Allocation Planning is Moza's take on zero-based envelope budgeting. Every dollar in your workspace is given a job. You distribute your income into category envelopes, track your available balances, and reallocate cash dynamically to cover overspending.
How it works
Key Terminology
- Planned: The recurring monthly default target limit for a category envelope.
- Assigned: The actual cash you put into an envelope for the current month.
- Spent: The total transactions recorded in that category this month.
- Available: The current envelope balance (
assigned + carried over − spent). This carries over into the next month. - Ready to Assign: Unallocated income (
income − assigned − set-aside). The cash pool waiting for a job. - Set aside: Funds reserved for savings goals this month.
Core Workflows
- Receive Income. When income is recorded, it enters your Ready to Assign pool.
- Assign Funds. Go to your Budgets page and assign cash to each category's envelope until Ready to Assign is $0.
- Track Available Balances. As you spend, your Available balance decreases. If a category's Available balance goes negative, it is overspent.
- Move Money. If you overspend or want to shift priorities, click Move Money to reallocate Available funds between category envelopes or back to Ready to Assign.
- Goal set-asides. Money assigned to goals is tracked as Set aside, which reserves that cash so you don't spend it on categories.
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Limitations
- Available balances roll over automatically, but can go negative if a category is overspent. A negative balance is carried over as a deficit that should be covered by moving money.
- Goal set-asides protect cash inside your workspace, but Moza never moves real funds in your bank accounts.
Common Questions
What is 'Ready to Assign'?
It is the pool of cash you have received as income but have not yet assigned to an envelope. A healthy zero-based budget aims to get this number to $0.
How do rollovers work?
Unused Available balances in your envelopes automatically roll over to the next month, increasing your starting Available balance. If an envelope has a negative Available balance, it rolls over as a deficit.
How do I move money between categories?
Click the 'Move Money' button on any category or the main header. Select the source category (or Ready to Assign), the destination category, and the amount to shift.