> Every Dollar's Job · Live In Your Budget

# Daily Tracking

## The Problem

"Can I afford this?" is the question a budget exists to answer, and most budgets cannot answer it on a Tuesday afternoon. They know what you planned for the month. They do not know that rent clears Friday, or that you already spent most of the restaurant line. So you check your bank balance, see a big number, and say yes. Then the 28th arrives.

A two-minute daily check fixes this. Not an hour. Two minutes, with the right view open.

## The Two-Minute Check

1. **Look at what came in.** Any new transactions since yesterday? Are they tagged right?
2. **Look at what is coming.** Set the forecast to the end of the budget period and read the projected balance.
3. **Look at the line you are about to spend from.** Is there room in it?

That is it. Adjust if something is off, then close the app.

## Try It: Fix a Tag

1. **Navigate:** Transactions → List
2. **Click:** the actions menu at the end of any row, then "Edit"
3. **Verify:** a panel opens showing Description, Amount, Post Date, and Tag
4. **Select:** Tag — a different category
5. **Click:** "Update"
6. **Verify:** the row now shows the new tag

![Retagging a transaction](/videos/learn/every-dollars-job/module-7/daily-tracking/fix-a-tag.webm)

If you fix the same merchant twice, stop and write a TagMatcher rule for it. Two fixes by hand is one rule you should have written.

## The Forecast: Upcoming Through

A budget page shows what has happened so far. The Upcoming Through setting adds what is scheduled to happen. Set it to the last day of the budget period and every category total includes the bills still to come. The remaining balance becomes a real answer to "what's left," not a snapshot of today.

## Try It: See the Whole Month

1. **Navigate:** Budgets → List
2. **Click:** the current budget
3. **Click:** "Settings", then "Filters"
4. **Type:** Upcoming Through — the budget's end date
5. **Click:** "Apply"
6. **Verify:** the budget summary shows "Upcoming through" followed by that date
7. **Verify:** category totals now include scheduled transactions dated before the end of the period

![Setting Upcoming Through to see the whole month](/videos/learn/every-dollars-job/module-7/daily-tracking/see-the-whole-month.webm)

Use the same setting to answer a shorter question. Set Upcoming Through to your next payday to see whether you clear it. Set it to next Friday to see whether rent is covered.

## The $400 Question

You want to buy something for $400. Here is the full check:

1. Which budget line does it come from?
2. With Upcoming Through set to the end of the period, how much is left in that line?
3. If it is $400 or more, buy it. If not, decide what other line gives up the difference, or wait.

That third step is the budget doing its job. You are not asking the bank whether the money exists. You are asking your plan whether this purchase was the plan.

## Focus on Less

A budget with forty lines is hard to read in two minutes. The Tag filter in Budget Settings shows only the lines you pick, so you can look at just Groceries, Restaurants, and Gas & Fuel and ignore the rest. Once you have a filter you use every day, save it as a Budget Snapshot so it is one click away.

## Try It: Filter to Your Flexible Spending

1. **Navigate:** Budgets → List
2. **Click:** the current budget
3. **Click:** "Settings", then "Filters"
4. **Select:** Tag — Groceries
5. **Select:** Tag — Restaurants
6. **Select:** Tag — Gas & Fuel
7. **Click:** "Apply"
8. **Verify:** only those three categories are shown, and the summary reads "3 tags"

![Filtering a budget to three categories](/videos/learn/every-dollars-job/module-7/daily-tracking/filter-to-flexible-spending.webm)

## Moving Money Between Lines

Over in Restaurants and under in Groceries? Move the money. Lower one line, raise the other, keep the net at zero. That is not failing the budget. That is running it. The only rule is that the total stays at zero, so the money has to come from somewhere you can name.

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**Key Takeaway:** Two minutes a day: check new transactions, set Upcoming Through to the end of the period, and read the line you are about to spend from. Ask the plan, not the bank balance, whether you can afford it.

## Check Your Understanding

1. What does the Upcoming Through setting change on a budget page?
   **Answer:** It adds scheduled transactions dated through that day to every category total, so the remaining amounts include bills that have not cleared yet.

2. You want to spend $400. What do you check before you buy?
   **Answer:** Which budget line it comes from, and how much is left in that line with Upcoming Through set to the end of the period. If it is short, decide which other line gives up the difference, or wait.

3. You corrected the tag on the same coffee shop twice this week. What should you do?
   **Answer:** Write a TagMatcher rule for it so the app tags it correctly on every future import.

4. Why is moving money between budget lines allowed?
   **Answer:** A zero-based budget only requires the total to stay at zero. Lowering one line and raising another keeps every dollar assigned. It is how you run the budget, not a failure.

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[Bills, Big Expenses & Sinking Funds](https://budget.gnar.li/learn/every-dollars-job/module-6/bills-big-expenses-and-sinking-funds.md)
[Insights Dashboard](https://budget.gnar.li/learn/every-dollars-job/module-8/insights-dashboard.md)