Build a budget you can check on payday

The opening example is deliberately ordinary: one salary, three instalments and a few household costs. Here is how to read it.

AfterEMI · Updated 7 October 2026

The ₹35,000 example

Imagine a month with take-home pay of ₹35,000. The instalments are ₹8,500 for a home loan, ₹3,200 for a two-wheeler and ₹2,000 for a personal loan. Together, these are ₹13,700. Rent, groceries and transport add another ₹13,000.

The dashboard includes ₹13,700 + ₹13,000 + ₹1,449 = ₹28,149 of outflow. Subtract that from ₹35,000 and it shows ₹6,851 left. The ₹299 paid recharge is not in that result.

Why the result is not a bank balance

A bank balance can include money from a previous month, transfers and payments you have already made. This tracker only knows the entries shown. It does not read bank transactions. In this example, if you want the paid recharge included as monthly spending, add ₹299 to Other expenses. The result becomes ₹6,552.

Replace the example in a sensible order

1. Change salary first, using take-home pay for the selected month.
2. Replace or remove the sample loans. Use actual monthly instalments, not the outstanding loan principal.
3. Review recurring costs. Combine small purchases in a labelled category if that is easier to maintain.
4. Add unpaid bills once. Review their status and dates; the tool does not automatically mark them overdue.
5. Check for missing costs before treating the remaining amount as available money. Save the month.

When a number is still an estimate

You may not know the exact grocery or electricity bill at the start of a month. Use your own estimate, label it clearly and replace it when the actual amount is known. The tool treats an estimate exactly like a confirmed amount; it cannot tell them apart.

If you change a figure temporarily to explore a possibility, restore it before saving your actual plan. There is no separate scenario history. Use a PDF if you want a record of the figures before changing them.