Budget: the surplus envelope
The Plan section, which includes Budget, is part of Porul Premium, with a 7-day free trial. See Pricing.
The problem
Section titled “The problem”Many budgets ask you to divide your income into a dozen categories up front, then punish you when real life doesn’t match. You spend a month fixing the plan instead of using it.
Porul takes a simpler view. Some money is already spoken for (rent, EMIs, insurance). What is left is yours to steer. That leftover is your surplus.
How Porul handles it
Section titled “How Porul handles it”The surplus envelope
Section titled “The surplus envelope”Surplus = this month's income + carry-over − this month's fixed bills- Income is what you have logged as income this month.
- Fixed bills are the bills you set up under Daily Life Cost. Monthly bills always count. Quarterly and yearly bills count in the month they fall due.
- Carry-over is an optional setting. When it is on, last month’s income minus last month’s expenses is added.
The number at the top of the Budget tab is your live unallocated surplus: what remains after everything you have planned and actually done this month.
Three envelopes inside the surplus
Section titled “Three envelopes inside the surplus”| Envelope | What it is for | It fills when you… |
|---|---|---|
| Discretionary Buffer | Everyday spending | Log expenses that aren’t bills or loan payments |
| Loans | Planned prepayments on loans | Log a loan prepayment |
| Goals | Monthly contributions to your goals | Add money to a goal from the Budget page |
The key idea is that plans are soft guides. Setting a plan never locks your money. Your surplus goes down only when you actually spend, pay or save. For the buffer, Porul holds back whichever is larger: what you planned or what you have really spent. If you overspend, the surplus can go below zero, and Porul shows that as a real deficit rather than hiding it.
The surplus is shown in one of three states: surplus available, fully balanced (every unit of surplus has a job) or deficit.
Loans and goals from the Budget
Section titled “Loans and goals from the Budget”- Loans: the Loans card lists planned prepayments due this month. One tap logs them as paid, or use Log on a loan to pay a custom amount, capped at your available surplus. See Loans.
- Goals: the Goals card works the same way for your monthly contributions, also capped at your available surplus. See Goals.
Because goal contributions come only from the Budget page, your surplus stays the single source of truth for what is free to use.
Your savings
Section titled “Your savings”The Savings section shows money you have put towards goals, grouped by goal, plus Other Savings (piggy-bank money you logged on the Kakeibo screen). You can withdraw from any of them. The withdrawal is recorded and returns to your income.
Month-end leftover
Section titled “Month-end leftover”At the start of a new month, Porul checks your Discretionary Buffer. If you planned 1,200 and spent 1,100, the unused 100 is added to your income for the new month as Last Month Leftover.
Example
Section titled “Example”Your month starts like this:
| Income | 5,000 |
| Fixed bills | 1,800 |
| Surplus | 3,200 |
You plan a Discretionary Buffer of 1,200. Nothing is spent yet, so Porul holds back the planned 1,200 and your live unallocated surplus is 2,000.
Over the month:
- You spend 700 on everyday things: the plan (1,200) is still larger, so the surplus stays 2,000.
- You add 500 to a goal and pay 300 towards a loan: 2,000 − 500 − 300 = 1,200.
- Your everyday spending reaches 1,400, which is above the plan. The surplus now drops by the actual spend: 3,200 − 1,400 − 500 − 300 = 1,000.
At the end of the month nothing carries over from the buffer, because you spent more than you planned. If you had spent only 1,100, the 100 you didn’t use would come back as next month’s Last Month Leftover.