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Budget Management

What are Budgets?​

Budgets in udctl help you plan and track your spending over time. You set a budget amount, choose how often it recurs (weekly, monthly, quarterly, or yearly), and udctl automatically calculates your total budget and compares it against actual spending - giving you a clear picture of where your money is going.

Main Features​

Budget Overview​

Your budget list page shows all your budgets at a glance:

  • Progress bars showing how much of each budget has been spent
  • Spent and remaining amounts for each budget
  • Summary sidebar with aggregated totals across all budgets
  • Search to quickly find specific budgets
  • Privacy mode to hide amounts when sharing your screen

Creating a Budget​

  1. Click "Add Budget" to open the creation form
  2. Enter a name (like "Groceries" or "Marketing Q1")
  3. Set the initial amount
  4. Choose a frequency - weekly, monthly, quarterly, or yearly
  5. Pick a start date
  6. Your budget is ready to track

Budget Plans​

A budget plan defines how much money is allocated and how often. You can have multiple plans on a single budget to reflect changes over time.

  • Weekly - Budget resets each week
  • Monthly - Budget resets each month
  • Quarterly - Budget resets every three months
  • Yearly - Annual budget allocation

Changing Your Budget​

Need to adjust your budget mid-period? Add a new plan with the updated amount. udctl handles the transition automatically, so your totals stay accurate even when allocations change.

One-Time Adjustments​

Sometimes you need to add or subtract money outside the regular plan:

  • Bonus - Got extra budget approved? Add a positive adjustment
  • Refund - Received money back? Add it as an adjustment
  • Correction - Made an error? Fix it with an adjustment

Each adjustment includes an amount, date, and optional reason for your records.

How Budget Totals Work​

udctl dynamically calculates your total budget based on:

  1. Initial amount - Your starting balance
  2. Plan allocations - Recurring amounts multiplied by the number of periods elapsed
  3. One-time adjustments - Manual additions or deductions up to today's date

This means your budget total grows automatically as time passes, giving you a realistic view of your available funds.

Budget Detail Page​

Click on any budget to see its full details:

  • Hero section - Budget name, total amount, spent amount, and remaining balance with a visual progress indicator
  • Spending trend chart - An area chart comparing your actual spending against the budget line over 7, 30, or 90 days
  • Expense ledger - All expenses linked to this budget, searchable and filterable by date
  • Budget inspector - A sidebar showing metadata, plan details, and visibility status

Managing Budgets​

Hiding Budgets​

Don't want to see a budget on your main list? Hide it instead of deleting it. Hidden budgets keep their data and can be shown again anytime using the "Show hidden" toggle.

Deleting Budgets​

Deleting a budget permanently removes it. Any expenses linked to the budget remain in your system - they just won't be associated with a budget anymore.

View Modes​

Switch between Monthly view for a period-by-period breakdown and Detailed view for a comprehensive look at plans and adjustments.

Privacy Features​

Blind Mode​

Toggle blind mode to hide all monetary amounts. This is perfect for screen sharing or presentations where you need to demonstrate the app without revealing financial details.

Tips for Success​

  1. Start with your biggest categories - Create budgets for your largest spending areas first (rent, groceries, entertainment)
  2. Use meaningful names - "March Marketing Campaign" is more useful than "Budget 3"
  3. Review the spending chart - The trend chart quickly shows if you're on track or overspending
  4. Add reasons to adjustments - Future you will appreciate knowing why you adjusted a budget
  5. Link expenses consistently - The budget vs. actual comparison only works when expenses are linked to budgets

How Budgets Work with Other Features​

With Expenses​

When you create an expense, you can link it to a budget. The expense amount counts toward that budget's "spent" total, and it appears in the budget's expense ledger.

With Accounts​

Budget accounts in your account list count toward your available spending money, giving you a complete picture of what you can afford to budget.

With Collaboration​

Share budgets with other users through the collaboration system. Shared budgets let team members or family members track spending together.

Getting Started​

  1. Create your first budget - Start with a monthly budget for your most common expense category
  2. Link your expenses - When adding expenses, select the appropriate budget
  3. Check the trend chart - After a week or two, review your spending trend to see how you're tracking
  4. Adjust as needed - Add new plans or one-time adjustments to keep your budget realistic