Macuta is built so you can log spending in seconds and see the effect on your totals and budgets straight away. This guide covers the essentials; the other articles explain each part in detail.
Words you'll see
- Account: where the money is (bank, cash, card, savings). Every transaction belongs to an account.
- Primary account: the account chosen for new transactions, unless you have another account selected on Home. Its currency is the currency of totals and reports.
- Category: what the transaction was for (groceries, rent, salary). Categories feed the reports and budgets.
- Transaction: money coming in or going out, with an amount, date, account and category.
- Budget: a limit (or target) for a period, so you know whether you are on plan.
1. Accounts
- When you start, Macuta creates an account in your country's currency (Kwanza, in Angola).
- Manage accounts on the Accounts page (on a phone, under More): tap an account to edit it (name, currency, colour) or (+) to create another.
- To move money between accounts, use a transfer.
2. A simple budget
- Manage budgets in the Budgets tab: tap New budget to create one, or the pencil (Edit budgets) to edit them.
- An All transactions budget counts the transactions that match its filters on its own. You don't need to add them by hand. See Budgets.
3. Add transactions
- Tap (+), on Home or another page.
- Type the amount; in the description, pick a suggestion or type a new one (the category comes on its own and you can change it).
- Tap More options to fill in the rest (account, date, notes) and then Save: totals and budgets update on their own.
4. Keep track
- Open the budget to see the transactions it counts.
- The budget graph shows if you're on pace.
- The pie chart shows where you spend the most.
That's the core: account, transaction, budget, insights. Everything else shows up as you need it.