Budget

TL;DR

The Envelopes tab is where you plan the month. It shows one month at a time: pick the month with the bar at the top, swipe the envelope allocation card to see where allocated money went, then fill income under "Fundings" and assign money to expense envelopes under "Budget Envelopes". Every change you make here is for that one month. Switch months and you see a different snapshot, with leftovers carried forward automatically.

The back half of this page covers managing budgets themselves: creating them, switching between them, renaming, resetting, and deleting.

The month bar

At the top of the Envelopes tab is the month bar, a full-width row. On the far left is "Previous month" and on the far right is "Next month". In between, the bar names the month you are planning, like "Oct 2026", with the name of the Active budget beside it.

• Tap "Previous month" or "Next month" to step one month at a time.
• Tap the middle of the bar to open the month picker. There you can jump by year and pick any month directly.
• In the picker, use "Previous year" and "Next year" to jump a full year at a time.

When you are not looking at the current month, the right side of the bar shows a caption like "1 month ahead" or "2 months behind" and the bar tints slightly, so you know you are viewing the past or the future. On narrow screens, the budget name folds away when an off-month caption is showing so the month and caption stay easy to read. The tint is just a visual cue. It does not change what you can do. Your month choice is remembered, so switching months feels instant.

The Home tab is separate: it always shows the current month, whatever month you pick here.

The envelope allocation card

Title: "Envelope allocation". A breakdown of where your allocated money went, by envelope. Use the three-dot button on the card to switch between "By envelope", "By item", "By group", and "By target type", to limit the chart to the top ten items ("Others" groups the rest), to include or exclude carryover, and to read "Card info", which explains what the numbers mean.

Tap an envelope in the legend to open its details page. Each slice shows its share, with amounts under one percent labelled as "<1%".

Where to find it: Envelopes tab, top of the screen

Fundings: where money comes from

Right under the card is the "Fundings" section. The header shows "Fundings" with a small total on the right. That total is the sum of funding you assigned to your income envelopes this month.

Inside are your income groups, for example "Paychecks" or "Freelance". Each group header displays its collapsible group name on the left and AVAILABLE / ALLOCATED column headers on the right. Every income envelope row splits horizontally into the envelope name on the left and a three-column progress bridge on the right:

• Left amount (Available): the income you received in this envelope this month (highlighted in green when above zero, or red if over-allocated).
• Middle progress bar: fills from left to right as you allocate that income to your budget.
• Right amount (Allocated): the funding you assigned from this income source this month (highlighted in red if you funded more than you received).

Income rows show an "Underfunded" target indicator under the name on the left only when a target still needs funding.

Tap an income envelope and CentBase opens "Add funds" with that envelope already selected. The sheet asks for "AMOUNT", "TO ENVELOPE", and an optional "Description" (for example "Paycheck deposit"), and shows "Available to fund", "Last month's funding", and "Avg 3-month funding" as hints.

Where to find it: Envelopes tab, Fundings section (income groups)

Budget Envelopes: where money goes

The next section is "Budget Envelopes". This is every expense group that is not income, like "Groceries", "Rent", or "Transport", including system envelopes such as a credit card envelope.

Each group header shows its collapsible group name on the left and SPENT / BUDGET column headers on the right. Every envelope and subenvelope row splits horizontally into the icon and name on the left half and a three-column progress bridge (Spent ── [Bar] ── Budget) on the right half, where every progress bar across parent and subenvelope rows shares the exact same width and horizontal alignment:

• Left amount (Spent): what you spent in this envelope this month. It turns red when spending exceeds your allocation or when an unbudgeted envelope has spending.
• Middle progress bar: fills from left (0%) to right (100%) as you spend toward your allocation, changing color as spending approaches or passes 100% (with an overflow notch past 100%).
• Right amount (Budget): the total amount allocated to this envelope (carried over + assigned), turning red when you spend in an unbudgeted envelope. Leftover from last month is included in the budget number, so you see the full amount you have to work with.
• Carry badge: a compact carry badge appears beside the budget amount when carryover is not zero (green for a positive carry, red for a negative one).

The headline amount is live. Change a past month and future months update the next time you look. There is no frozen copy. Months with no activity simply contribute nothing.

Badges you might see

Healthy envelopes stay clean so only exceptions and special settings stand out on the left half of the row:

• "Underfunded" (or a target progress pill) when this envelope still needs money to meet its targets and any scheduled bills for this month.
• "Excluded" when this envelope is marked "Exclude from budget" in its settings. Excluded rows hide the progress bar, and their amounts do not count toward any total.
• "Archived" for envelopes hidden from the Envelopes tab by default. You see them only when you turn on "Show archived" in the corner overflow menu (see "Show archived" below).

Excluded items still accept transactions; they are left out of totals and the summary cards.

