Set limits
Set monthly limits by category, see how much of your income is already allocated, watch overspend risk, choose what happens to what is left over, and plan a whole year ahead.
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Choose between Simple and Detailed
At the top of Budgets, switch to Simple to see just four totals — Fixed (rent, electricity, insurance, subscriptions…), Flexible (groceries, dining, entertainment…), Future expenses, and Goals — instead of the full category list. Detailed shows the usual list, category by category.
TipSimple works even with no limits set at all: Fixed and Flexible show what you've already spent this month in each kind of expense.
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Plan your month and connect it to debt
The Monthly Plan card, at the top of Budgets, shows your income minus the fixed and flexible expenses you've planned, your savings goals, and your debt minimums — what's left is your unallocated amount. You can use that figure directly in the Debt Planner: choose Use my Budget to auto-fill the extra payment, or turn on Keep synchronized so it updates whenever your plan changes.
TipIn the Debt Planner, Save to Budget records your total monthly debt allocation (minimums + extra) as its own line in the Monthly Plan — it stays there until you save again, never updating on its own. Tap Edit next to that line to jump straight back to the Debt Planner.
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See how much is already allocated
Once you have limits set, two summaries appear at the top. To Allocate compares the month's income against the total already tied up in limits and tells you how much is left to distribute. The other shows overall progress of everything you have spent against everything you budgeted.
TipIf you allocate more than you earn, the summary flags Over-allocated — your limits add up to more than your income, so at least one of them will have to give.
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Use budgets on mobile
On mobile, budgets have their own layout: the amount left to spend at the top, the percentage of the period already used, and the categories as cards you scroll through. The annual plan and income targets stay available on desktop.
- Set a budget — opens the budget window, pick the category and enter the monthly limit; your average spend is suggested when there is history.
- Search and filters — find a category by name, or show only those with a limit, without one, or needing attention.
- Details — tap to see the month's spend, what is available, the typical range (when there is history), and the category's rollover.
- View transactions — open the category's movements straight from the card.
TipWhen the selected period spans several months, the limit shown is your monthly limit multiplied by those months — so the comparison against spend makes sense.
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Let iowii suggest your budget
Once you have enough history and haven't set any limits yet, a proposal appears at the top of Budgets: "Want us to build your budget?". Tap Review suggestion to see a limit per category, grouped into Fixed and Flexible, based on what you typically spend in each. Adjust anything before pressing Apply budget — nothing is saved until then.
TipIf you'd rather not use the suggestion, Dismiss makes the card go away.
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Create your first limit
In Budgets, press Add budget — next to Clear all — to open the budget window. Pick a category and enter a monthly limit. If you already have history in that category, iowii suggests the average of the months where you spent something — use it as a starting point. Inside the window, a six-month chart shows how that category has been trending, with a dashed line at the limit you are typing and any month above it in red. You can open the same window from any page, using the New button in the side menu.
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See the category's history
The chart above the list shows the last six months of the category you are setting, with a dashed line at the average. The average counts only months where you actually spent something, so an empty month does not drag it down artificially.
TipWhile you are creating or editing a limit, the chart follows the category in the form. Once every category has a limit, the chart's own picker becomes independent and you can inspect any category.
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See your typical range
Tap Details on a category card with at least two months of history and you'll see the typical range — the lowest and highest you usually spend in that category, drawn from the last six months. Underneath, a sentence states how much you've spent this month, how many days are left, and whether your current pace keeps you inside the range, below it, or heading past it.
TipIt shows up even on categories with no limit set — there's nothing to configure to see it.
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Watch overspend risk
Each category shows spend, limit, and a progress bar, with a status that changes colour:
- Normal — you are inside the limit, with room to spare.
- Amber — you are close to the limit.
- Red — you have gone past the limit.
TipOpen a category's details to see the projection through the end of the month and its trend. You can also filter to show only the ones needing attention.
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Decide what happens to what is left
In each category's details, rollover decides what happens to what is left at the end of the month.
- No rollover — each month starts fresh.
- Same category — what is left is added to next month's limit in that same category.
- General pool — what is left joins a shared reserve across all categories.
TipIt is especially useful in categories that swing a lot month to month, where an expensive month offsets a cheaper one. Whatever you send to the general pool then shows up in the To Allocate summary.
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Find a category in the list
With many categories, use the search and the four filters to get to what you need quickly:
- All — every expense category.
- With limit — only the ones you have budgeted.
- No limit — those with no limit set yet.
- Attention — those close to their limit or already past it.
TipThe list is paginated and you can show 10, 25, or 50 per page. Your choice is saved and carries across the app's other lists.
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Edit or remove limits
Each card has Edit, which sends that category back to the form, and delete, which removes just that limit. To start over there is Clear all, behind a confirmation — that one cannot be undone.
TipRemoving a limit deletes no transactions. It only means that category no longer has a ceiling.
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Count or ignore scheduled items
If you have scheduled expenses inside the period, a Scheduled button appears at the top with their count. Turning it on counts those not-yet-spent expenses toward each category's spend; turning it off shows only what has actually left your account.
TipIt is the same setting found in Preferences, applied across the whole app. With it on, a limit can read as exceeded because of something you have not paid yet — that is a warning, not a mistake.
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Set income targets
Beyond expense limits, you can set monthly income targets per source — salary, freelance work, or any other. They let you compare what you expect to receive against what actually came in.
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Plan the whole year
The annual tab shows a table with categories as rows and the twelve months as columns. Your monthly limit is the automatic baseline and each cell is an exception — useful for months with predictable out-of-the-ordinary costs, like holidays or back-to-school. You can also apply the base budget across several months at once.
TipChanges to the annual plan are not saved automatically — save before leaving the tab, and iowii warns you if you try to leave with unsaved edits. The annual tab always shows the whole year, whatever period the filter is set to.
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Group related categories
When several categories serve the same goal, you can put them in a group and track the total in one place. Groups appear as cards on the Budgets page, with their combined spend and limit.
TipGroups are created in Preferences, not on the Budgets page. That is also where you set the day your financial month starts, if it is not the 1st.