Quick Start
- Set your Target Budget (top right) — the net savings goal you're aiming at this year.
- Review the default Income and Expense rows. Rename, remove, or add your own.
- Each month, fill in actuals — either type values directly, or click Import Statement to pull from a bank CSV/PDF.
- Surplus automatically flows into the Deploy This Month strip (Emergency / Invest / etc.) so every dollar gets a job.
Customizing Your Budget
Add a line
Use the
+ Add [Category] Expense button at the bottom of any section, or open
Smart Add from the import flow. Choose:
- Standalone — a top-level line
- Subcategory — nests under an existing parent (e.g. Water under Utilities)
- New Group — creates a parent that bundles related subs
Reorder & reshape
Drag the ⋮⋮ handle on the left of any row to:
- Reposition within a category
- Move a line between Fundamentals / Fun / Future
- Drop a standalone item under a parent to make it a subcategory
Edit & archive: hover any row — pencil icon renames, ✕ retires it. Retired items vanish from the budget but their history is preserved.
Fixed vs. Variable Tags
FIXED
Same amount every month — Mortgage, Cell Phone, Gym, Internet. The tracker auto-fills these going forward so you don't re-enter them.
VAR
Fluctuates month-to-month — Groceries, Restaurants, Fuel. You set the actual each month (or let imports fill it).
Why it matters: Fixed lines feed the FI/FF calculator's guaranteed monthly burn. Tagging accurately makes retirement projections — and your safe withdrawal rate — meaningful.
Importing Statements (CSV & PDF)
CSV is preferred — clean, instant, free. PDF works too (requires your API key for intelligent parsing). You can mix files in a single import.
Where to find statements
| Bank |
Path to download |
| TD / TD Visa | My Accounts → select account → Activity → Export to CSV |
| RBC | Accounts → eStatements → Download (CSV or PDF) |
| BMO | My Accounts → Statements & Documents → CSV format |
| Scotiabank | Manage My Accounts → Download Transactions |
| CIBC | My Accounts → Statements & Documents → Export |
| Tangerine | Account Activity → Download Transactions |
| Simplii | My Accounts → Statements → CSV / PDF |
| National Bank | Accounts → Statements & Documents |
| Amex | Statements → Year/Month → CSV download |
The import flow
- Click Import Statement → tag as Credit Card or Debit/Chequing.
- Drop one or more CSVs/PDFs. AI categorization runs automatically.
- In the Review screen, every transaction shows a budget-line dropdown. Adjust mappings as needed.
- Transfers between your own accounts are auto-detected and excluded (so they don't double-count).
- Hit Apply Import. The Import Receipt shows everything that landed (grouped by category) and where it came from.
- Need to step away mid-import? Click Save for Later — your draft survives a page reload, resumable via the Resume Import button.
CSV memory: the tracker remembers how you categorized a vendor. Map "Shoppers Drug Mart" to Medical once, and every future import suggests Medical for that merchant automatically.
Why Proper Categorization Matters
- Accurate FI/FF date. Financial Independence depends on knowing your true monthly burn. Miscategorized fixed expenses warp the target by years.
- Real surplus deployment. Money only flows into goals if the system can see genuine surplus. Bad data = missed Emergency/Invest contributions.
- Trend insights. The Reports tab shows MoM and YoY shifts per category. If Restaurants and Groceries are crossed, your "I'm eating out too much" insight stays invisible.
- Tax projections. Budget income feeds the marginal-tax module — wrong categorization here cascades into retirement projections.
- Sankey clarity. The flow diagram (Reports tab) only reveals patterns when each dollar is in its proper lane.
Other Features Worth Knowing
Annual View
Full 12-month grid with row & column heatmaps to spot anomalies at a glance.
Goals Tab
Set Emergency / Invest / Car targets, watch progress, commit surplus per month with one click.
Reports — Sankey
Money flow visualization. Income → categories → individual lines. Reveals where money actually goes.
Cards Tab
Aggregates your total spending by category across every imported account (debit + credit) and recommends the card mix that would have earned the most rewards on your real purchase patterns.
Δ MoM Indicators
Each line shows month-over-month change inline. Spot categories trending up or down without leaving the table.
Import History
Every past import is logged with date, files, and full receipt. Click ✕ to delete (with confirm).
Cross-module Sync
Budget data auto-publishes to Retirement, Net Worth, and Tax modules. One source of truth.
Undo
Accidentally retire a line? Ctrl/Cmd+Z (or the Undo button) brings it back instantly.