Groceries, eating out, subscriptions... Purchases that look small on their own can add up to more than you expected by the end of the month. A budget lets you see this before the month is over: you set a monthly limit for each expense category, and Pumpynotes shows how much you've spent against that limit throughout the month. That way you can notice you're getting close to the limit before you make the purchase.
In six steps we cover setting a budget, reading the Budget card on the Finance dashboard and changing your budget when you need to. Budgets are tied to categories, so you need at least one expense category first; adding categories is covered in Add, edit and delete categories. If you'd like to get to know the rest of the Finance screen, you can start with Quick start with Finance.
1
Open the Budget tab
The panel on the left of the Finance screen has three tabs: Wallets, Categories and Budget. Click the Budget tab, the one with the target icon. All your expense categories are listed here one below the other, each with a Limit box next to it. Your income categories don't appear in this list, because budgets are designed to track your spending.
If the list is empty and says "Add an expense category first", just switch to the Categories tab and create an expense category; when you come back to the Budget tab, that category will be waiting for you. On a phone you can reach this panel with the wallet icon button at the top right of the screen, and on a tablet with the Manage finance button.
Wallets
Categories
Budget
Set a monthly limit for each expense category. The bar turns amber near the limit and red once it's exceeded.
G
Groceries
LimitT
Transport
LimitB
Bills
LimitR
Rent
LimitE
Entertainment
LimitF
Food & drinks
LimitBudget tab · your expense categories, each with a Limit box next to it
2
Enter a monthly limit for your category
In the Limit box next to the category you want to budget, enter the most you want to spend on that category in a month. There's no need to save separately: the limit is saved the moment you leave the box, and Saved appears on the screen. As you type, the amount is formatted with thousands separators, just like when you add a new transaction.
Your budget renews on its own every month, so you don't need to set it up again at the start of the month. A limit you enter once applies to every month until you change it. You can set separate limits on as many categories as you like; on the free plan, you can do this for only one category. Once you've reached that plan limit, a limit you enter for a new category isn't saved; instead, a window opens where you can upgrade your plan.
Saved
Wallets
Categories
Budget
Set a monthly limit for each expense category. The bar turns amber near the limit and red once it's exceeded.
G
Groceries
600T
Transport
LimitB
Bills
LimitR
Rent
LimitE
Entertainment
LimitF
Food & drinks
LimitLimit box · typing and leaving the box is all it takes to save
3
Read the Budget card
The moment you set your first budget, the Budget card appears on the Finance dashboard. Each budgeted category sits on its own row: the category name on the left, and on the right how much you've spent this month, your limit and what percentage of your limit you've used. In the bar below, your spending fills in the category's color; a dark vertical line marks your limit, with the limit amount written below it. The line is always there, so you can see how far you are from your limit before you even start spending.
The colors tell you where you stand. When your spending reaches 80 percent of your limit, the bar turns amber. If you go over the limit, the bar continues past the line in red. At the very bottom of the row there's always one line: how much is left if you're under your limit, or how much you've gone over if you've exceeded it.
BudgetNovember 2026
Groceries$184.00 / $600.0031%
Limit $600.00
$416.00 left
Food & drinks$256.00 / $300.0085%
Limit $300.00
$44.00 left
Entertainment$145.00 / $120.00121%
Limit $120.00
$25.00 over the limit
Budget card · category color when on track, amber after 80 percent, red once the limit is exceeded
4
Find out which month your budget measures
Budgets are monthly and always measure the current month. The card's header shows which month it is. Even if you pick last month or a three-month range at the top of the Finance screen, the Budget card stays the same. That way the total of several months is never compared against a single month's limit, and you won't see a false overspending warning.
The month counts as a whole, from the 1st to its last day. This means expenses you've dated later in the month and transactions set to repeat within this month already show up on the card. If you've set up recurring payments such as rent or subscriptions, your budget takes them into account from the start of the month; the remaining amount you see on the card is what's left after those payments. Setting up recurring payments is covered in How to set up a recurring transaction.
Filters affect the card too. If you click an expense category's slice in the donut or its row in the panel, only that category's budget stays on the card. If you've selected specific wallets, only spending from those wallets is counted. If you pick anything other than Expense in the Type filter, the card is hidden, because budgets only measure expenses. You can find everything filters affect in Filter your transactions by date and category.
