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THE BUDGETING WIZARD

Reading the Budget Summary

The Summary screen is the review step at the end of the wizard. Check your 50/30/20 health bars, scan the allocation chart, toggle between monthly and per-deposit views, and export.

3 min read

Budget Summary is the final screen of the wizard. It isn't an input step. It shows you what you just built, scored against common benchmarks.

What to look at

  • 50/30/20 health bars — needs vs wants vs savings+debt, with colour-coded feedback.
  • Allocation donut chart — a visual split across the major buckets so you can spot where your money is actually going.
  • Monthly / per-deposit toggle — switch between the two views depending on which mental model you prefer.
  • Export buttons — PDF, Excel, and CSV downloads (Pro and Team plans).

Good to know

The Budget Summary screen requires Pro. On Free, you'll see an upgrade nudge at this step with a preview of the dashboard.

Tip

Export a PDF at the end of each month and keep a folder. Having 12 of these at year-end is the fastest way to see trends without digging through spreadsheets.

More in The budgeting wizard

Picking a strategy in the Debt Destroyer (Step 9)

Step 9 lets you choose Snowball or Avalanche. Both use the same monthly budget — only the order of attack differs.

Using the Safety Net step (Step 7)

The Safety Net step sets your emergency fund target and tells Payday Audit how much to allocate each income deposit.

Using Workplace Investment Matching (Step 8)

Step 8 helps you track workplace investing and employer match amounts that are already handled before your take-home income arrives.