Budget Builder

A budget you can actually keep

Plan a month in Kenyan shillings, track it against your bank and M-Pesa statements, and carry what is left into the next period.

Open the budgetSee the planner
Free with an account. Your budget stays in your browser unless you sign in to sync it.
The budget overview on a phone
Start Somewhere

A sample budget, not a blank page

Four complete budgets written for Kenyan incomes. Pick the closest, and every line rescales to what you actually earn.

Pick a sample
  1. First jobKES 45,000
    One earner · Renting · No dependants
  2. Employed, living aloneKES 85,000
    One earner · Renting · Supporting family
  3. Family with school feesKES 220,000
    Two incomes · Children · Termly fees
  4. Business, irregular incomeKES 120,000
    Self-employed · Uneven months · Bigger buffer
Fixed and caps Everyday Saving
Zero-Based

Every shilling given a job

Fixed bills, caps, everyday spending and saving, each with what is budgeted, what is spent and what is left.

  • Fixed bills
  • Family support caps
  • Everyday spending
  • Saving lines
See the categories
The budget categories table with budgeted, spent and left columns
Month To Month

What is left carries forward

Unspent money rolls into next month's line and an overspend follows you until it is covered. A cap does not carry: a limit belongs to its period.

One grocery line, three months
  1. Month 1KES 30,000 budgetedKES 6,000 left
  2. Month 2KES 30,000 budgeted + KES 6,000 carriedKES 2,000 over
  3. Month 3KES 30,000 budgeted − KES 2,000 carriedKES 2,000 left

Illustrative figures · caps and income do not carry

Against The Statement

Your statements fill in the actuals

Upload a statement and spending lands on the categories you budgeted, with a pace check through the month and the cash flow behind it.

  • Spending pace
  • Cash flow
  • To review queue
  • Period close
How statements are read
The budget reports view with spending grouped for the period
Built For Here

The lines a Kenyan budget actually has

  1. 01

    Family support as a cap

    Support for parents and relatives is budgeted as a maximum for the period with a log of what was given, because the useful number is the limit, not a forecast.

  2. 02

    School fees as a sinking fund

    Budget into the fees line every month, let the balance build, and draw it down in the term the payment falls due.

  3. 03

    M-Pesa and bank in one period

    Till and paybill narrations are read into the same categories as the bank statement, and a transfer between your own accounts is not counted as spending.

Start this month

Build the month, then plan the years

The budget is where this month's money is decided. Send it to the planner and the same figures carry into net worth, goals and retirement.

Open the budgetOpen the plannerFree sign-in required
Related
Statement AnalyzerDebt payoffNet pay calculator