To learn more about what Available money is, and what you can do with it, check out: What is Available money?
This article answers common questions related to your Available balance (formerly called Unallocated).
Why is my Available balance so high?
If your Available looks too high, check if:
1. You recorded or imported income
New income starts in Available.
To give that money a job, create an Envelope Fill.
2. You deleted an Envelope
When you delete an Envelope with a balance, any money left in it goes back to Available.
3. You added or edited an Account
When you:
- Add a new Account, or
- Change an existing Account balance
The money starts in Available.
Use an Envelope Fill to move it into Envelopes.
4. You have Envelopes with negative balances
If an Envelope is overspent (negative), your Available will look higher.
To fix this:
- Use an Envelope Fill
- Add money back to the negative Envelope
This lowers your Available, so it’s closer to what you expect.
Why is my Available balance so low?
If your Available looks too low, check these:
1. You filled Envelopes before recording income
If you filled Envelopes before adding income, Available may drop below what you expect.
To fix this:
- Record your income, or
Move money back to Available using an Envelope Transfer.
2. You added a Credit Card Account
If you added a credit card you pay off monthly, the balance reduces how much you can budget – because that’s money that you owe.
To avoid problems:
- Only fill Envelopes using the Available amount shown
3. Missing Accounts or income
If you forgot to enter:
- An Account, or
- Income
Your Available may look too low.
Add the missing information to fix it.
4. Account balances are not correct
Compare your Goodbudget Account balances with your real bank balances.
If Goodbudget shows less money than you really have:
- Your Available will also be lower
- Edit the Account balance to correct it
5. Unassigned imported expenses
If transactions were imported but not assigned to an Envelope yet, they can affect Available.
Assign those transactions to Envelopes.
Your Available will update automatically.
*This article was written by humans, restructured for scannability using GenAI, and reviewed by humans.
