Learn the Dashboard. Build the Payday Habit.

Begin with the amount that normally reaches your account after taxes and deductions. Then choose how often you are paid and enter the next payday. These three entries create the date windows used throughout the dashboard.

How the date logic works

If the current check arrived Friday, June 12 and the next payday is Friday, June 26, the active window is June 12 through June 25. June 26 begins Paycheck 2. A due date inside the active window belongs to the current check.

Enter the next real payday, not a bill due date. If this date is wrong, bills can appear under the wrong paycheck.

This is where the dashboard becomes a realistic paycheck plan. Enter fixed bills, debts, and the living expenses that must come from the paycheck. Leaving out groceries or fuel makes “Available After Bills” look higher than the amount you can actually use.

How to enter common items

For variable expenses, use a realistic planned amount. If groceries are usually between $210 and $240, entering $240 creates the safer plan. Review the estimate each payday and edit it when your household changes.

The top snapshot summarizes the active paycheck. It updates from the setup and expenses you entered.

Available After Bills is not a bank balance. It is the paycheck minus every active payment assigned to this check. It becomes more trustworthy when groceries, fuel, childcare, medicine, and other paycheck expenses are entered rather than kept only in your head.

This meter compares assigned payments with the paycheck amount. It also shows how much remains pending.

• No Bills Assigned: setup exists, but the active window has no entries.
• Bills Pending: the check is not overloaded, but at least one assigned item is not marked handled.
• Tight Check: assigned items use at least 85% of the paycheck.
• Overloaded: assigned items exceed the paycheck amount.
• Clear Path: assigned items are handled and the check remains positive.

The three-check view helps reveal timing problems before they become emergencies. Each card shows the date range, assigned total, pending total, percentage committed, and amount left after bills.

Do not move a bill merely to make one card look better. Confirm that the new due date is allowed by the provider. The cards are planning forecasts based on saved due dates and frequencies.

This is the maintenance area. Use it to review assignments, mark items paid, apply real debt payments, edit changing amounts, and remove mistakes.

The update habit

• After paying a normal bill, confirm it with the provider and then mark it paid here.
• After making a debt payment, apply the real payment so the balance and progress update.
• When a variable expense changes, edit the planned amount before trusting the snapshot.
• If an entry is wrong, remove or correct it instead of compensating with mental math.

Debt Progress uses active saved debts and their balances. It compares starting debt with current debt and tracks the monthly payments freed when debts are paid off.

Starting balances and current balances must stay accurate. The dashboard cannot see lender activity. Apply the real payment after it posts; do not reduce the balance merely because a payment is scheduled.

Smart Funds track goals such as an emergency cushion, car repair, property tax, or Christmas. They are deliberately separate from bill and debt totals.

A Smart Fund does not reduce Available After Bills. First handle real assigned expenses. Then decide whether the remaining money can support the goal. Make the transfer outside the app and update “Already Saved” afterward.

The coach interprets the dashboard numbers. It can explain paycheck pressure, the smallest debt target, bill timing, and whether the displayed remainder supports an extra payment.

Paycheck independence comes from knowing what your money needs to do without waiting for an overdraft, late notice, or automatic draft to make the decision for you. The dashboard supports that skill, but repetition builds it.