Collapse, expand, and swipe

• If an envelope has subenvelopes, a small chevron appears right after the envelope name. Tap it to collapse or expand the tree. Collapsed envelopes show a row of colored dots under the bar, one per subenvelope, with a "+N" badge when there are more than five. The tooltip reads "Collapse subenvelopes" or "Expand subenvelopes".
• When expanded, the parent row shows its own direct total and each subenvelope appears on a connected tree rail underneath. When collapsed, the parent row rolls up to the combined total for the envelope and all its subenvelopes. The number and bar animate between the two.
• Swipe an envelope or subenvelope from left to right to open its details page for that month. If details are not available, the same swipe opens the edit screen instead.

Where to find it: Envelopes tab, Budget Envelopes section

What you can do on any envelope row

Long press an envelope or subenvelope, or tap its header depending on the card, to open the quick actions sheet. From there:

• "Fill Envelope" or "Fill Envelope with {amount}" to set the budgeted amount for this month. The sheet shows "BUDGETED", "Assigned", "Spent", spend for this month, spend last month, average spend over three months, last month allocation, and average allocation over three months. The +Last, +Avg, and +Spent chips add that figure to the amount you are assigning instead of replacing it. When what is left to assign falls under a fifth of this month's income, the same row offers it, so you can place the remainder in one tap. For an income envelope the same tap opens "Add funds" instead, with the envelope already selected.
• "Add Transaction" to open the add transaction form already filled with that envelope.
• "Edit Envelope" or "Edit Subenvelope" to open envelope settings for that item and month. There you change name, icon and color, add targets, and flip "Carry over balance" and "Exclude from budget" under "Budget behavior".
• "Delete Envelope" or "Delete Subenvelope" which asks you to confirm first with "Delete envelope?". Deletion is blocked if the envelope is used by transactions or has subenvelopes.
• "View {count} Subenvelopes" when the envelope has children.
• "Analyze" to open the allocation analysis for that envelope.
• "Transfer Allocation" to move assigned money between envelopes. The sheet shows "From" and "To" pickers, each with "Assigned {amount}". You get "Available to transfer: {amount}" and "Allocation left after transfer: {amount}" as you type, a "Swap from and to" button to flip direction, and a "Clear destination" control to unset the target. If you enter more than the source has assigned, the hint reads "That is more than this envelope has assigned, its allocation will go negative." The app lets you do it, assignment can go negative, but it warns you first.

A few limits worth knowing: "Auto assign" currently just shows "Auto assign is coming soon!". Giving money to an envelope that is "Excluded" still works, but it does not change any total. Archived envelopes do not appear unless you turn on "Show archived" in the corner overflow menu; then they show with the "Archived" badge.

Where to find it: Envelopes tab, long press any envelope or subenvelope row

Past months, future months, and why carryover matters

Every month is independent, but carryover ties them together. Two settings on each envelope control it, "Carry over balance" (on by default) and "Exclude from budget" (off by default). They live on the envelope itself, so they apply to every month.

Think of it simply. For an expense envelope, whatever you did not spend rolls forward. If you assigned 120 and spent 90, the 30 that is left shows up next month. Income is the exception: what you do not allocate is still available to assign this month, but it does not roll into the next one. If "Carry over balance" is off, nothing rolls forward for that envelope.

Because this is live, not frozen, you can view any past or future month and the numbers stay correct. Skip a month and it just contributes nothing. Edit a transaction in March and April and every month after will reflect it the next time it loads. If the current month was reset from "Preferences → Reset budgets this month", a banner appears on Home explaining the balancing allocation and why some totals look larger.

If this is your first time planning, start with just a few envelopes and one funding. Assign what you have, watch "Allocation Usage" move, and let carryover do the quiet work next month. Learn more about how envelopes behave in Envelopes and how to tune each one in Account & envelope settings.

Adding and organizing envelopes

Everything structural lives on the Envelopes tab itself. No separate screen to visit.

Adding an envelope, subenvelope, or group

Tap the + button in the bottom-right corner and pick what you want:

• Add Envelope for a new top-level envelope.
• Add Subenvelope to nest a new envelope inside an existing one.
• Add Envelope Group to create a group that holds envelopes. Give it a name and pick a type, income or expense, then save.

The new item joins the tree right away and counts for every month. A group you just created appears once it holds its first envelope.

Editing a group

Long press a group's label ("Bills", "Paychecks", and so on) to open the group editor. You can rename it, change its icon and color, and add a note. Delete group is offered only while the group is empty, so you cannot lose envelopes by accident.

Reordering

Open the overflow menu then Reorder. First pick what you want to move: groups, envelopes, or subenvelopes. Then drag the rows into the order you prefer and save. The new order shows up right away, on the Envelopes tab and in your envelope pickers.

