Budget for Next Month’s Buffer
Planned
Introduce a Planned Carry-Forward feature — a budget line item in the current month that:
- Allows the user to designate a specific dollar amount as "reserved for early next month" — call it “Next Month’s Buffer” (we call it (Rollover to Next”).
- Automatically populates that amount as a Buffer (not income) at the start of the following month's Paycheck Planning view
- Does not count as income in either month — it is treated as a cash flow bridge, not earned money
Why This Matters
This is standard cash flow modeling. It also mirrors the envelope concept most users already understand intuitively: setting aside a named envelope of cash today to cover known expenses before the first paycheck of next month arrives.
The current tools do not fully address the planning dimension of the carry-forward problem.
The Expected Outcome
- Monthly income figures reflect only earned income, not rolled-over cash
- Users can plan carry-forward amounts intentionally before the month ends
- The Buffer in Paycheck Planning becomes a planned figure, not just a discovered one
- No manual workaround line items needed (eliminates the hack we had to institute to overcome this deficiency)
This would bring EveryDollar's cash flow planning capability in line with how household cash flow actually works. In our budget, next month’s first paycheck can land anywhere from the 1st to the 14th; we cannot ignore that reality. We have to plan to fund those expenses in the current month.
-
Official comment
Hi Danny,
We have a new feature coming soon that sounds like what you are describing. It’s called Month Close and is currently in beta testing.
With Month Close, you can review your budget at the end of each month to see whether you’ve overspent or underspent. If you have funds remaining, you can choose to roll them over to the following month.
Please sign in to leave a comment.
Comments
1 comment