Set Up Your Budgets

Ranger uses zero-based budgeting. Unlike traditional budgeting where spending limits are just targets, zero-based budgeting uses your actual money to set those limits. If you spend more in one category, you’ll need to account for that overspend from another - because you’re working with real dollars, not theoretical limits.

Set up your budgets based on your income and expenses. Since Ranger uses a fund-based system, any unused funds roll over to the next month.

A few examples:

If you spend $85 each month for your phone plan, budget $85 in your Phone category. When the transaction comes through, your budget will be $0 - until you budget $85 for the next month.

If you want money to spend throughout the month on fun things - coffee with friends, a new outfit, or a 5090 graphics card - you can add $140 each month. For the current month, you have $140 to spend. If you spend $100, the next month you’ll have $40 before budgeting again, bringing your total to $180.

💡 Maybe you want to cap your budgets, so Fun Money never goes above $140 - that’s what Goals are for, which we cover later in the guides.

💡 Pro-tip: You can budget a negative amount to pull money out of a category, moving it back into Ready to Budget for use elsewhere.