A budget that resets to zero every month punishes restraint: under-spend in March and April gives you nothing back. Rollover fixes that — what you didn't spend carries forward, so good months buy slack in tight ones.
Turning it on
Enable Rollover when creating or editing a monthly category budget. Two modes:
- Surplus only — leftover budget carries forward; an overspent month carries nothing (the overage is forgiven, next month starts at the base amount). The gentle default.
- Full carry — both directions count: leftover adds to next month, overspend subtracts from it. Stricter, and honest in the way an envelope of cash is honest.
Optionally set a cap — the maximum carry that can accumulate, so six frugal months don't build a distorting war chest on top of the base budget.
A worked month
Groceries budget: 450, surplus-only rollover.
- March: you spend 380. Leftover 70 carries.
- April: effective budget 450 + 70 = 520. You spend 505 — still inside, thanks to March.
- May: April left 15, so May starts at 465.
Same numbers with full carry and an overspent April (say 540): May would start at 450 − 20 = 430. The overspend didn't vanish; it borrowed.
When to use which
Rollover applies to monthly category budgets — yearly budgets already spread across the year by design, and Flex bucket budgeting manages variance at the bucket level instead.