Budgeting Concepts

Envelope budgeting mechanics, category strategy, and special scenarios for Actual Budget.

Category Templates

Use these as starting points. Adapt based on what the user tells you about their life. Don't create categories they won't use — you can always add more later.

Single person, renting

Housing:          Rent, Utilities, Internet, Renter's Insurance
Food:             Groceries, Dining Out, Coffee
Transportation:   Gas/Transit, Car Insurance, Car Maintenance, Parking
Personal:         Clothing, Personal Care, Health/Medical, Subscriptions
Lifestyle:        Entertainment, Hobbies, Gifts
Financial:        Savings, Emergency Fund, Investments
Income:           Salary, Side Income

Single person, homeowner

Add to the above:

Housing:          Mortgage, Property Tax, HOA, Home Insurance, Home Maintenance

Remove: Rent, Renter's Insurance

Couple, shared budget

Housing:          Rent/Mortgage, Utilities, Internet, Insurance
Shared Living:    Groceries, Household Supplies, Dining Out
Transportation:   Gas/Transit, Car Insurance, Maintenance
Kids (if any):    Childcare, School, Activities, Kids Clothing
Personal - [Name A]: Clothing, Personal Care, Hobbies, Fun Money
Personal - [Name B]: Clothing, Personal Care, Hobbies, Fun Money
Financial:        Emergency Fund, Savings Goals, Investments
Debt (if any):    [Card Name] Debt
Income:           [Name A] Income, [Name B] Income, Partner Contributions

Freelancer / variable income

Add:

Business:         Equipment, Software, Professional Services, Business Travel
Taxes:            Estimated Taxes, Tax Prep

Key difference: Budget conservatively using the lowest expected monthly income. In good months, put extra toward savings or taxes.

Category Management

Category groups

Categories are organized into groups.

# Create a group
fscl categories create-group "Fixed Expenses"
 
# Create categories in the group
fscl categories create "Rent" --group <group-id>
fscl categories create "Utilities" --group <group-id>
fscl categories create "Internet" --group <group-id>

Merging categories

If you have duplicate or redundant categories, delete one and transfer its transactions:

# Move all "Foods" transactions to "Food", then delete "Foods"
fscl categories delete <foods-id> --transfer-to <food-id> --yes

Income categories

Create income categories in the income group:

fscl categories create "Salary" --group <income-group-id> --income
fscl categories create "Freelance" --group <income-group-id> --income

Month Setup

The fastest way to set up a new month is to copy from the previous month:

fscl month copy 2026-01 2026-02

Alternatively, use month draft + month apply for selective editing, or templates for automated budgeting.

Goal Templates

Use category-level templates to automate month setup.

# Generate editable template draft
fscl month templates draft
# Edit templates.json (add/update template arrays)
fscl month templates apply --dry-run
fscl month templates apply
 
# Validate + apply for the month
fscl month templates check
fscl month templates run 2026-03

Income Handling

When you receive income:

• It becomes immediately available to budget (appears in "Available Funds" / "To Budget")
• If you don't budget it this month, it rolls over to next month
• Common strategy: "hold" current month's income for next month's budget, so you're always budgeting with last month's income

Using fscl, income shows up as a positive-amount transaction categorized to an income category.

Overspending

When you overspend in a category (balance goes negative):

• Default behavior: The negative balance is automatically deducted from next month's "To Budget" amount, and the category balance resets to zero
• This means overspending reduces your ability to budget next month
• To handle it: move money from another category to cover the overspent amount, or accept that next month will have less to budget

Rollover overspending (carryover)

Sometimes you want to keep a negative balance across months (e.g., tracking reimbursable expenses). Enable per-category:

fscl month set-carryover 2026-02 <category-id> true

When rollover is enabled, the negative balance stays in the category instead of being deducted from "To Budget."

Returns and Reimbursements

Returns

A return is not income — it goes back to the category you originally spent from. Enter the return as a positive-amount transaction with the same category:

fscl transactions add <acct-id> --date 2026-02-10 --amount 32.99 \
  --payee "Amazon" --category <clothing-cat-id> --notes "Sandals return"

This restores $32.99 to the Clothing category balance.

Reimbursements

For reimbursable expenses (business travel, shared costs):

1. Create a dedicated category (e.g., "Business Expenses")
2. Option A: Pre-fund — Budget money into the category before spending. True zero-budget approach.
3. Option B: Carry negative — Let the category go negative, enable rollover overspending, and refill when reimbursed.

# Create category and enable carryover
fscl categories create "Business Expenses" --group <group-id>
fscl month set-carryover 2026-02 <biz-exp-cat-id> true
 
# Spend (category goes negative if not pre-funded)
fscl transactions add <acct-id> --date 2026-02-05 --amount -150.00 \
  --payee "Hotel" --category <biz-exp-cat-id> --notes "Client trip"
 
# Receive reimbursement (positive amount, same category)
fscl transactions add <acct-id> --date 2026-02-20 --amount 150.00 \
  --payee "Employer" --category <biz-exp-cat-id> --notes "Trip reimbursement"

Joint Accounts

Shared budget (recommended for committed couples)

Both partners use the same budget file. Sync via an Actual Budget server so both can access it.

Setup:

1. Create a joint checking account
2. Use the shared budget on a synced server
3. Create a "Partner Personal Spending" category (with rollover) for tracking personal purchases made on the shared account
4. Track income contributions via a "Partners Contributions" income category

Personal budget with shared account

Track your partner's contributions in your own budget:

1. Create the joint account on-budget
2. Your transfers to the joint account don't need a category (on-budget to on-budget transfer)
3. Your partner's deposits are categorized as income (use a "Partner Contribution" income category)
4. Budget the full bill amounts in shared expense categories

Contribution strategy

For proportional contributions based on income:

• If Partner A earns $4,000/month and Partner B earns $6,000/month
• Total = $10,000. Partner A contributes 40%, Partner B contributes 60%
• If shared expenses are $3,000/month: A pays $1,200, B pays $1,800