Expenses
The Expenses section is where you enter your regular monthly costs. BetterBudgets uses these to calculate how much discretionary income you have available for debt payoff and savings.
What to Include
Add any expense that recurs on a consistent basis:
- ›Housing — rent or mortgage payment
- ›Utilities — electricity, gas, water, internet, phone
- ›Transportation — car insurance, gas, transit passes
- ›Groceries — a realistic monthly food budget
- ›Subscriptions — streaming services, apps, gym memberships
- ›Insurance — health, renters/homeowners, life
- ›Childcare — any regular childcare or school expenses
What Not to Include
- ›Debt payments — those go in the Debts section
- ›One-time expenses — don't enter an annual expense as a monthly one (use the frequency selector instead)
- ›Variable splurge spending — dining out, entertainment, shopping are better tracked after the fact, not planned line-by-line
Adding an Expense
Tap Add Expense and enter:
- ›Name — descriptive label
- ›Amount — how much you pay
- ›Frequency — monthly, weekly, annually, etc.
BetterBudgets normalizes everything to monthly.
The Discretionary Difference
Once income and expenses are entered, BetterBudgets calculates your net discretionary income — what's left after taxes and expenses. This is the pool the algorithm works with to build your budget plans. The higher this number, the more aggressive the payoff scenarios it can generate.
Don't underestimate expenses. It's tempting to leave things out to get a "better" plan number, but the plans are only useful if they reflect reality.