Troubleshooting

Common Issues

My Safe to Spend seems wrong

Possible causes and solutions:

1. Current Balance is outdated
   • Go to Settings and verify your Current Balance matches your actual bank account
   • Update it to reflect your current actual balance
2. Bills marked as paid that aren't
   • Review your bills list for any incorrectly marked as "Paid"
   • Toggle them back to "Pending" if they haven't actually been paid
3. Income marked as received that hasn't arrived
   • Check your Expected Income list for items marked "Received" prematurely
   • Toggle back to "Pending" if you haven't actually received the money
4. Minimum Reserve is set too high
   • Check Settings → Budget Protection → Minimum Balance Reserve
   • Lower it if it's consuming too much of your available funds

Bills aren't showing up in the current pay period

Possible causes and solutions:

1. Due date is outside the pay period
   • Check the bill's due date—it may fall in a different pay period
   • Use the Previous/Next buttons to find the period containing that bill
2. Pay period settings are incorrect
   • Verify your Pay Period Start Date in Settings is set to a recent payday
   • Check that the Interval Type matches how you're actually paid
3. Bill was deleted
   • The bill may have been accidentally deleted
   • Re-add it using the "Add Bill" button

Recurring bill dates aren't advancing correctly

Possible causes and solutions:

1. Schedule type is wrong
   • Check that the bill's Schedule is set to "Recurring" (not "One-time" or "Varied")
   • Verify the correct frequency is selected (Monthly, Weekly, etc.)
2. Bill was toggled multiple times
   • If you toggled a bill between Paid/Pending multiple times, the date may be off
   • Edit the due date manually to the correct next occurrence

Display & Interface Issues

The page looks broken or unstyled

Try these steps:

1. Hard refresh the page
   • Windows/Linux: Press Ctrl + Shift + R
   • Mac: Press Cmd + Shift + R
2. Clear your browser cache
   • Go to your browser settings and clear cached images and files
3. Try a different browser
   • BudgetPro works best in modern browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge)

Calendar isn't displaying properly

Possible solutions:

• Ensure your browser window is wide enough—the calendar may collapse on very narrow screens
• Try zooming out (press Ctrl/Cmd + -) if content is cut off
• Check that JavaScript is enabled in your browser

Buttons or features aren't working

Try these steps:

1. Refresh the page
2. Check if JavaScript is enabled in your browser
3. Check the browser's developer console (press F12) for error messages
4. Disable browser extensions that might interfere (ad blockers, script blockers)

Mobile display issues

BudgetPro is designed to work on mobile devices, but for the best experience:

• Use landscape orientation for viewing the full calendar
• Use portrait orientation for the bills and income lists
• Tap the mobile menu button (☰) to access navigation on smaller screens

Calculation Issues

Daily balance projections seem off

Check these items:

1. Starting balance is correct
   • Daily projections start from your Current Balance in Settings
   • If this is wrong, all projections will be wrong
2. All bills are entered with correct dates
   • Missing bills will inflate projections
   • Bills on wrong dates will show transactions on wrong days
3. Income dates are accurate
   • If your paycheck is on the 15th but you entered the 10th, projections will be off

Totals don't add up

If the Bills Total or Income Expected doesn't seem right:

1. Check if some items are marked as Paid/Received—they're excluded from pending totals
2. Verify all amounts are entered correctly (check for typos)
3. Confirm items are in the current pay period (items outside the period aren't counted)

Future Period Reserve is unexpectedly high

If you have a large amount reserved for future periods:

1. Navigate to the next pay period(s) using the Next button
2. Check if there are large bills without corresponding income
3. Add expected income for future periods if you know it's coming
4. Lower the Look-Ahead Periods setting if you want less conservative planning

Data Issues

Changes aren't saving

Try these steps:

1. Ensure you click "Save"
   • For Settings: Click "Save Settings"
   • For Bills/Income: Click "Save Changes"
   • Changes don't auto-save in most cases
2. Check for error messages
   • Look for any red error messages on the page
   • Check your browser console for database errors
3. Database connection issues
   • If you see database errors, contact your system administrator
   • The database server may be down or credentials may be incorrect

I deleted something by accident

Unfortunately, deleted bills and income entries cannot be recovered through the interface. You'll need to re-enter the information manually.

To prevent accidental deletions:

• Pay attention to confirmation dialogs before clicking "Delete" or "Confirm"
• Consider backing up your database regularly if you have technical access

Data from previous sessions is gone

Possible causes:

• Database wasn't configured—data may have been stored temporarily
• Database was reset or restored from an old backup
• You're accessing a different installation/URL than before

Getting Additional Help

If you've tried the troubleshooting steps above and still have issues:

Check Other Help Resources

• Frequently Asked Questions — Common questions and answers
• Glossary — Definitions of terms used in BudgetPro
• Browse specific feature documentation in the sidebar

Gather Information for Support

If you need to report an issue, gather this information:

• What browser and version you're using
• What you were trying to do
• What happened vs. what you expected
• Any error messages you see
• Screenshots if possible