Getting Started

Hello and welcome to Clear-Budget. If this is your first time here, then you are in the right place. In this guide you will learn a basic overview of the Budgets Page and the Budget Builder Page. In addition you will learn enough to get started building your very first budget here at Clear-Budget. 

Your Budgets Page:

Once you complete the registration process, you’ll log in to the budgets page below. This is where you’ll begin the simple process of building out your budgets and setting goals to improve your financial future.

This page will display all your individual budgets. Your first step is clicking the + Add Budget button. This will pull up a budget details dialog. 

In the dialog you will fill out information about your budget. This includes the name of your budget (required), a description (optional), how many months the budget lasts and the start date.

•    Budget Name – a descriptive name for your budget. (Example: Jan Budget)
•    Description – Additional details about the budget to emphasize your goals or maybe it’s just your normal budget. (Example: Saving heavily for vacation this month)
•    How many months – From one month to 12 months. Shorter budgets are easier to track but if you want to see the impact of your efforts over the course of a year then you have an option too.
•    Start Date – Select your start date. We recommend the first of any month, however, starting a mid-month budget is possible too.

When you’re done filling in the information, clicking the Add Budget button will navigate you to your budget page. 
 

Budget Building Page:

Welcome to your budget building page. Right now, there’s not much to see. The budget name is at the top. You see that the current budget has been saved along with the date range of your budget and the current fulfilled balance. It’s an empty canvas ready to receive your masterpiece.

To get started select the + Add Budget Item button located at the bottom of the page. This reveals the add budget item menu.

 
You’ve clicked the + Add Budget Item button and the menu slides up. Let’s review what all these options are.

In the Add Budget item menu there are five details to fill out and two options for processing those details. Keep in mind all these details are required before submitting them. Each is just as important as the next when it comes to building your budget.

•    Item Name – This is a custom name you assign. (Example: Income, Netflix, Rent, ect…)
•    Amount – The amount is being added or deducted from your budget.
•    Date – Date of initial occurrence for this budget item. (For recurring items the date is automatically generated for items after this initial occurrence)
•    Recurring – Can choose to set this as a recurring item or a onetime income/expense.  See below for more details about the options in this menu. (Onetime items are not recognized when you want to renew your budget. More on that later.)
•    Category – Select the general category for this item. This helps organize your budget and identify where your funds are being spent.
 

Recurring Menu:

There are 4 options on the recurring menu. Each option provides a way to generate every occurrence of a budget item or if it’s not a recurring item you have the option to Never let it recur.

Note for 1-month budgets: When building a budget that spans only one month it is recommended to still use the recurring feature. While most items will not recur more than once in a one-month time period, when renewing the budget for another month the system will still look for recurring items and transfer them over with dates reflecting the new time period.

•    Never – Creates only one occurrence of the budget item at the specified date.
•    Weekly – Creates budget items for the same weekday every week.
•    Bi-Weekly – Creates budget items for the same weekday every other week.
•    Monthly – Creates budget items for the same day of month every month.

 
Category Menu:

There are many options on the category menu, each offering a general description of the budget item. Neither has any special function other than to categorize your budget item. We recommend selecting any option that vaguely describes your budget item.

Now that you understand how to create a budget and the details of a budget item. Try building out your own budget to see how these features can help you and don’t forget to check out the other guides to learn more.