{"id":26725,"date":"2026-04-21T19:09:22","date_gmt":"2026-04-21T19:09:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/didebta.com\/?p=26725"},"modified":"2026-04-21T19:09:22","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T19:09:22","slug":"how-to-use-budget-reports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/didebta.com\/?p=26725","title":{"rendered":"How to Use Budget Reports"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>If you want to move forward\u00a0financially, your current money habits need to line up with your future money goals. But it can be hard to know if you\u2019re on the right track.\n    <\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s why we created custom budget reports inside EveryDollar\u2014to help you stay on top of your spending and make better decisions with your money!\n    <\/p>\n<h2>Why You Need Budget Reports<\/h2>\n<p>Budgeting is how you go from where you are to where you want to be with your money. And reporting can help you get there <em>faster<\/em>.\n    <\/p>\n<p>With personal budget reports, you can:\n    <\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Spot spending trends<\/li>\n<li>Know where to cut back<\/li>\n<li>Track your income over time<\/li>\n<li>Build better money habits<\/li>\n<li>Hit your financial goals<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>So, let\u2019s dive into the budget insights you get with the premium version of EveryDollar and how they take your budgeting to the next level.\n    <\/p>\n<h2>Spending Totals<\/h2>\n<p>Do you know how much you spent on transportation this past year?<em>\u00a0<\/em>Well, now a quick glance at the Spending Totals pie chart will tell you! It shows you a breakdown of your total spending for <em>all<\/em> your budget categories from the last year.\n    <\/p>\n<div class=\"BlogInsert-copy\">\n<p>Get expert money advice to reach your money goals faster!<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>You\u2019ll see everything from housing and food (probably the biggest slices) to transportation and personal expenses. But what do you do with all these numbers? Well, let\u2019s say you\u2019re a little shocked by your food spending total. You can then dive a little deeper into each category and see how much you\u2019ve spent in each budget line for the year.\n    <\/p>\n<p>Maybe you\u2019re doing okay in the groceries budget line but eating out has gotten out of control. Time to make some adjustments to get that number down. Do you need to start\u00a0meal planning\u00a0and making grocery lists? Stop giving in to those drive-thru temptations? This is the time to make changes to your budget so you can get your spending\u2014and your goals\u2014back on track!\n    <\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/didebta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/budget-percentages.png\"\/>\n    <\/p>\n<h2>Spending Breakdown<\/h2>\n<p>A budgeter favorite, the Spending Breakdown section helps you know where your money is going by giving you a detailed breakdown of your spending from month to month.\n    <\/p>\n<p>Again, this feature shows you where you need to tighten the reins on your spending. You\u2019ll see if you\u2019re consistently overspending in certain budget lines or if your spending spikes in certain months.\n    <\/p>\n<p>Consider yourself a budget archeologist\u2014dig into those categories that seem too high and find ways to spend less so you can\u00a0save more!\n    <\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/didebta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/spending-breakdown.png\"\/>\n    <\/p>\n<h2>Monthly Income<\/h2>\n<p>Maybe you don\u2019t make the same amount of money on every paycheck. If that\u2019s you, you\u2019re not alone! Plenty of people work hourly or have side gigs that change up their income every month.\n    <\/p>\n<p>If you have an\u00a0irregular income, the best thing you can do is set your budget based on your\u00a0<em>lowest<\/em>\u00a0monthly income, not an average. If you budget for the smallest amount, you can always go up from there!\n    <\/p>\n<p>Figuring out your lowest monthly income usually means searching through bank statements or looking at your past budgets month by month. But once you get a couple of EveryDollar budgets under your belt, the Monthly Income section will start to show you your high and low earning months all in one spot\u2014so you can budget better in the future!\n    <\/p>\n<p>This chart also helps you see how any side hustles you have are stacking up month over month! Plus, the Monthly Income feature works really well with other premium features in EveryDollar\u2014like paycheck planning, which helps you set up your budget around when you get paid and when bills are due.\n    <\/p>\n<h2>Income vs. Spent<\/h2>\n<p>The way to crush any money goal is to live on less than you make. And with the Income vs. Spent section, you can see if you\u2019re spending more or less than you earn each month (the goal is less!).\n    <\/p>\n<p>Now, this chart doesn\u2019t include money you\u2019ve budgeted for savings or sinking funds\u2014it\u2019s only money you\u2019ve actually <em>spent<\/em>. That means your Spent category will usually be lower than your Income category.\n    <\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019re on Baby Step 2 (paying off all your debt), you\u2019re working the debt snowball, which means you\u2019ve paused saving and you\u2019re throwing everything extra at those debt payments. In that case, your Income category might be equal to your Spent category. And that\u2019s okay!\n    <\/p>\n<p>But if your Spent category is consistently higher than your Income, you may be stuck in a pattern of overspending. If so, it\u2019s\u00a0time to have a good heart-to-heart with the person in the mirror (and\/or your spouse) and figure out some ways to decrease your expenses or increase your income. Sticking to a budget isn\u2019t always easy, but you <em>can<\/em> do it!\n    <\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/didebta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/income-vs-spent.png\"\/>\n    <\/p>\n<h2>Transaction History<\/h2>\n<p>For all you budgeting nerds out there, we\u2019ve got another amazing premium feature that you\u2019ll <em>love<\/em>! You can actually download your transaction history for the month as a CSV spreadsheet (if you know, you know).\n    <\/p>\n<p>All you have to do is open the desktop version of your budget and scroll to the bottom to find the option to download your transactions. Then, you can dive into those numbers as much as you want!\n    <\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/didebta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/budget-csv.png\"\/>\n    <\/p>\n<h2>Get Your Own Custom Budget Reports<\/h2>\n<p>All these budget report features we\u2019ve shown you aren\u2019t just a bunch of fancy charts and graphs with pretty colors. They\u2019re so much more!\n    <\/p>\n<p>Budget reports are a chance for you to get real. With yourself. With your spending. You\u2019ll know where to give yourself a high five and where you can improve. That\u2019s how you make progress!\n    <\/p>\n<p>Get your very own custom budget reports (and other awesome budgeting features) with the premium version of EveryDollar. It\u2019s time to crush your money goals faster than ever!\n    <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Read the full article <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ramseysolutions.com\/budgeting\/everydollar-reporting\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" rel=\"nofollow\">here<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If you want to move forward\u00a0financially, your current money habits need to line up with your future money goals. But it can be hard to know if you\u2019re on the right track. That\u2019s why we created custom budget reports inside EveryDollar\u2014to help you stay on top of your spending and make better decisions with your<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26726,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[55],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-26725","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How to Use Budget Reports | Didebta<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"If you want to move forward\u00a0financially, your current money habits need to line up with your future money goals. 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