Getting started
This chapter takes you from signing up to recording your first Expense, in about 10 minutes. Once you've signed up and set up your income and Fixed Outgoings, the home screen tells you how much you can still spend today.
A few terms first
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Household | What a budget and its Expenses are shared within. If you use it alone, it's a Household with you as its only Member. |
| Budget Period | The unit a budget is planned and reviewed in: one calendar month. |
| Income Source | Regular income you expect to receive, such as wages. |
| Fixed Outgoings | Costs known at the start of the month and taken out of income first: Recurring Charges, Debt Obligations and Savings Allocations. |
| Living Allowance | What's left of your income after all Fixed Outgoings, for everyday spending. |
The Living Allowance is turned into daily and weekly guides. Every Expense you record updates what's left on the home screen.
1. Sign up
- Open the login page and press "Sign up".
- Enter your email and a password (at least 10 characters), type the password again, and press "Sign up". If you see "Sign up with Google", you can use that instead.
- If the screen says "Check your email", open the confirmation email and follow its link to finish signing up. If you're logged in straight away without an email, this deployment doesn't send email, which is fine.
If you forget your password, press "Forgot password" on the login page.
2. Create a Household
The first time you log in, you'll see "Create your first Household".
- Enter a name in the "Name" field, for example "Our home".
- Under "Currency", pick the currency this Household uses. The default is New Taiwan dollars (TWD).
- Press "Create".
You then land on the Household's home screen. The tabs at the bottom are Home, Settings, Expenses, Budget and Windfalls.
If you create the Household in the middle of a month, the first Budget Period only counts the days from creation to the end of the month, and the home screen tells you the Living Allowance actually available for that period.
Currency
Every amount in a Household is in the same currency. The supported currencies are New Taiwan dollars (TWD), US dollars (USD), Japanese yen (JPY), Chinese yuan (CNY), Hong Kong dollars (HKD), South Korean won (KRW), euros (EUR) and pounds sterling (GBP). New Taiwan dollar, yen and won amounts have no decimals, and an amount with decimals is rejected.
To change it later, open the "Members" page of the "Settings" tab at the bottom, pick a currency under "Currency" and press "Change currency". A change only switches the currency shown: every amount keeps its number, and nothing is converted at an exchange rate. It's for fixing a currency picked by mistake, not for converting your books into another currency.
3. Add income
Until there's income, the home screen says "There's no income yet, so the Living Allowance can't be calculated." with an "Add income" button. You can reach the same page from "Income" in the Settings tab.
- Press "Add Income Source".
- Fill in:
- Name: for example "Wages".
- Amount: how much arrives each time.
- Cadence: Monthly, Quarterly or Yearly.
- Pay day: the day of the month it arrives. In shorter months, the last day of the month is used.
- Press "Add".
Repeat for each Income Source you have.
4. Set up Fixed Outgoings
Open "Fixed Outgoings" in the Settings tab. The page has three sections:
- Recurring Charges: charges with no end date, such as streaming services, rent and utilities. Press "Add Recurring Charge" and fill in the name, amount, Cadence and charge day.
- Debt Obligations: repayments with a principal and an end date, such as loans or credit card payment plans. Press "Add Debt Obligation". Once paid off, a Debt Obligation no longer counts.
- Savings Allocations: an amount set aside first each Budget Period and kept out of day-to-day use, set as a share of the period's total income. Press "Add Savings Allocation".
"Fixed Outgoings total" at the bottom of the page shows your Fixed Outgoings per month and the Living Allowance left after them. If Fixed Outgoings exceed your income, the page warns you that the Living Allowance is negative and needs adjusting.
5. Record your first Expense
- Tap the "Expenses" tab at the bottom.
- In "Add Expense", fill in:
- Amount: how much you spent.
- Category: a new Household already has "Dining", "Transport", "Entertainment", "Home" and "Health". If you're not sure yet, choose "Uncategorized" and sort it out later, or create a new Category.
- Date: today by default. When catching up on an older Expense, change it to the day it actually happened.
- Note (optional): for example "Lunch".
- Press "Add Expense".
If this is an unexpected, large one-off Expense, tick "Special Expense (doesn't count toward today's or this week's allowance)" so it doesn't make the day or week look over budget.
6. Back to Home
Tap the "Home" tab. You'll see:
- Left to spend today (daily guide): what's left of today's Living Allowance. When you go over, it says "Over budget today!".
- Weekly guide: what's left for this week.
- Observations: things worth your attention, such as Expenses that are still Uncategorized.
Press "Breakdown" to see how your income, each part of your Fixed Outgoings and the Living Allowance add up.
Next steps
We strongly recommend recording each Expense as it happens, so the numbers reflect where you really are. If your income or Fixed Outgoings change, adjust them in Settings.
To switch the interface between English and Traditional Chinese, open the account menu at the top right, choose "Settings" and change "Display Language".