Funds are designed to help you save money over time for expenses that don’t happen every month, like car maintenance, holiday gifts, or annual insurance payments. Funds give you a clear view of how much you’ve set aside, how much you’ve used, and how much is left.
Here’s how Funds interact with your Planned, Spent, and Remaining amounts in your budget with a helpful example throughout.
Planned
The Planned amount is how much you’ve chosen to set aside for that Fund item in your current month’s budget. When you add money to a Fund in your budget, that amount is immediately added to your Fund balance for the month.
Note: The total balance of the Fund includes both past savings and what you’re planning to add this month.
For example, you already have $200 saved in your Car Maintenance Fund, and set aside $50 of this month's income by entering $50 into the Planned column. Your Fund balance will immediately show a $250 balance, regardless of whether or not you have physically made any changes within your bank account.
Spent
The Spent amount reflects how much you’ve used from that Fund during the month.
When you track a transaction in that Fund item, the dollar amount of the transaction decreases the Fund’s balance. The Spent number for the month will increase.
So, if you pay $75 for an oil change from your “Car Maintenance” Fund. When you track the $75 transaction, your Spent amount becomes $75, and your Fund balance drops to $175.
Remaining
The Remaining amount is how much money is left in your Fund for future use.
This is the Fund balance after calculating what’s been spent. Any remaining balance amount automatically rolls over month to month, building up over time.
In this example, you had a $250 balance in your Fund and spent $75 this month. Your Remaining amount is $175. The $175 remaining balance will roll forward to next month’s budget.
To Recap
Planned: The amount from this month's income that you will contribute to the Fund this month.
Spent: The sum of your tracked transactions toward the Fund item.
Remaining: The Fund balance after calculating Planned minus Spent plus any money left from a previous balance.
Funds keep your money organized, flexible, and ready when those non-monthly expenses come up, so you’re always prepared, and your budget stays balanced.
Next Steps
Now that you've learned how Funds impact your budget, check out the Account Balancer tool which makes it easy to spot any discrepancies in your Fund balances.
Learn more here: Funds and the Account Balancer.