Rocket Money offers super intuitive budgeting functionality to help you keep your expenses on target. You can start your budget in the mobile app or on our desktop site.
Start Budgeting in the mobile app
1️⃣ From the Dashboard of the mobile app, tap on the Settings "⚙️" icon in the upper left hand corner
2️⃣ Tap Manage Budget to get started
Step 1: Set up your Monthly Income
First up, let's set your monthly income. We'll use this information to help you calculate how much you're saving at the end of each month. We estimate your monthly income based off of transactions from the accounts you linked.
You can drag the slider up and down to change your income, as well the + and - buttons. Don't worry, you will be able to change this at any time. Once you've set the budget, tap on Continue.
Unsure how we got the numbers we did? Tap on View Transactions to see the specific paychecks that we created your monthly income from.
Step 2: Set Up Bills
Next up, we're going to take a look at your bills. Everyone defines bills a bit differently, so this page is customizable. You can add anything that you would consider to be a monthly bill!
Tap on Select Bills to get started.
Based off of the transactions from your linked accounts, we've identified a few services that we think are bills. Select the services that you want to be calculated into your budget as bills.
Missing a bill? Just tap on + Add a Bill and you can add it into your budget. Once you've added all your bills, select Continue with "#" bills.
Based off your transactions, we've estimated what your monthly budget should be. Just like with your income, you can drag the slider up and down, or use the + and - buttons, to adjust this amount. Unsure of how we estimated that amount? Tap on View Transactions!
Step 3: Set up your Monthly Budget
You're almost done! In this last step, you'll complete your budget. Tap on Continue to manage your budget.
The first thing you should do here is select + Add a Budget. We've made some recommendations based off of your spending, but you can add as many budgets as you want! Tap on the + button to add a budget.
After adding a budget, you'll be prompted to choose the amount you want to spend each month for this category. We've estimated an average for you based off of previous spending, but you can drag the slider up and down, or use the + and - button, to edit that amount.
As you change the amount, you'll notice that your Total Budget and your Projected Savings will adjust accordingly as well.
When you're done adding all of your budgets, tap on the X button in the upper right corner of the app to return to the Spending tab.
Glossary of Terms
Monthly Income - This is how much you earn each month. You can edit this by tapping on the filter icon.
Bills & Utilities - This is how much you spend on bills & utilities each month. Everyone has a different definition for what they consider a bill, so you can add/remove services from here depending on your needs. You can edit the amount and the bills included by tapping on the filter icon.
Amount Left After Bills - This amount represents your income minus your bills. We calculate this based off of your income and your bills.
Budget Categories - These categories represent your spending, outside of your bills. You can add as many categories as you want and create custom categories. Tap on a category to edit the set amount.
Total Budget - Your bills & utilities plus the total amount of your budget categories. This represents your overall spending.
Projected Savings - This number represents how much you'll save if you hit your budget. This is calculated based off of your monthly income, bills & utilities, and budget categories.