After signing in, you'll be taken to the dashboard. If you don't have a budget set up yet, you'll see a setup card prompting you to enter your income details, amount, pay frequency, and next pay date. Fill those in and hit Save to get started.
Once your income is set up, you can add budget items using the + Add Item button, or group them under categories using + Category.
A category is a grouping header, like "Housing" or "Food". It helps organize your budget but doesn't have an amount itself.
An item is an individual expense, like "Rent" or "Groceries". Items have an amount, a frequency, and a priority (essential or discretionary).
Essential items are fixed or necessary costs, rent, utilities, insurance, loan payments.
Discretionary items are flexible spending, dining out, subscriptions, clothing, entertainment.
The distinction helps BudgetMeadow calculate your truly disposable income, what's left after all essentials are covered.
Premium users can log individual spend entries directly against any budget item on the dashboard. Click + Add a spend beneath the item, type an optional label (for example "Aldi" or "Gas station"), press Enter to move to the amount, enter the amount, then press Enter to save. You can add as many entries as you like. The running total updates immediately and shows how much of your budget you have used.
To edit an entry, click directly on the label or amount text and type your change, then press Enter. To delete an entry, click the trash icon next to it.
Your spend entries feed automatically into the History page as your actual figures for the month. They reset at the start of each new month.
On the free plan, you can record a single actual figure per item directly in the History page at the end of the month.
Click the checkmark button on the left side of any item card. The item turns gray with a Done label so you can see at a glance which bills you have already taken care of this period. Click it again to unmark it.
When adding or editing an item, fill in the Goal Target field with the total amount you are saving toward, and the Amount Saved field with what you have put away so far. A progress bar will appear on the item card showing your percentage complete and estimated months to finish.
If your goal has a deadline, select a Due Month from the dropdown and enter the Amount Remaining. BudgetMeadow will automatically calculate how much you need to save each period to hit the target on time and set that as the item's cost.
Click + Add Item and change the Type to Debt. You can enter the item name, your regular payment amount, frequency, interest rate, and minimum payment. A Debt Overview panel will appear at the bottom of your dashboard summarising all your debts.
Yes, Premium users can create up to 5 budgets. This is useful if you want to keep a household budget separate from a side business, or compare different financial scenarios. Use the budget switcher at the top of the dashboard to switch between them.
Go to your Profile page and click + Add Income Source. You can add up to 4 income sources per budget, each with its own label, amount, frequency, and next pay date. This feature is available to Premium users.
Once added, a Paycheck Breakdown card appears on your dashboard listing every paycheck expected this calendar month across all your income sources.
Premium users see a Paycheck Breakdown card on the dashboard that lists every paycheck falling in the current calendar month from all income sources, including the exact pay date and amount. The income total at the top of the page is calculated from these actual paychecks, so a month with 3 bi-weekly paychecks will show a higher income than a 2-paycheck month.
You can also override any individual paycheck amount by clicking the edit icon next to it. This is useful for recording overtime or a bonus. The override applies to the current month only and reverts automatically next month.
You have two options:
New items and categories always appear at the top of the list when first added.
The History page shows a month-by-month breakdown of your budget vs actual spending. Use the arrows to navigate between months. This is available to Premium users.
Insights gives you a visual summary of your spending patterns over time, trends by category, over/under budget comparisons, and a 6-month rolling average. It's designed to help you spot habits you might not notice month to month. This is available to Premium users.
The free plan includes one budget with up to 200 items and categories, income tracking, savings goals, debt tracking, and the main dashboard view. You can also record a single actual figure per item in the History page each month.
Go to your Profile page and click Cancel Subscription. Your Premium access continues until the end of your current billing period. You won't be charged again after that.
Go to your Profile page and scroll to the Security section. Enter your current password and your new password, then click Save.
Alternatively, sign out and use the Forgot Password link on the login page.