EveryDollar Budget Guide

Overview

Each month, one EveryDollar budget handles everything coming in and everything going out of checking. Five separate bank accounts sit outside EveryDollar and hold the actual savings: Emergency Fund, Future Savings, Pet Medical, Auto Fund, and Insurance Fund.

• Money in: both paychecks each become an Income item inside the one monthly budget.
• Everyday bills: normal budget items that reset to zero every month.
• The one exception — Fuel: set up as an EveryDollar Fund instead of a normal item, so leftover gas money rolls into next month instead of disappearing.
• The five savings accounts: EveryDollar doesn’t track their balances. Each payday, a budgeted “Transfer to ___” line item moves money from checking into the matching account. Auto and Insurance then pay their bills automatically straight from those accounts.

Handling Two Paychecks

EveryDollar already sets up an Income group with Paycheck 1 and Paycheck 2 waiting for you — that’s built for exactly this situation.

1. When the first paycheck hits your bank account, open the budget and tap the Paycheck 1 item.
2. Enter the amount in Planned (if it isn’t already there), then log the actual deposit as a transaction so Planned and Received match.
3. Do the same for Paycheck 2 on the second payday.
4. The two paychecks added together are the month’s total income — that’s the number every budget item across the whole month has to add up to, so nothing is left unaccounted for.
5. If an amount varies paycheck to paycheck, budget a slightly low estimate in Planned, then adjust it to match once the money actually lands.

If you want EveryDollar to also map which bills get paid from which paycheck on a calendar, the Paycheck Planning tool (under that name in the app) does that automatically — worth trying once the basics feel comfortable.

Everyday Budget Items

A quick refresher, since this part is already familiar:

• Add an income or bill item: go to the group it belongs in, tap Add Item (or Add Income in the Income group), name it, and enter the Planned amount.
• Log that it happened: tap the item and enter the transaction (who, how much), or drag the matching bank transaction onto it if accounts are linked.
• Read the three numbers on each line: Planned (what was budgeted), Spent (what actually happened), and Remaining (what’s left this month).

The Fuel Fund (Why It’s Different)

A normal budget item resets to $0 every month — leftover money just disappears from that line. That’s the wrong behavior for gas money, since some months you drive less and some weeks cost more. EveryDollar’s Fund feature fixes this: any balance left in a Fund rolls into next month automatically, instead of zeroing out.

Setting Fuel up as a Fund (one-time):

1. Open (or add) the Fuel budget item.
2. Tap Fund.
3. Tap Make this a Fund.
4. Enter a Current Balance and, optionally, a Target Amount.
5. Tap Save.

Using it every month:

• In Planned, enter how much to add to the Fuel fund this payday — this is just a planning number, not a transaction.
• When gas is purchased, log it as a transaction against the Fuel line, same as any expense. It comes out of the Fund’s balance.
• Whatever’s left over automatically carries into next month — no extra steps needed.

The Five Savings Accounts

These accounts live at the bank, not inside EveryDollar. EveryDollar’s only job here is to budget the transfer out of checking — the account itself holds the real balance.

Account	What it’s for	Touch rule
Emergency Fund	Unexpected expenses	Use only when something breaks or surprises you
Future Savings	Long-term saving	Never touch
Pet Medical	Vet bills	Use for pet medical costs only
Auto Fund	Car-related costs	Auto payments draft from here automatically
Insurance Fund	Insurance premiums	Insurance payments draft from here automatically

In EveryDollar: add one line item per account, named something like “Transfer to Emergency Fund.” Set Planned to whatever amount is being moved that payday, and log it as a transaction once the transfer is actually made at the bank. For Auto Fund and Insurance Fund, that’s the whole job — the automatic payment itself happens later, inside that separate account, out of EveryDollar’s view.

Monthly Routine Checklist

• Log the paycheck under Paycheck 1 or Paycheck 2.
• Make the Fuel Fund deposit (the Planned amount) before spending on anything else.
• Make the transfers to all five savings accounts before spending on anything else.
• Pay any bills due before the next payday.

• Log every expense right away so Remaining stays accurate.

• Confirm “Left to Budget” is $0 — that’s the whole budget balancing.
• Check the Fuel Fund balance looks right.
• Glance at the five bank accounts to confirm the transfers actually went through.

Quick Help