To get started using Budget Touch there are three things you need to do.
See the Overview of Budget Touch for more general information on how Budget Touch works.
Display the accounts screen and touch the "Edit" button to display the accounts edit screen. Tap the "Add New Account" row to create a new account, or tap an existing account to change the options for that account.
Touch the Control Panel button. Within the control panel, touch the "New Account" button to create a new account. Touch the info button (i) in the upper right of an existing account to change the options for that account.
Note: When you first start Budget Touch an account named "Checkbook" is created for you. You can change the name to anything you want.
For more information about working with accounts see the Accounts section. To set your starting balance see the "Creating Transactions" section below.
Display the envelopes screen and touch the "Edit" button to display the envelopes edit screen. Tap the "Add New Envelope" row to create a new envelope; you may have to scroll down to see that row. Tap an existing envelope to change the options for that envelope.
Touch the Control Panel button. Within the control panel, touch the "New Envelope" button to create a new envelope. Touch the info button (i) in the upper right of an existing envelope to change the options for that envelope.
Note: When you first start Budget Touch an envelope named "Available" is created for you. This envelope cannot be deleted or renamed.
You can create envelopes based on your expenses or any category you wish to track. Each envelope can have a budgeted amount and frequency that will help you save enough money to pay that expense. For more information about working with envelopes see the Envelope section.
You can setup your income and future income deposits in Budget Touch. This allows you to quickly distribute your income to each of your envelopes based on the expense amount. For more information see the Pay Sources and the Pay Details sections.
Pay sources and pay details are an additional add-on. See the Add-Ons section for more details.
When you first start, your accounts and envelopes will have a zero balance. You probably want to start with the amount you currently have in your bank account, or you may want to track a specific amount of money.
To set the starting balance for an account create a deposit transaction for the starting balance amount. You can split the starting balance to several envelopes, or you can deposit the starting balance to the Available envelope and then record envelope transfer transactions later.
On the accounts screen, touch the account then touch the envelope. The transaction history screen is shown. Touch the "+" (Plus) button in the upper right. The transaction entry screen is shown.
Select the account by touching it, then select the envelope by touching it. Then touch the "New Transaction button". The transaction entry screen is shown.
Enter "Starting Balance" in the "From:" field and then enter the starting balance amount. Verify that the transaction type is set to "Deposit". To distribute your starting balance to multiple envelopes see the Transaction section for more details on how to create a "Split" transaction. Touch the "Save" button to record the transaction. The envelope's transaction history now shows the transaction we just recorded. Both the envelope(s) and the account have been updated with the amount you just entered.
When you spend money you record the expense as a transaction in Budget Touch. Select the account and then select the envelope to record the transaction. As you record each transaction, Budget Touch reflects the balance in both the account and envelope you used to create the transaction.
When you first start using Budget Touch you may notice that there is not enough money in some of your envelopes and you're having to move money around to pay bills. This is normal and will usually settle out within the first month or two as you put money into and take money out of your envelopes. Once this settling in period is over you will find that the normal process of using Budget Touch is quite simple.
When you spend money you record a withdrawal in the proper envelope, and when you receive money or get paid you distribute the money into your envelopes.
To be on budget means that each envelope has the money you need to pay the bills as they are due. If over time you find that an envelope does not have the money needed to meet your expense you may have to adjust your budgeted amount to properly cover the actual amount of the expense. If you notice that your envelope balance is constantly increasing then you probably have the budgeted amount set too high. The Statistics are a very helpful way of showing you how well you're keeping on budget.