Fixed costs are the bills that come back on a schedule: rent, phone, insurance, loan payments, subscriptions. They come out of your income first, and what's left is split between spending and saving.
How each charge is counted
- At today's price. Each ticked charge counts at what it costs now, so when a bill goes up or down, your plan follows on its own.
- Spread out by the month. A charge that isn't monthly counts its monthly share: a yearly fee counts one twelfth each month, shown as "a month, spread out".
- Your share only. A charge you split with someone counts only your share, shown as "your share of" the whole charge. Parts you ignore don't count.
- Cancelled ones cost nothing. Once a charge you marked cancelled reaches its stop date, it no longer counts.
Loan payments count as fixed costs too. A ticked loan payment shows as paid once the payment goes out, even though loan payments are filed as a kind of transfer.
The Fixed costs tab
On Budgets, the Fixed costs tab shows what your charges cost a month, plus the buffer. Below that, this month on its own: what's been paid and what's still to pay.
Then one list that adds up to the total, grouped by where each charge stands this month:
Heading | What it means |
|---|---|
Not seen yet | It was expected earlier this month and hasn't shown up. |
Still to come | It's due later this month. |
Paid | It's been charged this month. |
Not due this month | It comes less often, like every 3 months or yearly. |
Looks finished | We haven't seen it for a while. Choose Take out to remove it from the plan. |
Cancelled | You marked it cancelled. Choose Take out to tidy up the plan. |
Change your fixed costs
Choose Edit fixed costs
On the Fixed costs tab, choose Edit fixed costs.
Tick what belongs
Tick or untick charges under Bills and utilities and Subscriptions. Tick all and Untick all work on each list.
Check the total and save
The bottom shows the new monthly total and what your savings target becomes. Choose Save.
Missing a charge? In the same dialog, choose Add a charge we missed, find it in your transactions and say how often it comes. When it's a cost, it's ticked for you once it's added. See add a recurring charge.
Recurring charges you haven't ticked are listed under Recurring charges not in your plan, with Add beside each. Until you add them, they count as everyday spending. When a new one appears after you made your budget, a hint offers Add to fixed costs.
The buffer
Bills move a little: a colder month, a longer phone bill, a price bump. The buffer is a cushion on top of your fixed costs so that doesn't break the plan. On the Fixed costs tab, choose the buffer button (it reads Buffer 5%, for example, or Add a buffer), then pick 5% buffer, No buffer or Set my own, up to half again your fixed costs.