Hooldbudget

📅 Periods & Budgeting Guide

Periods help you organize your budget into manageable time frames. Plan ahead and track your progress over time.

What is a Period?

A period is a time frame for your budget - typically one month. Each period has:

  • Start and end dates
  • Groups (expense and income categories)
  • Transactions
  • Budget calculations
Screenshot: Period overview

Why Period-Based Budgeting Works

🎯 Clear Goals

Set specific targets for each period and measure success.

📊 Track Progress

Compare periods to see spending trends and improvements.

🔮 Plan Ahead

Create future periods to budget for upcoming expenses.

💰 Fresh Start

Each period is a new opportunity to stay on budget.

Period Types

📅 Monthly (Recommended)

Periods start on a specific day each month (e.g., your payday). Most common and easiest to manage.

🔧 Custom Days

Set a fixed number of days for each period (e.g., every 30 days). Good for non-monthly income.

∞ Infinite

One continuous period with no end date. Simple but less structured.

Creating New Periods

Hooldbudget automatically creates your first period. To create future periods:

  1. Go to Periods page
  2. Click "Create New Period"
  3. Period dates are automatically calculated based on your settings
  4. Groups are copied from the previous period
  5. Repeating transactions are automatically created

💡 Tip: Create 1-2 periods ahead to plan future expenses and see your projected balance.

Setting Budgets

In the Planning page, you can set budget amounts for each expense group:

How to set budgets:

  1. Go to Planning page
  2. Click on a group to expand it
  3. Enter budget amount in the "Budget" field
  4. Click "Save"
Screenshot: Group settings

Understanding Calculated Amounts

💵 Current Balance

Your actual money right now after all transactions.

💰 Current Saving

Money not allocated to any budget group. Your "free" money.

📊 Period End Balance

Projected balance at the end of this period based on budgets and planned transactions.

📈 Hanging Money

Money available after accounting for all budgets and future expenses.

Modifying Period Dates

Need to adjust when a period starts or ends? You can modify dates anytime:

⚠️ Warning: Changing period dates may move transactions to different periods. Review carefully before saving.

Best Practices

  • ✓ Align with payday: Start periods on or after your payday for easier budgeting
  • ✓ Plan 1-2 periods ahead: See future expenses and adjust spending now
  • ✓ Review at period end: Compare budget vs actual spending
  • ✓ Adjust budgets: Update amounts based on reality, not wishful thinking

Start Planning Your Budget

Create future periods and set budgets to take control of your finances.

Go to Planning

Next Guide:

Groups & Categories Guide