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Essential & PremiumWhat Is Forecast?
Forecast is a dedicated page that takes the same idea behind Monthly Plan Check and stretches it across the months ahead. Instead of asking “does this month add up?”, it asks: when, over the next few months, does my plan’s funding need run ahead of my paychecks?
It does this by combining two things you already maintain — your category targets and a pay schedule — and drawing a running line of cumulative timing pressure across the window you choose (3, 6, or 12 months).
It’s envelope-target-aware paycheck timing — not a bank-balance forecast. Forecast models when your targets call for funding against when your paychecks land. It does not read your actual account balances and it never claims “you’ll run out of money on the 17th.” A dip below the line means your plan’s funding cadence is front-loaded relative to your pay — a timing signal, not a liquidity prediction.
What You Need For It To Work
Forecast is built on two inputs.
1. A Pay Schedule
On the Forecast page, add one or more pay schedules — recurring paychecks the forecast can project into future months. Each schedule has an amount, a cadence, and a weekend/holiday policy. The supported cadences are:
- Every N weeks from a starting payday (e.g. every 2 weeks from a Friday) — the classic biweekly cycle.
- Monthly on a set day (e.g. the 1st, or the 15th).
- Last business day of the month.
- Twice a month on two days (e.g. the 15th and the last day).
- Specific dates you list by hand.
As you fill in a schedule, the editor previews the next few paydays live, so you can confirm the cadence (and any holiday shift) before saving.
2. Category Targets
The “funding need” side comes from your Category Targets — the same monthly-needed math that powers Monthly Plan Check. Adding a due day to a monthly target sharpens the forecast: targets with a due day land on that day, while targets without one are spread across the month or set aside without a specific day.
How future months are projected. The current month uses your real available balances. For future months, savings goals (needed-by-date) carry their funding forward so the remaining gap shrinks as the deadline nears, while recurring targets (monthly and weekly) reset to their full amount each month — because groceries and rent don’t go away after one good month of funding.
Reading the Chart
The chart draws a single continuous line: your plan’s running balance across the whole window, with paychecks adding to it and target funding drawing it down. The dashed line is zero.
- Above the line: your paychecks are keeping ahead of your plan’s funding need.
- Below the line: your plan calls for funding before the paychecks to cover it have landed — a timing crunch in that stretch.
Use the 3 / 6 / 12 month selector to widen or narrow the window. Six months is the default.
Things To Watch
Forecast flags three kinds of timing risk under the chart:
- Paycheck gaps. When more than two weeks pass between consecutive paychecks — common around the holidays, or when a monthly payday drifts — bills due in the gap may need extra funding ahead of time.
- Cumulative lows. Each new low point the running line reaches. The deeper it goes, the more your plan’s cadence is front-loaded relative to your pay.
- Holiday shifts. Paydays that fell on a weekend or holiday and were moved to a business day by this schedule’s weekend/holiday policy.
Holiday shifts use the US Federal observed-holidays calendar. Your employer may use a different policy — some pay early, some pay late, some don’t shift at all. Each schedule lets you choose “shift earlier,” “shift later,” or “no shift” to match how you actually get paid.
Managing Pay Schedules
- Edit a schedule to change its amount, cadence, or holiday policy — the forecast re-projects immediately.
- Refresh re-materializes a schedule across the horizon if you ever need to force a rebuild.
- Stop a schedule when it ends (you changed jobs, a contract wrapped). Future paychecks from it drop out of the forecast. Any individual paychecks you’d already customized are kept and converted to one-off entries; past paychecks are never touched.
What Forecast Does Not Do
- It doesn’t read your bank balance. The line is your plan’s funding cadence vs. your pay schedule — not cash on hand.
- It doesn’t assume under-funding. The projection assumes you fund your targets as planned each month. If you routinely under-fund, treat the forecast as the optimistic case.
- It doesn’t move money or change Ready to Assign. Like Monthly Plan Check, it’s read-only — you still drive the actual allocations.
- It isn’t a life-event financial planner. No modeling of raises, one-off windfalls, or investment growth. It answers a narrow, useful question: does my paycheck timing line up with my plan over the months ahead?
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: My chart never dips below zero — is that bad?
No — it means your paychecks stay ahead of your plan’s funding need across the whole window. That’s the goal. The forecast is most useful when it does dip, because that’s where a timing crunch is hiding.
Q: Why did a payday move by a day or two?
Because it landed on a weekend or a US Federal holiday and the schedule’s holiday policy moved it to a business day per this schedule’s policy. If that doesn’t match your employer, change the policy on the schedule (or set it to “no shift”).
Q: How is this different from Monthly Plan Check?
Monthly Plan Check answers “does this month add up?” Forecast answers “across the next several months, when does my funding run ahead of my pay?” They share the same target math; Forecast adds a pay-schedule model and a multi-month view.
Q: I have irregular income — can I still use it?
Yes, with the same caution as Monthly Plan Check. Use the “specific dates” cadence to enter only the paychecks you’re reasonably sure about, and treat the forecast as a planning aid rather than a guarantee. See the irregular income guide.
Ready to See Your Forecast?
Add a pay schedule, set due days on your monthly targets, and let the Forecast page show you where your plan’s funding lines up with your paychecks over the months ahead.