Often we are asked the question how can I still have remaining budget and overspend at the same time? The following will hopefully explain how both these values can sometimes appear at the same time.
To get the most out of Money Dashboard you need to set a budget for each of your Tags and Tag each of your transactions. In the Set Budgets panel, budgets are set for each Tag (eg Groceries, Utilities, Mobile). The Group Budget is the sum of the budgets for each Tag and the Total Budget is the sum of budgets for each Group, sums for Group Budget and Total Budget are automatically calculated.
Tagging your transactions is done in the Tag Transactions panel, most transactions should be automatically calculated for you but you may want to set some yourself.
Once budgets are set and transactions are tagged you can compare your budget against your spend in the Track Spending panel. If Spend for a Tag is less than the Budget then you will have Remaining Budget. If Spend for a Tag exceeds the Budget then you will have Spend over Budget or Overspend. When looking at your spending at the most detailed level, the Tag level, a Tag can have Remaining Budget or Overspend, it can not have both.
However, when you start to look at your spending at the higher levels, Group and Total, then you could see Overspend and Remaining budget at the same time. The reason for this is because you have Overspend for one Tag but Remaining Budget for another Tag.
Example
Looking at the table below, a budget has been set for each of the Tags in the Household Group: Groceries, Mobile, Utilities and Council Tax. The Group Budget for Household is £425, Group Spend for Household is £437. Despite the fact that the Group Budget has exceeded Group Spend (£12), there is still a Remaining Budget of £53, that is because there is an Overspend of £65 on Groceries but Utilities has a Remaining Budget of £53 (£65 - £53 = £12). Now you have remaining Budget and Overspend at the same time.
by John Davidson, Customer Support