Filters:
BudgetNovember 2026 Budgets are monthly. They always measure the current calendar month, regardless of the date range above.
Groceries$184.00 / $600.0031%
Limit $600.00
$416.00 left
Food & drinks$256.00 / $300.0085%
Limit $300.00
$44.00 left
Entertainment$145.00 / $120.00121%
Limit $120.00
$25.00 over the limit
The Budget card always measures the current month · the date range at the top doesn't change it
5
Change your limit or remove the budget
To change your limit, retype the amount in the box on the Budget tab and leave the box; the card updates to the new limit right away. Whatever your plan, you can always edit and remove your existing budgets.
To remove a budget, clear the box completely. Pumpynotes asks "Delete this budget?"; press Delete and the budget is removed, or press Cancel and the old limit returns to the box. Your category and transactions stay as they are; only that category's limit goes away. Deleting a budget isn't recorded in History, so it can't be undone from there; if you want it back, simply enter the limit in the box again. When you delete a category, though, its budget goes with it; if you restore the category from History, its budget comes back too (see Undo your changes from History).
You can collapse the Budget card if you like; just click the arrow to the right of its header. The collapsed card shows on a single line how many budgets you have; if any budget is exceeded, the line turns red and says how many are over. That way you keep seeing overspending even with the card closed. Your choice is remembered on that device.
Wallets
Categories
Budget
Set a monthly limit for each expense category. The bar turns amber near the limit and red once it's exceeded.
G
Groceries
600T
Transport
LimitB
Bills
LimitR
Rent
LimitE
Entertainment
LimitF
Food & drinks
300Delete
Delete this budget?
Delete
Cancel
BudgetNovember 2026
3 budgets · 1 over
Clearing the box brings up a confirmation · the collapsed card still tells you about an exceeded budget
6
See your budget on Overview too
If you want to check your budgets every day without opening Finance, you can add the Budget Status widget to your Overview page. The widget shows a compact version of the card in Finance: up to five budgets with the highest usage, highest first, with the same bars and colors. Click a row to go to the Finance screen. Adding widgets is covered in Add and remove widgets from the Marketplace. The Budget Status widget is available on Pro and higher plans.
Budget Status
Entertainment$145 / $120121%
Limit $120
$25 over the limit
Food & drinks$256 / $30085%
Limit $300
$44 left
Groceries$184 / $60031%
Limit $600
$416 left
Budget Status widget · your most-used budgets on Overview
Frequently asked questions
Will I get a notification when I go over the limit?
Budgets don't send a separate notification or email; you see the warning on the Budget card: the bar turns amber at 80 percent and red once the limit is exceeded, and the row below shows how much you've gone over. Even if you've collapsed the card, the number of exceeded budgets appears in red on the header line.
What currency is my budget kept in?
A new budget takes your workspace's default currency: the currency of the oldest wallet in your workspace (asset wallets aren't included in this). Spending from wallets in other currencies is converted to the budget's currency at the current rate and then counted. If you entered a fixed rate for a transaction, that transaction is calculated with its own rate. Working with more than one currency is covered in Multi-currency budget tracking.
How many budgets can I set on the free plan? What happens if I downgrade?
On the free plan you can set a budget on one category, and on Pro and higher plans on as many categories as you like. The plan limit only applies when you add a budget to a new category. If you move from Pro to the free plan, none of your existing budgets are deleted or locked: they keep showing on the card, and you can change their limits or remove them. The only difference is that you can't add a budget to a new category.
Can my teammates see my budget?
Budgets are personal. Even in a shared workspace where everyone uses the same categories, only you can see the limits you set; your teammates set up their own budgets.
Can I set a budget on an income category?
Budgets can only be set up for expense categories, so your income categories aren't listed in the Budget tab. If you want to change a category's type, you can take a look at Add, edit and delete categories.
Is the "Monthly budget" field in the wallet form the same thing?
They're two different features. On Business and higher plans you can enter a monthly budget for a wallet; that amount doesn't affect your category budgets and appears on the Project Budget widget on Overview. The budgets in this article, on the other hand, are set on categories and tracked on the Budget card in Finance.