Money Dashboard doesn't just allow you to view where you're spending your money, it also enables you to see where your money is going in relation to where you think it should be going.
In other words, you can Set Budgets for different areas of your expenditure so you can see how your spending compares to those budgets in each area and over time. The process goes:
- Set budgets for ‘tags' in the Set Budgets Panel
- ‘Tag' your transactions in the Tag Transactions Panel
- Examine and compare your spending versus your budgets in the Track Spending Panel
The ‘Set Budgets' panel offers a simple interface allowing you to set and adjust budgets for different types of spending by setting budget values against the default tags or the tags that you create yourself.
Tags and Groups
The right-hand side of the panel consists of spending ‘Tags' arranged into broad ‘Groups.' There are preset tags for commonly used spending types (e.g. Groceries, Council Tax, Utilities etc. within the Household group) and you can create new tags by clicking on ‘add a new tag (+)' at the bottom of each group. You can also create new groups by clicking on ‘Click to add a new group' underneath the whole list. You can create, edit and delete new tags and groups at any time.
To edit the name of a tag or group, click on the nameTo edit the amount budgeted against that tag, click on the figure next to itTo remove a group click on the "-" sign to the right of the group value (all tags within the group must be removed first). To remove a tag, click on the minus sign "-" to the right of the figure.Please note that once you have deleted a pre-defined tag or group the only way of getting it back is by creating it again.
View your Budgets and Set your Income
The graph on the left of the panel represents the budgets set for the various tag groups. You will see it adjust as you alter the values on the right.
Below the graph, you can set a value for your monthly income. This will allow you to view at the top of the panel how your total budget compares to your monthly income.
Once you're happy with how your budgets are set, go to the ‘Tag Transactions' panel to categorise your transactions.
Then you're set to start comparing your spending with your budgets in the Track Spending panel!
Please note, you can adjust the budget throughout the calendar month but at the end of the month the budget is fixed. Historical budgets can be viewed in the Track Spending panel.
Please get in touch if you have any questions about using the features in the Set Budgets panel.
by John Davidson, Customer Support
