Budget rollover
Carryover · Rollover budgetBudget rollover is the carrying of a spending line's unspent or overspent balance into the next month, instead of starting each month from the planned amount alone. A line under by $80 opens the next month with $80 more than its planned amount; a line over by $60 opens with $60 less.
What is budget rollover?
A budget line has two ways to start a month. Without rollover, the line resets: whatever was left or overspent last month is forgotten, and the month opens at the planned amount. With rollover, last month's balance carries: the month opens at the planned amount plus what was left, or minus what was overspent.
A line that carries has a running balance. The balance is what carried in, plus this month's planned amount, minus what has been spent so far. Over a stretch of under-months it grows; a month that overspends draws it down, and it can go below zero.
On spending that lands unevenly, such as clothing or car repairs, an under-month is money waiting for a later bill, and a carry keeps it on the line. On spending that is much the same each month, such as groceries, last month's leftover has no bill waiting for it, and a reset drops it.
How budget rollover works, with numbers
A groceries line is planned at $500 a month. In September, $420 is spent, so the line ends the month $80 under. In October the line resets and opens at $500, or carries and opens with $580 available: the $80 left over plus October's $500.
Had September gone the other way, with $560 spent, the line would end $60 over. A reset still opens October at $500; a carry opens it with $440 available.
- Planned, September
- $500
- Spent, September
- − $420
- Unspent at month end
- $80
- Planned, October
- + $500
- Available in October, with rollover
- $580
Why budget rollover matters
The setting decides what an under-month means. On a line that resets, $80 unspent in September is $80 the line no longer counts. On a line that carries, it is $80 the line still has, and a $600 bill in October reads as $20 over the $580 available rather than $100 over the $500 planned.
It also decides what an over-month means. With rollover, an overspent September lowers what October opens with, so the overage comes out of the next month's amount.
Budget rollover in Taiga Finance
In Taiga Finance a spending line on the Plan is set to “Resets” or “Carries over”. Under “Carries over” it reads the line's available balance, such as “$580 available”: what carried in from earlier months, plus this month's planned amount, minus what has been spent so far. An overspent line carries a negative balance.
A line set to carry over is tagged ROLLOVER in its row; the tag's hover hint reads “Unspent budget rolls into next month”, with the available balance appended when the balance isn't zero. “Set…” beside the balance, offered in the current month only, opens an inline editor that sets the available balance to a typed figure.
A savings line on the Plan always carries. Its “Resets” option is greyed out, with the hint “Savings always carry”, and it offers no “Set…”, since the fund owns that balance.
Plan & goals →Key takeaways: Budget rollover
- Budget rollover carries a line's unspent or overspent balance into the next month; a reset starts each month from the planned amount alone.
- A line that carries has a running balance: what carried in, plus this month's planned amount, minus what has been spent so far.
- Under by $80 on a $500 line, a rollover line opens the next month with $580 available; a reset line opens at $500.
- In Taiga Finance, a spending line on the Plan is set to Monthly, which resets each month, or Rollover, which shows the line's available balance.
Questions about Budget rollover
What is budget rollover?
Carrying a budget line's unspent or overspent balance into the next month. A $500 line that ends a month $80 under opens the next month with $580 available; one that ends $60 over opens with $440. Without rollover the line opens at $500 either way.
Does Taiga Finance roll over unspent budget?
Yes, per spending line. On the Plan, a spending line is set to Monthly, which resets each month, or Rollover, which carries the balance and shows it as an available figure, such as “$580 available”. An overspent line carries a negative balance.
Should a budget category roll over or reset each month?
The two settings read a month differently. With rollover, unspent money stays on the line as an available balance, and an overage lowers what the next month opens with. With a reset, the line opens at its planned amount every month either way. In Taiga Finance the setting is made line by line.