> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.finta.io/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Set up your first budget > Create a budget in Finta in a few clicks, read the numbers, and see what's left in each category this month. A budget tells Finta how much you plan to spend in a category each month. Finta then compares that plan with your real transactions, so you can see what you've spent and what's left. > [!NOTE] > > Spent, Available, and pace come from the transactions Finta stores, so they need [storage mode](https://docs.finta.io/getting-started/storage-mode.md). You can turn it on in [Settings → Data](https://app.finta.io/settings/data). Without it, you can still create budgets and set planned amounts in the app. Those numbers show a dash until storage mode is on, and your Budgets table in Sheets, Notion, Airtable, or Coda leaves the Spent, Available, and Rollover columns empty. Asking about budgets through your AI assistant or the API requires storage mode. ## Create a budget **1. Open Budgets** Click **Budgets** in the sidebar. If you haven't set one up yet, you'll see **No budgets yet**. **2. Add a budget** Click **+ Add budget**. **3. Choose what to budget** Pick **Category** to budget one category, like Groceries, or **Group** to budget a whole category group, like Food & Dining. Then choose it from the list. **4. Enter an amount** Enter how much you plan to spend per month. The amount applies from the month you're viewing onward, which is usually the current month. **5. Optional: rollover and goal** Turn on **Roll over what's available** if you want unspent money to carry into next month. Overspending carries forward too. Add a **Goal** if you're saving toward an amount, with an optional date. **6. Save** Click **Add budget**. Repeat for each category you want to track. When you create your first plan, Finta asks how you want to budget: **standard** (set a spending limit per category) or **envelope** (assign the money you have). This page covers standard. For envelope, see [Envelope budgeting](https://docs.finta.io/your-data/envelope-budgeting.md). Your plan covers all your accounts unless you change it, so if one plan is all you need, you never have to think about plans. ## Change a budget amount Open a budget's **⋯** menu and choose **Edit budget** (on a phone, tap the budget's name), then type a new amount. The drawer shows both numbers, such as "This month: $650 · Normal: $600", and lets you choose how far the change reaches: * **Just this month** (the default) changes only the month you're viewing. Your normal amount stays the same. * **From now on** changes the current month and every month after it, so it updates your normal amount too. Past months stay as they were. The Save button names the choice, such as "Save for November" or "Save from November on." You can also edit right in the table. Press **Enter** to save for the month you're viewing only, or **Shift+Enter** to save from now on. The table shows this hint while you edit. If you click away instead, Finta asks which one you meant. > [!NOTE] > > In an envelope plan, edits always apply to the month you're viewing. To change what Finta suggests for future months, edit the **Suggested amount** field instead. ## Read your budget Each row shows four numbers for the month you're viewing: | Column | What it means | | - | - | | **Planned** | What you budgeted for the month. | | **Spent** | What you've spent in that category this month, including pending transactions and net of refunds. | | **Available** | What's left: planned, plus anything rolled over, minus spent. | | **Pace** | Whether you're spending faster than the month is passing. Within 5 percentage points counts as on track. | Use the month arrows at the top to look at earlier months. ## Tips > [accordion] Some of my spending isn't counted > > Transactions without a category don't count toward any budget. Finta lists them separately so you can spot them. Give them a category, or set up a [rule](https://docs.finta.io/your-data/rules.md) so future ones are categorized automatically. > > Spending in a category with no budget shows up as unbudgeted. Add a budget for that category to track it. > [accordion] Can I budget a category and its group? > > Yes. The group's budget covers all of its categories, and each category's budget works as a limit inside it. Totals count that spending once. > [accordion] Can I keep separate budgets for different accounts? > > Yes. Create another plan from the plan menu (the **⋯** button if you only have one plan) with **New plan**, and choose **Selected accounts**. Each plan only counts the accounts you pick. This is also how you leave an account out of a budget. > [accordion] Can I see my budget in Google Sheets, Notion, or Airtable? > > Yes. Add a Budgets table from your destination's page in Finta and choose a plan. It's read-only: Finta writes it, and edits you make there don't sync back. See [Budgets in destinations](https://docs.finta.io/your-data/budgets.md#destinations). > [accordion] Can my AI assistant read my budget? > > Yes. With [Finta MCP](https://docs.finta.io/mcp/overview.md), you can ask things like "How much is left in dining?" See [Budgets](https://docs.finta.io/your-data/budgets.md#what-to-ask) for more prompts. > [accordion] Why does my budget show a dash instead of a number? > > A dash means Finta isn't storing your transactions yet, so it has nothing to add up. Turn on [storage mode](https://docs.finta.io/getting-started/storage-mode.md) in Settings → Data, and Finta pulls in about two years of history for each connection (or everything since the connection's sync start date) and fills in Spent, Available, and pace. Importing can take up to 24 hours, depending on your bank. > > You can watch the import's progress for each bank in [Settings → Data](https://app.finta.io/settings/data). Until it finishes, Spent and Available may look low, because Finta hasn't counted all of your transactions yet. If a bank shows **Backfill failed**, or stays on **Backfilling** for more than a day, email [support@finta.io](mailto:support@finta.io). > [accordion] What happens to my synced budget numbers if I turn storage mode off? > > Spent, Available, and Rollover values already in your Sheets, Notion, or Airtable table stay as they were and stop updating, so your own formulas keep working. A Coda table is rebuilt from what Finta sends each time you sync it. Planned amounts keep syncing everywhere. Delete the old values yourself if you don't want them. This documentation is built and hosted on [Mintlify](https://mintlify.com), a developer documentation platform.