Credit cards
Buy now, pay later, without losing track. When you pay with a credit card, the app sets aside the money for that purchase so it's ready when the statement arrives. This page covers adding a card, choosing how you'll pay it, following its statements and planning repayments.
Add a credit card
- Open the Accounts tab and tap New account.
- For Account type, choose Credit card.
- Enter the Account name and the Initial balance. If you owe money on the card, enter it as a negative balance.
- Optionally fill in the card details:
- Limit: the card's credit limit.
- Closing day: the day the statement closes. Turn on Dynamic closing date if your card closes a fixed number of days before the due date ("Closes 21 days before due date").
- Due day: the day payment is due. Turn on Due date only on business days if it moves to the next business day.
- Choose a Payment strategy (see below) and save.
When you create the card, the app adds a category with the card's name to track its expenses, the initial balance and the money set aside for your next statement.
Payment strategies
The payment strategy tells the app how you plan to pay the card:
- Pay in full: "The whole card balance will be allocated against the current period." Pick this if you clear the card every month and avoid interest.
- Pay current balance overtime: for a balance you'll pay down over several months. Enter the Annual interest rate, then either a Payoff date or a Monthly payment (the other is calculated), and see how an Extra payment saves you interest. The app sets a target on the card's category to pay the balance over time. These fields are available when the initial balance is negative.
- I will handle it my own way: "Your budget, your rules." The app doesn't plan any payments for you; it still tracks your spending and the balance.
How card spending works
When you record a purchase on the card, for example $50 in Groceries:
- The $50 comes out of Groceries, as with any expense.
- The same $50 moves into the card's category, ready for the payment.
So the card's category always shows how much money you have set aside for the next payment, and you never count the same money twice. For the same reason, credit card payments aren't counted in your monthly spending totals: the purchases were already counted in the categories they came from.
On the Budget tab, the group that holds your cards shows Total to repay instead of Available. Tap the card's category and open its settings to see Credit Card Repayment Details.
Follow your statements
Open the Accounts tab and tap the card to see its details. Along with the limit, closing day and due day, it summarises the card's statement cycle:
- Since last closing date: Spent, Credits and adjustments and your daily spending average since the last statement closed.
- Billed But Unpaid: what the last statement Billed, what you've Paid and the Remaining Due.
- Last statement summary: what you spent, credits and adjustments, and the statement balance.
Two buttons list the transactions behind these numbers: View activity since closing and View billed transactions.
View activity since closing and View billed transactions are part of the Pro credit card management tools: "Unlock full credit card management tools—track every transaction since your last statement and take charge of your card activity."
Pay off your card
- Open the card from the Accounts tab (or tap the card's category on the Budget tab and open its settings).
- Tap Add payment.
- Choose the account the money comes From and enter the Amount, or tap Pay balance to pay the full balance.
- Check the Date and save.
The payment lowers the card's balance and the money set aside in its category. If you pay more than you owe, the app warns you that the extra will become a credit on your card.
Plan repayments with the credit card calculator
Open the menu (the ☰ button at the top left of the Budget tab) and choose Credit cards to open the Credit card calculator. You'll find the same tool as Debt calculator in a card's ⋮ menu and in a Get out of debt target.
- Under Credit card details, enter the balance Amount and the Annual interest rate.
- Enter a Payoff date or a Monthly payment. The calculator works out the other, plus the Total interest and Total to be paid.
- Under What if I add an extra payment?, add an Extra payment to see how much you'd save, for example "Save $420.00 in interest and reduce the remaining term by 5 months." The chart compares the Original balance with the Balance after extra payments.
When you open the calculator from a target, Set as target uses the result as the target's amount.
Even small extra payments add up. Paying a little more each month can cut the total interest and get you debt-free sooner.
The calculator is a guide: actual amounts and dates can vary by card issuer because of rounding, fees and other factors.