At the start of a new month, you’ll refresh your Envelopes by filling them with new money.
When you do that:
- Last month’s transactions stay visible.
- Your Envelope balances update with new cash for the current month.
You can automate this process by creating a scheduled Envelope Fill. Date the Fill for the 1st of the month and set it to repeat every month.
Before You Start
When creating your Fill:
- You’ll likely Fill From Available, but you can also fill from Income
- Date: Set to the 1st of the month, or whenever your budget period starts
- Schedule: Set to Every Month, or on the cycle your budget resets (i.e. weekly)
You’ll also choose a refill method. This determines what happens to leftover balances in your Envelopes.
Refill Options Explained
“Add,” the Rollover Option (carry over leftovers)
- Result: Adds your monthly budget amount on top of any remaining balance from last month.
- Examples:
- Add a budget amount of 100 to an Envelope with a current balance of 15 → new balance becomes 115
- Add a budget amount of 100 to an Envelope with a current balance of -50 → new balance becomes 50. (Negative balances get rolled over like positive balances.)
“Set,” the Reset Option (no rollover)
- Result: Resets each Envelope to its monthly budgeted amount and removes leftover balances.
- Examples:
- Set an Envelope with a current balance of 15 to its budgeted amount of 100. Goodbudget will only fill 85 into the Envelope, bringing the new balance to 100
- Set an Envelope with a current balance of -50 to its budgeted amount of 100. Goodbudget will add 150 to the Envelope to make up the overspending and reset the Envelope back to 100.
Note: The Set all option does not automatically fund non-Primary Envelopes. You’ll need to manually choose a refill option for those.
How to Create a Scheduled Envelope Fill
You can create a scheduled Envelope Fill on the web, on iPhone or on Android. Learn how in Step 4. of Goodbudget’s Getting Started Series.
FAQ
Why are my old transactions still there?
Transactions are a running record. The new month updates your balances, not your transaction history.
Which option should I choose?
- Choose Add if you want unused money to carry forward (recommended for most users).
- Choose Set if you prefer a clean reset each month.
*This article was written by humans, restructured for scannability using GenAI, and reviewed by humans.
