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Creating your first budget

1. After signing up, you'll be prompted to create your first budget
2. Give it a name (e.g., "Family Budget" or "My Budget")
3. Add your income sources - tell us how much you make and how often (monthly, bi-weekly, etc.)
4. Go to the Budget page and click "+ Add Category" to add expense categories
5. For each category, enter a name and your planned monthly amount
6. Optionally, add an AI description to help categorize transactions automatically

Tip: Start simple with 5-10 categories. You can always add more later.

Understanding The Scoop (Dashboard)

The Scoop is your customizable dashboard. You can:

• Add widgets - Click "Add Widget" to add different views of your budget
• Drag and drop - Rearrange widgets by dragging them
• Widget types - Danger Zone (overspent categories), Spending Pace, Category jars, Savings Goals, and more
• Category widgets - Click to cycle through views: remaining, per-week, per-day, or percentage

Base Budget vs Monthly Overrides

This is what makes LollyBudget different:

• Base Budget ("Usual Amount") - Your plan. What you normally spend each month. Changes here affect ALL months.
• Monthly Override ("This Month") - Temporary changes for just this month. Need extra grocery money in December? Override it.

The magic: Monthly overrides automatically reset. Next month, your base plan comes right back.

Editing a category

Hover over any category row and click the edit icon (pencil) to:

• Change the category name
• Update the usual amount (affects all months)
• Add or edit the AI description (helps with transaction categorization)
• Delete the category (link at bottom of modal)

Covering overspending with transfers

When a category is overspent, a "Transfer" button appears. Click it to:

1. See how much you're over
2. Choose which categories to pull money from
3. Use quick-fill buttons: "Use all" or "Cover rest"
4. Click "Cover Overage" when the amounts look right

Transfers are linked - undoing one reverses both the source and destination in a single click.

Change History & Undo

Every budget change is tracked. Click on a category to see its management options:

• Full history of changes with timestamps
• Who made each change (useful when sharing budgets)
• Individual "Undo" buttons for each change

How bank connections work

We partner with Teller to securely connect to your bank. Here's what you need to know:

• We never see your password - You log in directly with your bank
• Read-only access - We can see transactions, but can't move money
• Bank-level security - Same encryption your bank uses
• Automatic sync - Transactions appear within hours, usually faster

Connecting your first account

1. Go to the "Banks and Cards" page from the sidebar
2. Click "Connect Bank" (or "Link Your First Bank" if no accounts connected)
3. Search for your bank
4. Log in with your bank credentials
5. Select which accounts to connect

Most banks connect instantly. Some require a few minutes to sync historical transactions.

Troubleshooting sync issues

If your transactions aren't appearing:

• Wait a bit - Some banks take up to 24 hours for new transactions
• Check connection status - Look for "Action Required" warnings on the Banks page
• Reconnect if needed - Click the "Reconnect" button if your bank shows an error

Still having issues? Contact us and we'll help.

How Credit Cards Work

In LollyBudget, money is "spent" when you swipe your credit card, not when you pay the bill. Here's why:

• No double-counting - If we counted both your CC purchases AND your CC payment, every dollar would be counted twice
• Spending is tracked at the point of purchase - When you buy groceries with your credit card, that transaction counts toward your Groceries category immediately
• CC payments are internal transfers - Paying your credit card bill just moves money from your bank account to your CC. It's not new spending.

This is how all zero-based budgets work - LollyBudget handles it automatically so you don't have to think about it.

Why Are My CC Payments Faded?

You'll notice that credit card payments appear faded in your transaction list. This is intentional:

• They're marked as internal transfers - LollyBudget automatically detects CC payments and flags them
• They're excluded from your budget spending total - Because the spending was already counted when you made the purchase on the card
• Nothing is wrong - This is the correct behavior that prevents double-counting your expenses

If a payment is incorrectly faded (or a non-payment isn't faded), you can override the transfer status on the transaction.

Tracking Credit Card Debt

If you had existing credit card debt when you started using LollyBudget:

1. Go to the "Banks & Cards" page
2. Find your credit card and set an "Opening Balance" - this is your starting debt
3. When you pay more than your tracked CC spending, the extra amount is "Debt Paydown"

Debt paydown shows in your budget under the Debt Payments section.

Credit Card Tracking Modes

Each credit card can be set to one of three tracking modes on the Banks & Cards page. Pick the one that matches your situation:

• Paid in Full — You pay off the full balance every month. No debt tracking needed. CC payments are simply marked as internal transfers and excluded from spending. This is the default.
• Paying Down — You're actively paying off existing debt on this card. LollyBudget calculates your debt paydown each month (the amount you pay beyond your tracked spending) and shows a progress bar so you can see your balance shrinking over time.
• Watch — You're not sure if your balance is going up or down. LollyBudget will track the trajectory and warn you if the balance is growing month over month, so you can decide when to take action.

You can change modes at any time. If you start paying off a card, switch from "Watch" to "Paying Down" to see your progress.

Interest & Fees

Interest charges and fees appear as transactions on your credit card:

• Categorize them as "Interest & Fees" - Create this budget category if you don't have one
• They count toward your tracked spending - This is accurate, because interest is a real cost you're paying
• They affect your debt paydown calculation - Interest increases your tracked CC spending, so more of your payment goes to "covering" interest rather than paying down debt

Inviting someone to your household

1. Go to Settings → Household
2. Scroll to the "Invite Someone" section
3. Enter their email address and click "Send Invite"
4. They'll receive an email with instructions to join

Once they join, they get access to all your budgets, bank accounts, and transaction history. It's free for them - your subscription covers it.

Roles: Admin vs Member

• Admin (Owner) - Can invite/remove members, create/delete budgets, manage everything
• Member - Can view and edit budgets, connect their own banks, make budget changes

Admins can change member roles from the Household settings page.

Who changed what?

When sharing a budget, every change is tracked:

• Who made each change (shown with avatar/initials)
• When they made it (timestamp)
• What they changed

No more "Who moved my grocery money?" - now you'll know.

Leaving a household

If you're a member (not the owner):

1. Go to Settings → Household
2. Click "Leave Household" at the bottom
3. Type "LEAVE" to confirm

You can start your own household with a 14-day free trial, or join another household.