Show archived

Open the overflow menu then Show archived. Envelopes and subenvelopes you have archived appear with their "Archived" badge. Turn it off to hide them again. Nothing is deleted either way; archived items keep their history.

Getting around the Envelopes tab

• Tap the + button in the bottom-right corner to add an envelope, a subenvelope, or a group.
• Tap the overflow menu (the three dots beside the +). You get "Search", "Reorder", "Show archived", "Allocation history", and "Help". "Search" opens a list of every envelope with a search field and filter chips, so you can find one fast. "Help" opens this page.
• Long press a group label to edit that group.
• Each section header, "Fundings" and "Budget Envelopes", can be collapsed to get it out of the way. Collapse state is local to the screen.
• Each envelope group label collapses its own group too.
• Tapping the Envelopes tab again scrolls you back to the top.

Managing your budgets

A budget is a self contained plan. It holds its own envelopes, months, accounts, transactions, scheduled transactions, and templates. You can keep one budget or several, for example a personal budget and a shared household budget. One budget is always the Active one.

What a budget holds

Think of a budget as a separate folder for your money plan. Each budget has:

• Its own envelope tree with groups, envelopes, and subenvelopes. An envelope you create in one budget does not appear in another.
• Its own calendar months. Two budgets can both have a March 2026 and they never overlap.
• Its own accounts and account groups.
• Its own transactions, scheduled transactions, templates, and tags.
• Its own carryover. Money left over in one budget stays in that budget and never leaks into another.

Where to find it: the gear in the top bar, then Budgets

The Active budget

One budget is always Active. The Envelopes tab's month bar shows the Active budget's name right beside the month.

When you switch budgets, you stay on the same month you were viewing. You are not sent back to the current month. All of your envelope lists and month data follow the switch automatically.

Opening the Budgets screen

Go to More then Budgets. The screen shows a large title, Budgets, and a floating button with + for New Budget.

Each row shows the budget name on top and its currency underneath, for example $ · USD or € · EUR. The Active budget shows a checkmark. Tap any row to make that budget Active. You will see a short confirmation like Switched to My Budget.

If you have no budgets yet, the screen shows No budgets yet and invites you to create your first one.

Switching budgets

Tap any budget row to make it Active. The choice is saved right away and every part of the app follows, including Home and your envelope pickers. There is nothing else to reload.

Creating a new budget

Tap the + button then New Budget.

Where to find it: Budgets then + button then New Budget

The dialog asks for three things:

• Budget name with a hint like e.g. My Budget 2. Names cannot be blank, and extra spaces are trimmed.
• Currency. This uses the same currency picker you saw during onboarding. It shows a flag, the currency code and name like USD - United States dollar, and a dropdown arrow. Tap it to open the picker and choose a different currency. If you do not choose, the new budget starts with the currency of your current Active budget, or USD if none is set.
• Starting point with two options:
  • Reset to default template which rebuilds the standard starter envelopes.
  • Reset from scratch which starts empty with no envelopes.

Where to find it: New Budget then Currency row then picker

Tap Create to finish. The app builds the envelope setup you chose, creates the current calendar month, and switches you to the new budget. You will see Budget created. From this point on, all amounts in that budget use the currency you picked.

Renaming a budget

Open the menu on a budget row then choose Rename. A dialog appears with the current name already filled in. Edit the name and tap Save. If you clear the name or leave it unchanged, nothing happens. When it succeeds you will see Budget renamed, and if you renamed the Active budget the name shown on the Envelopes tab's month bar updates right away.

The row menu

Each budget row has a menu with four actions:

• Import
• Rename
• Reset
• Delete, which is hidden when you only have one budget left

A divider appears above Delete when it is shown.

Where to find it: Budgets then row menu

Import into this budget

Choose Import on a row to open the import wizard with that budget already selected. This is useful when you want to import a file into a budget that is not currently Active, so you do not have to switch first. For the full import flow see Import and Export.

The import wizard also has a Start budgeting this month option on its review step. When turned on, your history is kept but last month gets a balancing entry so this month starts at zero. It gives you a clean planning start without losing past data.

Reset a budget and start fresh

Choose Reset on a row. A warning appears:

• Title Reset budget?
• Message like This permanently wipes "House"'s envelopes, months, transactions, and accounts, then starts it fresh. Only this budget is affected.
• Two choices:
  • Reset to default template which rebuilds the standard starter envelopes
  • Reset from scratch which leaves you with an empty month and no envelopes or accounts
• A Cancel button to back out. Tap one of the two choices to confirm.

Reset only affects the budget you picked. Other budgets are not touched. The budget keeps its name and currency, but everything inside it is cleared and a fresh current month is created. Any reminders tied to the old data are cleaned up so you do not get notifications for things that no longer exist. You will see Budget reset to the default template or Budget reset from scratch depending on your choice.

