Getting started with Budgetist
This short guide will get you started with setting up your Budgetist account and start your planning journey.
Create your first budget
Section titled “Create your first budget”Once you’ve logged in, you will be greeted with the new budget wizard. Here, you can choose to create a new budget from scratch, or import an existing one. You can also import your budget from YNAB, if you have an existing account there.
Choosing this option will create a new budget with no transactions.
It gives you the option for setting the main currency, the interface language and the budget type.
On the nex step, you can also choose several of the predefined budget categories. Don’t worry, you can always add, rename and remove categories later.
If you have an existing YNAB account, you can import your budget from there. First, download your budget in a .zip format from YNAB web app. Then, upload the file here.
Your transactions will be imported, and you can start using Budgetist right away. Learn about the major differences between Budgetist and YNAB on the migrating from YNAB page.
Enter your liquid funds
Section titled “Enter your liquid funds”In order to start planning your budget, you need to know how much funds you have available. These are the funds in your current/checking accounts, as well as any cash you have on hand.
We offer several ways to enter your funds:
If you have linked your bank accounts, you can import your current balances directly from there. This is the most convenient way to get started.
If you haven’t linked your bank accounts yet, you can do so from the linking bank accounts page.
If you have a CSV file with your transactions, you can import. The file needs to be in a certain format, as described on the importing CSV file.
Of course, you can always enter your account balances and transactions manually.
Allocate your available funds
Section titled “Allocate your available funds”Now that you know how much funds you have available, you can start allocating them according to your priorities.
You can start with your mandatory bills - enter the amount you owe for each bill. Optionally, you can set a target, so that this bill automatically requires the given amount every month.
Then, think about any long-term recurring expenses you have - things like insurance, taxes.
Once this is covered, assuming you have any funds left, you can start planning your Wants. Here goes vacation, holiday gifts, any new gadgets you’d like to afford, or save up for a a new qualification course.
Any leftover money is yours to play with! You can think about setting some aside for an emergency fund, or think about investing it longer-term.
Further Steps
Section titled “Further Steps”Enter your investment accounts. You can further automate your budget with setting targets. You can learn about using custom currencies and investment units