Safe to spend today
One number each morning, worked out from your income, your bills and the days until pay day.
What you can spend today, after bills and savings.
Cycles follow your salary, not the calendar month.
Spend less today and tomorrow's limit goes up.
How it's worked out
- Your monthly budget. Monthly income, less your fixed bills and your savings goal.
- What's left this cycle. That budget, less what you've already spent since pay day. Bills you've added under Fixed bills aren't counted twice.
- Your daily limit. What's left, divided by the days until your next pay day, today included.
- Safe to spend today. Your daily limit, less what you've spent today. That's the big number on Today.
Tap the number in the app and MoneyBook shows the same sum with your own figures, step by step. You can also try it in the browser with the daily budget calculator.
What happens when you go over
The number turns red and shows how far over you are. Nothing is blocked. The amount over is spread across the days left, so the next few days' limits are a little lower. Spend less than your limit and the opposite happens: tomorrow's number goes up.
Follow your account balances (optional)
If you enter what's in your accounts, MoneyBook makes sure the limit never goes above what that money can actually cover until pay day. It takes your everyday accounts, keeps back the bills still due before pay day, and spreads the rest over the days left. Savings, investments and loans aren't counted as money to spend. If the bills due need more than your accounts hold, Today says Short before pay day and tells you how much more you need. Switch it on or off in Settings, under Income & pay day.
Pay day on the 29th, 30th or 31st
The cycle resets on the last day of a shorter month. A pay day of the 31st resets on the 30th in April and on the 28th or 29th in February, so cycles never overlap or leave a gap.
A streak that rewards logging
The top of Today counts the days in a row you've logged at least one transaction yourself. It's a small nudge to keep the number honest.
Questions
What is a safe-to-spend amount?
It is what you can spend today without eating into money you need for bills, savings or the rest of the days until pay day. In MoneyBook it is your daily limit minus what you've spent today.
Why did my daily limit change from yesterday?
It is recalculated every day from what is left. Spend less than the limit and tomorrow's goes up; spend more and it goes down.
What does Left this cycle mean?
The money still available until your next pay day, after bills and savings. A cycle runs from one pay day to the next, not from the 1st of the month.
Track every expense in two taps.
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