You may want to perform different tasks on the Working Budget page depending on whether you have just set up a budget or have been maintaining it for some time.

If you have just set up a budget, you may want to:

• Make sure the amount you plan to save and spend adds up to 100% of the amount you plan to earn. Review the percentages you planned under Total Income and Total Expenses near the bottom of the page. If the Total Expenses percentage is greater or less than 100%, adjust the planned amounts for your budget groups until they add up to 100%. To adjust a planned amount, click the budget group, and then click Change planned amount.
• Customize categories and accounts. Expand each budget group and make sure that each includes the categories you want. If you want to track contributions to a savings, retirement or debt account, make sure that the budget group includes the appropriate accounts. You should remove accounts you do not want to track, such as credit cards that you pay off every month.
• Make sure the amounts you plan to save and spend are realistic. Change the budget time period to a month that you feel was fairly typical of your spending. Compare your spending in the Actual column to the goals you set in the Planned column and adjust the Planned amounts as needed.
• Determine whether you need to set up gross pay tracking. Since you set high-level goals based on an estimate of your gross pay, the budget may be set up to track gross pay in the Actual column as well as the Planned column. If you track net pay in Money, your budget will be inaccurate unless you set up gross pay tracking in Money or adjust your Savings and Spending Budget to track net pay (see related topic below).
• Set planned amounts for individual categories or accounts. If you want to budget in detail, you can enter a planned amount for every category or account included in your budget groups. You can also enter a planned amount only for certain categories that you want to keep an eye on, such as Dining Out.
• Set up the Spending Tracker. When you enter a planned amount for individual categories, you can use the Spending Tracker to create spending thermometers that will show on your Money home page. Click Spending Tracker near the top of the page, and then click Select spending areas to watch closely or Change the spending areas you watch closely, and then follow the instructions on the screen.

When you return to the Working budget page after you have set up the budget, you may want to:

• Categorize your transactions. If you don't categorize a transaction, your budget may be inaccurate. Click Categorize transactions in the left pane to view and categorize all uncategorized transactions from the last 30 days.
• Make sure your income exceeds your expenses. This is the whole point of having a budget in the first place. At the bottom of the screen, review your total income and total expenses in the Actual column. If the numbers seem unusual to you, you may want to troubleshoot your budget (see related topic below).
• Compare your actual saving and spending to your plan for each budget group. If you have budget groups expanded, it may help to collapse them so you can easily compare your actual saving and spending in each group to your plan. You may want to adjust your plan slightly if you're under your plan in one budget group, such as Fun, but over in another, such as Committed Expenses.