Before setting up Safe Spending you will need to set up your budget.

How do I set up a budget?

Once you have completed your budget, your Safe Spending will be ready to use. It draws in your income and expense (including bills) figures from your budget.

Any given day you can check your Safe Spending figure. Safe Spending works like this:

• We start with your credit account balances, these come from your account balances.
• We ADD your expected income for the rest of the month
• We DEDUCT your outstanding bills and expenses for the rest of the month
• We DEDUCT any amount that your budget is in deficit in the next 12 months
• We DEDUCT any amount you wish to exclude**

This leaves you with your Safe Spending figure.

** See Step 4 & 5 below

The steps to set up Safe Spending

• Set up your budget
• You will see your Available Money; this includes the sum of your account balances and the income that you haven’t yet received this calendar month
• You will see your Committed Money; this includes a sum of your credit card balances, the expenses that are due this month but not yet paid and your upcoming reserve
• In Available Money view the details of your Bank accounts, and this is where you can exclude accounts and amounts that you don’t wish to have available to spend
• In Committed Money you can also exclude accounts and amounts. An example of when you may wish to hide your Credit card would be when your business or employer refunds your expenses for this card
• Familiarise yourself with all the amounts in Safe Spending. If you don’t understand them, check the corresponding figures in your budget, and make changes if necessary

Related Help topics –
What is my Upcoming Reserve?
How do I exclude accounts or amounts from Safe Spending?