> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.budgetbandit.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Fix budgeting problems

> Ready to Assign is negative, how to cover overspending, and why a credit card Payment category shows red.

The three budgeting situations people hit most: Ready to Assign went negative, a category is
overspent, and a credit card's Payment category is red. Each has a clean fix.

## Ready to Assign is negative

A negative Ready to Assign means you assigned more money than you actually have. The number is
telling you to take some back.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Find a category with extra">
    Look for categories with a positive Available balance that you do not need this month.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Pull money back toward Ready to Assign">
    Reduce the assigned amount on those categories. Each dollar you un-assign returns to Ready to
    Assign.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Stop at $0">
    Keep going until Ready to Assign reads \$0. That is a balanced, fully assigned month.
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Note>
  Ready to Assign also goes negative if income you expected did not arrive. If a paycheck is late,
  you genuinely have less to assign — reduce categories to match what you actually hold. See
  [Ready to Assign](/concepts/ready-to-assign).
</Note>

## A category is overspent

When a category's Available goes red, you spent more than you assigned to it. Cover it by moving
money in from a category that came in under.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open the overspent category">
    The red Available shows how much it is short.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Move money in to cover it">
    Move the shortfall from a category with extra. The overspent category returns to \$0 and the
    source drops by the same amount.
  </Step>
</Steps>

See [Cover overspending](/budgeting/cover-overspending) for the full walkthrough.

## A credit card Payment category is red

Credit cards work differently from cash categories, so a red Payment category usually is not a
mistake — it is the budget telling you that some of what you charged was not funded.

Here is the model: when you assign money to a credit-card spending category and then spend on the
card, that money moves into the card's Payment category, where it is "safe to pay." If you spend
on the card **without** having assigned money to the spending category first, there is nothing to
move, so the Payment category comes up short and shows red.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Read the red Payment amount">
    It is the part of your card balance you have not yet set aside money to pay.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Assign money to the Payment category">
    Move dollars from Ready to Assign, or from a spending category that came in under, into the
    card's Payment category until the red clears.
  </Step>
</Steps>

See [Payment category is red](/credit-cards/payment-category-is-red) and
[How credit cards work](/concepts/how-credit-cards-work) for the full picture.

## Still stuck

If the numbers still do not add up after balancing, reach us over
[in-app chat](/troubleshooting/contact-support).

## Related

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Cover overspending" icon="circle-exclamation" href="/budgeting/cover-overspending">
    Bring a red category back to zero.
  </Card>

  <Card title="How credit cards work" icon="credit-card" href="/concepts/how-credit-cards-work">
    The funded-portion model explained.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>