The Budget page is where your spending plan meets reality. You set a limit for each spending category, and as you import bank statements, ZhanPlan fills in your actual spending against those limits — showing you exactly where you stand, in real time.
How to Set Up Your Budget
Click Budget in the sidebar. If you are setting up your budget for the first time, all category limits will be zero. To set a limit:
- 1Click the pencil icon or the amount field next to any category
- 2Enter your monthly spending limit for that category
- 3Press Enter or click Save
- 4The limit appears immediately with a progress bar showing actual vs budget
You do not need to fill in every category at once. Start with the categories where you already know your spending — housing, utilities, transportation — and fill in the rest over time.
The Budget Page Layout
Each category row on the Budget page shows:
- Category name and icon
- Budget limit — what you planned to spend
- Actual — what you have spent so far this month (from bank imports)
- Remaining — how much budget you have left
- Progress bar — visual representation of actual vs limit
- Status — green if under budget, amber if close, red if over
How Actual Spending Updates
Every time you import a bank statement and save transactions, your spending totals on the Budget page update automatically. If you spend $47 at a restaurant and import the transaction, your Dining Out actual amount increases by $47 immediately.
This real-time feedback is the key to making budgets work. You can see your situation at any point in the month — not just at the end when it is too late to adjust.
Import your bank statement every week or two throughout the month, not just at the end. The Budget page is only useful if it reflects current reality. Monthly-end imports mean you see the damage after it is done.
Budget vs Actual: The Numbers That Matter
The two numbers you want to watch closely:
- Remaining — if this goes negative, you have overspent your category limit. This is not an emergency — it is information. Now you know where to pull back.
- Percent used — if you are at 80% of your Dining Out budget halfway through the month, you have a decision to make.
The 6-Month View
At the top of the Budget page, you can toggle to see a 6-month comparison of your actual spending across categories. This view shows patterns over time — which months you stay within budget, which categories consistently run over, and where your spending is trending.
Use the month picker to shift the 6-month window backward. You can see any 6-month period in your import history.
Budget Auto-Roll
Your budget limits do not expire at the end of the month. ZhanPlan automatically rolls your budget forward — every new month starts with the same limits you set last month. You only need to update a limit when you want to change it.
How to Add a Custom Category
If none of the 17 default categories fits a spending area in your life, you can add a custom category. When editing any transaction, type a new category name in the category field. It will appear on your Budget page as a custom category row, and you can set a limit for it just like any default category.
Building a Budget That Works
Start with what you know. If you import a few months of statements before setting your budget, you can see what you actually spent and use that as your starting point. A realistic budget based on real numbers is more likely to work than an aspirational one.
Then identify two or three categories to reduce. You do not need to cut everything at once. Pick the categories with the most room to improve and set a slightly lower limit — use the historical spending as your benchmark.
Do I need to set a budget for every category?
No. You can leave any category with a zero limit, which means no budget has been set. ZhanPlan will still track actual spending in that category — you just will not see a budget vs actual comparison. Set limits for the categories you most want to control.
What happens if I go over budget?
Nothing automatic happens — there are no alerts or blocks. The category row turns red to show the overage. You can see how much over you went and use that to inform next month's spending decisions.
Can I set different budgets for different months?
Not directly — budgets are not month-specific by default. If your December spending in Gifts & Donations is always higher, you can temporarily increase that category's limit in November and reset it in January. The 6-month view helps you plan for these seasonal variations.