Use the Budget Planner to create a budget that will help you meet your financial goals.
1 On the
navigation bar (The strip at the top of the Money screen where you can click to go to the different areas in Money.), click
Planner.
2 Click Budget Planner.
3 In the left pane, click Getting Started.
2 If you haven't watched them already, click Money 99's Budgeting Philosophy and Creating a budget to see these overview videos.
3 Click Group your accounts to review the purpose assigned to each of your accounts, and revise as appropriate.
4 Click Next in the upper-right corner to begin stepping through the budgeting process.
Money leads you through the steps to define your income, savings goals, debt, and scheduled expenses. Then, you'll see monthly and annual summaries and a budget forecast.
5 Budgeting is an iterative process. If your forecast doesn't look the way you'd like, click any place name in the left pane to modify your budget information.
How do I set aside money for future purchases?
1 Create a future expense for the item you want to purchase. For example, if you want to take a vacation costing $2,000 in July, in the Bills place, create a scheduled bill for $2,000. See
Add a new scheduled expense to my budget.
How do I budget for shared expenses (for example, I pay the rent each month, and my roommate reimburses me for half)?
2 Create a new recurring deposit to your checking or savings account for the reimbursement. Assign this reimbursement to the same category as the rent bill.
By default, Money expects you to assign deposits only to income categories. You're asked if you want to correct the category information when you try to assign it to an expense category. Click No.
3 If you want to change this default setting, click Options on the Tools menu, click the Categories tab, and uncheck Require the Correct Type of Category for Each Transaction.
Do I need to track retirement savings and paycheck deductions?
If you set up a recurring deposit for your paycheck, Money handles the retirement deductions automatically. For details, see Schedule my paycheck deposit.
You'll see these savings deductions in the Occasional Expense Fund place or Long-Term Savings place, depending on how you group accounts in your budget. See Organize accounts in my budget.
How do I budget my savings?
Play Money 99's Budgeting Philosophy video.
How can I track my budget progress?
How do I organize accounts in my budget?
How do I balance my budget?
How do I create a debt reduction plan?