Envelopes

What an envelope is

An envelope is a named spending category with money assigned to it, the digital version of the classic cash-envelope system. Envelopes are the core of Moniqo’s budgeting system, not a temporary bucket: you fund them, spend from them, and manage them for as long as the category matters to you.

Each envelope tracks two numbers: how much you’ve allocated to it, and how much you’ve spent against it. Moniqo computes the rest: what’s left, and whether it’s overspent.

Explore this section

• Overview: what an envelope is, what it tracks, and a tour of the Envelopes dashboard.
• Understanding Envelope Budgeting: the zero-based budgeting philosophy behind allocation, spending, and why envelopes don’t reset every month.
• Create an Envelope: step-by-step instructions for adding a new envelope.
• Fund an Envelope: allocating money from To Be Budgeted into an envelope.
• Spend from an Envelope: how recording a transaction reduces an envelope’s balance.
• Move Money Between Envelopes: rebalancing your budget when plans change mid-month.
• Manage Envelopes: searching, sorting, and drilling into envelope detail and reports.
• Archive an Envelope: retiring an envelope without losing its history.
• Delete an Envelope Permanently: the irreversible, last-resort way to remove an envelope and its transactions.

Tips for choosing categories

• Start with around 8–10 envelopes. It’s easier to split a broad category later than to manage forty narrow ones from day one.
• Use a recent bank or card statement to estimate realistic starting amounts instead of guessing.
• Set up sinking funds for irregular or annual costs (insurance, gifts, vehicle maintenance) by allocating a small amount to a dedicated envelope regularly, so the lump sum doesn’t blow up your budget when it arrives.