No thinking, just acting.
Budgeting made easy.
Smart Zero-Based
Budgeting
01
ENTRY
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Add planned income and expenses
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Edit planned income and expenses.
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Default mode Normal for beginners
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Defined mode Smart after one year of planning
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Planning with Modes
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Handling Accounts
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Up to 16 asset accounts
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Customize each account with a title and opening balance.
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Track credits, debits, and closing balances
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Edit, transfer, or delete accounts.
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Recording Income and Expenses
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6 income categories
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8 income subcategories
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20 expense categories
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54 expense subcategories
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For each entry define amount, comment, category, subcategory, frequency, and associated account
DISPLAY
02
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4 Assistants
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Data Collector
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Account Manager
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Budget Planner
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Payment Tracker
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2 Accounting Methods
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Cash basis accounting
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Accrual accounting
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3 Currencies
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Dollar
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Pound
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Euro
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Statements and Changes
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Annual and monthly income statements
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Income category reports
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Annual and monthly expenses statements
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Expenses category reports
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Edit and delete income and expense entries
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Double-Entry Bookkeeping
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EXPORT
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Income and expense statements (annual/monthly)
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Monthly category statements
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Target-actual comparisons
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Instruction manual
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Data transfer via AirDrop or email
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PDF export in US Letter or A4 format based on your region and selected currency
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Track receivables, payables, provisions, and reserves
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Conduct variance analysis
TRACKING
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Target-Actual Comparison
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Identify budget shortfalls and surpluses
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Maintain a monthly balance
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Monthly Comparison
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Compare monthly income and expenses via charts
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Zero-Sum Game
04
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Track your Zero-Sum progress
ADJUSTMENT
05
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Bubble chart to visualize monthly constraints
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Adjustment button to show expected changes based on yearly constraints
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Solvency checker to verify closing balances of asset accounts
06
SUPPORT
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Notifications to guide and inform
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Workflow presented as a step-by-step process
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Quick-start guide: Your 50-Step Budgeting Journey
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65-page downloadable documentation
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Q&A session available
MoneyLoupe is a comprehensive budgeting tool—serving as a budget planner, expense tracker, and account manager—all in one. From planning to reporting, the app streamlines expense tracking, saving, and cash flow management. MoneyLoupe supports multiple currencies and features stunning charts, printable reports, and detailed insights. It is designed to make budgeting as easy as pie, offering a ready-made template to help you manage your personal finances.
The goal is to provide a solid foundation for developing sound financial judgment. Embrace zero‑based budgeting and never let an unassigned cent slip through the cracks. With MoneyLoupe, you'll gain a better feel for making smart budgeting decisions. “No thinking, just acting” is the motto. Our zero-based budgeting approach encourages you to scrutinize every dollar and justify every expense, helping you avoid overspending and achieve your financial goals.
A quick guide on how to start the budgeting journey
If you follow this quick guide, you are all set for the budgeting journey to financial freedom.
What is zero-based budgeting?
Zero-based budgeting means allocating every dollar of your income to a purpose—whether it’s spending, saving, or debt repayment. Every cent must be accounted for.
If your total income equals your total expenses by year-end, congratulations—you’ve achieved a zero-sum budget and demonstrated control over your finances.
To stay on track, it's crucial to match income with expenses on a monthly basis. Even if you have $500 left over at the end of the month, your budgeting work isn't done until you assign those funds—ideally toward savings or debt reduction. Unassigned money is a missed opportunity.
Managing your finances this way pays off. People who adopt zero-based budgeting often find themselves with less debt and more savings. It's not about the amount you earn, but how you plan.
A sound budgeting method, combined with a reliable template, creates a winning formula. Don’t miss out on this advantage—choose MoneyLoupe’s all-in-one budget book.
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Zero-based budgeting requires you to assign every dollar of income to a specific purpose—be it spending, debt repayment, or saving.
What differentiates cash basis accounting from accrual accounting?
MoneyLoupe combines both methods for good reason. While cash basis accounting increases awareness of actual cash flow, accrual accounting offers a clearer picture of incoming and outgoing payments during a specific accounting period.
Cash basis accounting recognizes income and expenses only when payments are received or made. By contrast, accrual accounting also considers receivables, payables, and provisions. Transactions are recorded even if no money has changed hands yet—what matters is that deposits and withdrawals will occur at some point in the future.
The data collector and account manager operate on a cash basis, while the budget planner and expense tracker are based on accrual accounting.
Anyone searching for a “data collector” label will look in vain. Since the MoneyLoupe home screen displays all collected data, it is, in effect, the data collector. It informs users about actual and planned payments and enables the recording of current income and expenses.
To access the account manager, budget planner, and expense tracker, tap Autopilot, the button at the bottom of MoneyLoupe’s home screen.
Unlike companies, households typically don’t deal with receivables, payables, and provisions—at least not in the strictest sense. Even reserves are rarely considered in formal terms.
Generally, receivables (or accounts receivable) refer to money owed to a company for delivered goods or services—unpaid invoices customers are expected to settle. Payables (or accounts payable) are invoices a company still owes for received goods or services. While payables are always due, provisions are anticipated liabilities that might become due. Reserves, meanwhile, are profits earmarked for specific purposes—funds set aside to prevent spending them on things like share buybacks.
