The one rule
Every dollar gets a job. Income comes in. You hand it out to categories — rent, groceries, savings, debt — until Ready to Assign reads $0. Zero is the finish line. A dollar with no job is a dollar that disappears. Assigning it on purpose is how you keep it.How it works in practice
Money arrives
You add an account balance, or income lands in a connected account. That money
shows up in Ready to Assign with no job yet.
You assign it
You type amounts into categories until Ready to Assign reaches zero. Each
category’s Available amount is now real spending money set aside for that
purpose.
You spend from categories
When you spend, the transaction comes out of a category. Its Available amount
drops by what you spent. You always know how much is left for groceries because
the number is right there.
You adjust
Plans change. Move money between categories when reality differs from the plan.
See Assign and move money.
What you can spend is the number in the category
This is the part that separates zero-based budgeting from a forecast app. The amount you can spend on groceries is not last month’s average and not a prediction. It is the dollars sitting in the Groceries category right now. When that number is 80 of groceries left. When it is red, you spent money you had not assigned, and you need to cover it.Why budget only money you have
You assign money that has already arrived, not money you expect. That keeps the budget honest — you are never spending a paycheck that has not landed. When new income comes in, you assign it then. For income that does not arrive on a steady schedule, see Irregular income.Next
Ready to Assign
The number at the top of your budget, and what it means when it is not zero.
Categories and groups
How to organize the jobs you give your dollars.
Rolling money forward
What happens to leftover and overspent categories at month’s end.
Assign your first dollars
Do it now, step by step.