Reset budgets this month in Preferences is different: it does not wipe anything, it just adds a balancing entry so this month starts at zero (see Preferences). Use that for a clean month; use Reset on the Budgets screen for a clean budget.

Delete a budget

Choose Delete on a row. The app asks you to confirm:

• Title Delete budget?
• Message like This permanently deletes "House" and all of its envelopes and months.
• Buttons Cancel and Delete

Confirming removes everything that budget owned, including its envelopes, months, transactions, schedules, templates, accounts, and tags. Any reminders for that data are also removed. The app then switches the Active budget to the first remaining one. You will see Budget deleted.

When you only have one budget left, Delete is hidden so you cannot leave the app with no budget at all.

A note on balancing

To keep your history and start this month clean without Reset or Delete, use the balancing options in the import wizard or in Preferences.

Summary

What you see	What it means
Month bar	The month you are planning, with the Active budget's name beside it; tap the middle to pick a month.
"Envelope allocation"	Where your allocated money went, by share.
"Fundings"	Income envelopes; tap one to open "Add funds".
"Budget Envelopes"	Expense envelopes with their badges, collapse, and swipe-to-details.
The corner buttons	+ to add an envelope, subenvelope, or group; the overflow for Search, Reorder, Show archived, Allocation history, and Help.
Long press a group label	Opens the group editor: rename, recolor, add a note, or delete an empty group.
Budgets title (from More)	The list of every budget in the app, oldest first
Currency like $ · USD under the name	The currency for that budget
Checkmark on a row	This is the Active budget
Tap a row	Makes that budget Active and shows a short confirmation
+ button then New Budget	Create a new budget: name it, pick a currency, choose a starting point, then tap Create
Row menu then Rename	Change the budget name then Save
Row menu then Import	Opens the import wizard with that budget already selected
Row menu then Reset	Shows Reset budget? then choose to rebuild with starter envelopes or start empty
Row menu then Delete	Shows Delete budget? then confirm to permanently remove that budget, hidden when it is the last one
Reset budgets this month in Preferences	A different feature that balances last month so this month starts at zero without deleting anything

Sample use cases

• Personal plus household. You keep My Budget in USD for yourself and create a second budget called House in EUR for shared expenses. Each has its own envelopes and months, so Groceries can mean something different in each plan. Tap House to make it Active and plan that month, then tap My Budget to return. Leftover money never crosses between them.

• A new budget in a second currency. On Budgets, tap the + button then New Budget. The currency row shows your current budget currency with its flag, for example with USD - United States dollar. Tap it, pick EUR - Euro from the picker, type a name like Euro House, choose Reset to default template to start with the starter envelopes, and tap Create. The app switches to the new budget and the month bar on the Envelopes tab shows Euro House beside the month.

• Rename without losing your place. On the My Budget 2 row, open the menu then choose Rename, change the name to Weekend House, and tap Save. You will see Budget renamed and every screen showing the old name updates.

• Start a budget again from nothing. The Weekend House budget has a year of experiments in it. Open its row menu then choose Reset. You will see a warning that this will permanently wipe its envelopes, months, transactions, and accounts and that only this budget is affected. Choose Reset from scratch. The budget keeps its name and currency but everything inside is gone and the current month is empty, ready to rebuild envelope by envelope. You will see Budget reset from scratch.

• Reset to the starter template instead. Same steps, but choose Reset to default template. The budget is cleared and rebuilt with the standard starter envelopes and accounts, like a fresh budget after onboarding. You will see Budget reset to the default template.

• Delete a budget you no longer need. On the Weekend House row, choose Delete, confirm the message that this will permanently delete Weekend House and all of its envelopes and months, and tap Delete. Everything that budget owned is removed and its reminders are cleaned up. You will see Budget deleted and the app switches Active to the first remaining budget. If it had been your last budget, Delete would not have been shown at all.

• Import into the budget that is not Active. You exported a CSV from another app and want it in House while My Budget is Active. On the House row choose Import. The wizard opens with House already selected, so you do not have to switch first. On the review step you can turn on Start budgeting this month when you want to keep history but start planning clean this month.

• A trip needs its own envelope. On the Envelopes tab, tap the + in the bottom-right corner, choose Add Envelope, name it "Trip", pick an icon and color, and save. It shows under your expense group right away.

• An archived envelope needs to come back. Open the overflow menu, turn on Show archived, and find the envelope. Open its settings from the row menu and turn Archive off. It rejoins the tree and stays visible after you turn Show archived back off.

• Your envelopes are out of order. Open the overflow menu, choose Reorder, pick Reorder Envelopes, choose the group, and drag the rows into the order you want. The Envelopes tab shows the new order as soon as you save.