In the context of MoneyLoupe, receivables are income expected in the future—planned but not yet realized. These may include:
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Paychecks
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Side Hustles
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Tangible Assets
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Capital Gains
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Government Grants
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Additional Benefits
Payables are non-discretionary expenses that are planned but not yet realized, such as:
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Dwelling
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Utilities
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Groceries
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Transportation
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Insurance
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Child Care
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Debt Payments
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Savings
Provisions are discretionary expenses that might occur—planned but not guaranteed. These may include:
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Equipment
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Clothing
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Shoes
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Beauty
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Fitness
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Entertainment
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Vacation
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Gifts
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Donations
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Business
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Miscellaneous
Reserves are simply realized savings. By building reserves, you set money aside for unexpected emergencies, major purchases, retirement security, or your children’s college education. While savings—i.e., reserves—are considered expenses in zero-based budgeting, that doesn’t mean the money is gone. It’s still yours, just deliberately allocated.
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Cash basis accounting sharpens your sense of cash flow, while accrual accounting offers a clearer picture of income and expenses over a defined period.
Does MoneyLoupe neglect double-entry bookkeeping?
Not at all. The core principle of double-entry bookkeeping is simple: every entry to one account requires a corresponding entry to another. A debit demands a credit.
In practice, this means every transaction affects both a debit and a credit account. As a result, total debits and total credits are always balanced.
MoneyLoupe fully respects this principle. When you adjust the amounts in profit and loss (P&L) accounts, MoneyLoupe automatically updates the corresponding asset accounts.
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If you decrease expenses, the corresponding asset account is increased automatically.
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If you increase expenses, the corresponding asset account is decreased automatically.
In short, you generally cannot modify asset accounts directly when making corrections to income or expenses—MoneyLoupe handles those adjustments for you to maintain balance.
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Every debit demands a credit—ensuring that debits and credits always stay in perfect balance.
How to break the paycheck-to-paycheck cycle for good?
There’s no guaranteed formula for success—not even MoneyLoupe can promise that. Still, three simple rules may help you get ahead financially over time.
1. Think twice before spending every penny.
Mindful spending is the foundation of lasting financial change.
2. Focus on your needs.
MoneyLoupe helps by clearly distinguishing between non-discretionary and discretionary expenses.
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Non-discretionary expenses are essentials—needs that are usually unavoidable or mandatory.
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Discretionary expenses, on the other hand, are wants—nice to have but not necessary.
Ideally, discretionary expenses should be covered using discretionary income—the money left after you've paid for all necessities.
3. Roll with the punches—tighten your belt when needed.
When facing cash flow challenges, it’s wise to eliminate unnecessary costs. Since discretionary expenses typically have little impact on your household’s core needs, they’re the first to go.
But when times are good, it’s perfectly fine to treat yourself. Splurges like long-distance travel, shopping sprees, or cosmetic procedures can have their place—as long as your basics are covered.
In short, the goal is to age your money.
The more time that passes between earning a dollar and spending it, the better. If your money is aged by a month or more, the paycheck-to-paycheck cycle is effectively broken. You’ll only be spending money that is fully available and unconditional—giving you financial breathing room and peace of mind.
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There’s no guaranteed formula for success—not even with MoneyLoupe at your side.
Which common financial strategy is worth considering?
There’s no shortage of financial strategies out there. In principle, each can serve its purpose—especially if it helps a household escape the debt trap and achieve greater financial stability. Still, one approach has stood out for good reason: the 50/30/20 budget rule.
Simply put, this rule suggests allocating your after-tax income as follows:
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50% to needs
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30% to wants
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20% to savings
How does this relate to MoneyLoupe?
For MoneyLoupe, needs include all non-discretionary expenses and non-discretionary debt payments. These are your must-pay bills: housing, utilities, groceries, transportation, insurance, child care, capital losses, bank charges, taxes, and loan repayments.
Half of your after-tax income should cover these obligations. If you're spending more than that, it may be time to downsize your lifestyle.
Wants, on the other hand, are all the things not essential for survival. These are your discretionary expenses, including categories like equipment, clothing, shoes, beauty, fitness, entertainment, vacations, gifts, donations, business expenses, and miscellaneous items.
Even clothing and shoes are considered wants—unless you're lacking essentials. In times of hardship, charities can often help with basic garments and footwear.
Why savings are non-negotiable
Though savings might feel like an optional goal, the 50/30/20 rule treats them as essential. Start with an emergency fund:
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A basic emergency fund should cover one month of average expenses.
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A fully funded emergency fund should cover three months.
After that, prioritize retirement savings and—if relevant—a college fund. Only once these are in place should you focus on savings for major purchases.
Unlike MoneyLoupe, the 50/30/20 rule also treats additional debt payments as a form of savings. Once you’ve made the minimum required payments (counted under “needs”), any extra payments toward debt reduce the principal and future interest owed—thus improving your long-term financial health.
Crush your debt, grow your savings.
Master your cash flow with our intuitive expense tracker.