Understanding your dashboard: leftover, spent, and cycle close

The Budgeto dashboard is built to answer one question at a glance: how am I
doing this cycle? This guide explains the key numbers and what happens when a
cycle ends.

 

Leftover and spent

 

Two numbers do most of the work:

 

• Leftover — what's left to spend before your next payday.
• Spent — how much has left your budget so far this cycle.

 

Because both are scoped to your budget cycle, they already account for the
period your current pay needs to cover. There's no mental math to do — leftover
is simply what you've got left until you get paid again.

 

Reading the dashboard day to day

 

The habit is meant to be light:

 

1. Open the dashboard.
2. Read your leftover.
3. Carry on.

 

You don't need to study it. A daily glance is plenty to keep you aware and help
you make good spending calls in the moment.

 

What cycle close means

 

When your next pay lands, the current cycle closes and a new one kicks off
automatically on your anchor date. Cycle close is a natural checkpoint:

 

• Your spent total for the cycle is final — honest feedback on how it went.
• A fresh cycle starts with your income and recurring entries already applied.
• You begin again with a clean leftover number.

 

Make the most of cycle close

 

Take two minutes at each cycle close to glance at what you spent before moving
on. Over a few cycles, that small reflection is where real budgeting progress
comes from.

 

Going deeper

 

If you want longer-term context, Budgeto can show historical review and trends
across past cycles. For how to use trends without overthinking them, read
Reading your spending trends without overthinking it.