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Getting started

The first time you open FlyBudget, it asks how you'd like to add your accounts. Once you're in, the dashboard shows a Get started with FlyBudget checklist that ticks itself off as you go. These are the same steps, in a bit more detail.

1. Add your accounts​

An account is anything that holds money or debt: a checking account, a credit card, cash, a loan, an investment account or your home.

  • Connect with Plaid (free developer account) or Connect with SimpleFIN ($1.50 per month): import transactions automatically. See Connecting a bank.
  • Add accounts manually: enter a name, pick the type and type today's balance yourself. Transactions are manual too: download CSV files from your bank and import them yourself, or enter each one by hand. Nothing updates on its own.

Checking, savings, cash and credit card accounts count toward your budget. Investments, property and loans are tracked for net worth but stay off budget. More about accounts.

tip

You can skip this step and look around first. Choose Skip for now and look around on the welcome screen; the checklist on the dashboard reminds you where you left off.

2. Bring in your transactions​

Open an account and choose Import CSV to load a file downloaded from your bank's website, or Add Transaction to enter one by hand. FlyBudget spots rows you've already imported, so importing an overlapping file twice is safe. More about transactions.

3. Plan this month's budget​

Open Budget and type an amount in the Planned column for each category you expect to spend on (and for your expected income). To Be Budgeted shows how much money still needs a job. How budgeting works.

4. Add your bills and paychecks​

On Recurring, add the things that repeat, like rent, subscriptions and your salary. Or choose Find recurring and FlyBudget suggests them from the transactions you already have. More about recurring transactions.

5. Categorize automatically​

Rules sort new transactions for you: "if the payee contains Netflix, set the category to Streaming". Create them on Rules, or from any transaction with Create rule. More about rules.

Keep a backup​

Your budget lives on your computer (or your server), so backing it up is up to you. Settings → Data → Download Backup saves everything in one file. More about backups.