Quickstart

This is the shortest path from a fresh account to a working budget for the current month.

When you sign up

When you first sign up, BudgetLabs walks you through 5 quick questions — your name, income, financial goals, current debts, and savings accounts — and uses your answers to set up your first budget for you. Each question is optional; you can skip any step and pick it back up later from the "Finish setting up your account" card on your dashboard.

1) Create your account

1. Go to budgetlabs.io and tap Get the App (or Start free now).
2. Sign up with email, Google, or Apple.
3. Accept the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy on the one-step onboarding screen.
4. Answer the setup questions (or skip any you'd rather handle later).

You'll land on the Dashboard with your first budget already started.

2) Add your categories

A category is anything you plan or spend money on. Most people start with 8–15.

1. Go to Categories (left nav on web, bottom nav on mobile).
2. Tap Add Category.
3. For each category, set:
   • Name (e.g., Groceries, Rent, Salary).
   • Type — income, expense, or savings.
   • Recurrence — monthly, biweekly, weekly, or annual. Leave it as one-off if it's a single-month category.
   • Default amount — the amount you typically plan, used as a starting value each month.
   • Icon — optional, helps you scan the dashboard at a glance.

You don't need to be perfect. Categories are easy to rename, archive, and adjust later.

3) Plan the month

1. Go back to Dashboard.
2. Tap any category card and edit its planned amount for the current month.
3. Adjust until total planned income − planned expenses − planned savings = 0. That's the "zero-based" part.

If you don't get to zero on day one, that's fine. Plan what you know; refine as the month goes on.

4) Log your first transaction

1. Tap the + floating action button on the Dashboard or open Transactions > Add Transaction.
2. Enter the amount, date, description, and category.
3. Save.

The Dashboard updates immediately. The category's progress bar moves; the remaining amount drops.

5) Make it a habit

The whole point is the loop. Open the app once a day for sixty seconds and log what you spent. By the end of the first month, you'll have a real picture of where your money goes — not an estimate, not a feed, the actual answer.

What to do next

• Read The dashboard to understand the numbers you're looking at.
• Read Categories to learn about recurrence and active months.
• If you have a CSV from your bank, see CSV import to bulk-load history.
• If you want shortcuts, see Meet Hank — the AI assistant that can add transactions for you in plain English.