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.

Haven't installed FlyBudget yet? See Installing FlyBudget.

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; Plaid approves access to real banks) or Connect with SimpleFIN ($1.50 per month), or Connect a European bank with Enable Banking (free for your own accounts): 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. Importing transactions and more about transactions.

3. 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.

4. Plan this month's budget

With your paychecks and bills in place, 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.

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.

Then look around

The dashboard now shows your month at a glance, Reports chart where your money goes, and Goals track what you're saving for. On a self-hosted server you can also use FlyBudget on your phone.

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.