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Forecast your cash flow without building a budget
BalanceWhiz is a forecasting tool, not a budgeting tool. It does not tell you how much you are allowed to spend in each category. It shows where your checking balance is headed based on what is coming in and going out.
Budgeting organizes money into spending plans or categories. Forecasting organizes expected cash movement by date. BalanceWhiz does the second one. Whether you also keep a budget or do not budget at all, the forecast answers a different question: what will actually be in checking on a particular date?
Follow the dates
You do not set a spending limit for groceries, dining, or any other category. You enter the checking balance you have now, then the income, bills, and transfers you expect, each with a date.
A paycheck, a mortgage payment, a transfer to savings, and a property-tax bill all land on real days. The forecast lines them up so you can see the balance before and after each one.
See what is already spoken for
Today’s balance can include money that already has a job. It may be committed to a bill due before the next deposit, or to a transfer you plan to make.
Those amounts are still in checking today. The forecast shows when they leave, and what the balance looks like afterward. The forecast makes it easier to see that some of today’s balance is already spoken for.
See what will actually be available
What remains is the future checking balance: what will be in the account on that date, after the movements you entered.
That gives you a better number to work from when deciding whether to spend, save, or move money. If you want to separate the cushion you want to keep from what can leave checking, read What cash is safe to spend or move.
Add what changes the balance
Start with your checking balance and the items that move it. Recurring income and bills can be entered once and roll forward. Larger or irregular expenses go on the date you expect to pay them.
You do not need to categorize every purchase, and you do not need to decide category spending limits. When everyday spending drifts from the forecast, update your actual checking balance and keep looking forward.
The longer view of that balance is on Learn more.