Envelopes

Envelopes are the heart of CentBase. If you've ever used the classic cash-in-an- envelope method of budgeting, you already know how this works. We've just moved it into your pocket.

TL;DR

An envelope is a separate "bucket" of money with its own name and its own job. You divide your income into them, spend against those buckets, and nest sub-envelopes inside a parent when you want more detail. Money with no job yet sits in Ready-To-Assign, and leftover balances carry over into the next month automatically.

What is an envelope?

An envelope is a separate "bucket" of money with its own name and its own job. Instead of one giant pile of cash, your income is divided into smaller piles, each earmarked for a specific purpose.

Some examples:

• Groceries, for your food shopping.
• Rent, for your monthly housing.
• Savings, for building up a buffer.
• Fun Money, for the things you enjoy, guilt-free.

The simple promise behind budgeting this way: money inside a "Groceries" envelope is meant for groceries, and once you've assigned it there, it's no longer free to spend on something else. This is why CentBase's core rule is that every cent of income gets assigned to an envelope. Every dollar has a clear, intentional job.

Sub-envelopes: your envelopes can have children

Not every envelope needs to be flat. You can nest sub-envelopes inside a parent envelope to keep things organised without losing the big picture.

For example, instead of one vague "Transport" envelope, you could have:

Transport
├── Fuel
├── Public Transit
└── Maintenance

Now you can plan each part separately, while still seeing the whole "Transport" picture at a glance.

A parent can cover overspending. A parent envelope can be allowed to top up its sub-envelopes when a new expense pushes one over. See When a parent envelope covers overspending.

Ready-To-Assign: the money with no job yet

When you first see your budget for the month, not every cent has been given a job. CentBase keeps this in a single, always-visible number called Ready-To-Assign.

• It goes up when income lands in your budget.
• It goes down every time you assign money to an envelope.

Your goal each month is simple: bring Ready-To-Assign down to zero by giving every dollar a job. If it ever goes below zero, you've planned to spend more than you have, a sign to reallocate.

Carry-over: leftover money stays put

Let's say you budgeted $100 for Groceries but only spent $80. That leftover $20 isn't lost. CentBase carries it over into the next month automatically, so your envelopes build on themselves and your plan grows more accurate over time. Income is the exception: what you receive in a month does not carry into the next one.

Tip: carry-over can be turned off per envelope. If an envelope shouldn't roll its balance forward (a one-off "Vacation" bucket, for instance), open its settings and toggle Carry over balance off. Income envelopes never carry over: what you receive in a month does not roll into the next one. See Account & envelope settings for the full rundown of every envelope setting.

Leftover from last month appears automatically next month, until you turn Carry over balance off.

Where to find it: Envelopes tab → Budget Envelopes. The top number is Ready-to-Assign.

Navigating envelopes in the app

Here's how to get around the envelope side of CentBase:

1. Open the Envelopes tab. Every envelope for the month you are planning is shown there, grouped into sections. See Budget for the full layout: the month bar, the envelope allocation card, Fundings, and Budget Envelopes. The Home tab shows the current month at a glance.
2. Switch months with the month bar. At the top you'll find the month bar. Tap its left or right end to move forward or backward and see a different month's plan. Each month is its own snapshot of what you set aside.
3. Tap an envelope to work with it. Tap any envelope to see its details, check how much is allocated versus spent, and start filling it.
4. Fill an envelope. Once you have money in Ready-to-Assign, use the allocation action (you'll see it as "Fill Envelope") to assign an amount to an envelope. Watch Ready-to-Assign shrink as you go.
5. Use the actions on an envelope row. Tap the menu on an envelope row to edit its name and budget behaviour, tap "Add funds" to fund an income envelope, tap "Transfer Allocation" to move money between envelopes, or open the analyze view for that envelope.
6. Explore your accounts. Money in envelopes is the plan; your actual balances live under Accounts. Log transactions against envelopes there to see what you've really spent.

If you run multiple budgets, remember each budget has its own completely separate set of envelopes. Switch between them from the Budgets screen (the gear in the top bar → Budgets) and pick which one you want to plan. See Budgets.

Summary

Concept	What it means
Envelope	A bucket of money with its own name and job
Sub-envelope	A nested envelope inside a parent envelope
Ready-To-Assign	Money that hasn't been assigned to an envelope yet
Carry-over	Leftover balance rolls into the next month automatically (expense envelopes)
Fill Envelope	The action that assigns money to an envelope

Sample use cases

• Monthly groceries. Budget $100 into "Groceries". Spend $80 this month, the $20 carries over, so next month's grocery pot starts with a head start.
• A "Transport" parent. Put Fuel, Public Transit, and Maintenance under one Transport envelope so you can plan each separately while seeing the total.
• Planning for a known cost. Log the coming bill as a placeholder transaction so it shows up in the plan, then fill its envelope when the money lands.

A good place to start

If this is your first time, don't try to be perfect. Create just a few envelopes for the things you spend on most, assign what you can, and build from there. CentBase keeps every cent accounted for from day one, however small the start.