
• Excellent on Dining Out and Gas!

Troubleshooting Progress Tracking

“Progress bars don’t match my bank account”

Balance shows budget progress, not bank balance:

Bank account: $2,500
Budget shows: $150 left in Groceries

These are different things!

Bank balance: Total money available
Budget progress: How much allocated budget remains in specific category

Both are true and important.

“Category shows over budget but I didn’t spend that much”

Check for:

1. Uncategorized transactions later categorized

   • You categorized old transactions to this category

2. Shared category confusion

   • Both partners categorizing to same category
   • Spending adds up faster than expected

3. Split transactions

   • Transaction split across categories
   • Partial amount still counts

4. Manual transactions

   • Added manual transaction in this category
   • Counts against budget

“Progress shows 0% but I’ve spent money”

Causes:

1. Transactions not categorized

   • Progress only counts categorized transactions
   • Categorize them!

2. Categorized to different category

   • Double-check transaction categories
   • May be miscategorized

3. Wrong month selected

   • Make sure viewing current month
   • Check month selector

4. Sync issue

   • Pull to refresh
   • Close and reopen app

Best Practices

1. Check Progress Daily

Just 2-3 minutes:

• Open Balance
• Scan progress bars
• Note any reds or yellows
• Proceed with day accordingly

Awareness prevents problems.

2. Weekly Couple Review

15 minutes together:

• Saturday morning
• Review all categories
• Discuss progress
• Plan week ahead

Keeps both partners aligned.

3. Categorize Immediately

When transactions appear:

• Categorize right away
• Don’t let them pile up
• Ensures accurate progress bars

Rule: Categorize within 24 hours.

4. Use Colors as Signals

Traffic light system:

• Green/Blue: Good, no action needed
• Yellow: Be aware, watching
• Red: Take action, discuss

Quick visual scanning.

5. Don’t Over-React to Single Days

Budget is monthly, not daily:

Day 5 of month:
- Spent $200 on groceries (big shop)
- Shows 33% of budget used
- 16% of month passed

Seems high, but might be normal
(big shop at month start, smaller trips later)

Watch weekly or bi-weekly pace, not daily.

Next Steps

Now that you’re a progress tracking pro:

1. Monthly Budget Reset - Understand monthly cycles
2. Managing Your Budget - Make adjustments
3. Categorizing Transactions - Keep progress accurate
4. Budget Progress Tracking - You’re here!

Need help? Contact our support team - we’re here to assist!