Articles on: Personal

Set a personal budget

A personal budget is a plan next to what you actually spent. It lives in a personal workspace, not in the business books.


Open Budget


  1. Open All pages in the left sidebar, then under Money click Budget.
  2. Pick Today, Month, or Year.


Personal Budget with Planned, Actual, and Remaining


Fill it in


The page is grouped into Income, Fixed, and Flexible.


  • Planned is what you meant to earn or spend. Click a number to edit it.
  • Actual is what already happened, from transactions you approved.
  • Remaining is the difference.


Set the amounts that matter (rent, groceries, paycheck). Leave the rest at zero if you do not track them.


If you have enough history, BooksGPT can suggest planned amounts from recent months. Otherwise set them yourself.


Good to know


  • Actuals only move after you approve rows in Review. See "Review personal transactions".
  • Transfers between your own accounts are not treated as spending by default, so they should not blow the budget.
  • Goals are separate. A savings target lives under Money > Goals.

Updated on: 12/09/2026

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