Towards the very bottom of your home screen, couched between the tab bar and Bank Accounts widget sits the Cash Flow widget.
The job of Cash Flow widget is to give you insights into your current month’s income and spending, also to allow you to see how different months compare to each other.
You can customise the banks from which data is shown and the kind of data shown in the widget by tapping the settings icon beside the widget name.
Inside the widget is a full fledged tool to adjust different parameters and banks. Tags will also be following suit in the next versions of Fold.
Understanding Cash Flow
Cash flow is the movement of money into and out of your accounts. It is important to track cash flow, as it is an indication of your financial health. Cash flow is made up of two components: incoming money (salary e.t.c) and outgoing money (expenses). A positive cash flow means there is more money coming in than going out, while a negative cash flow means there is more money going out than coming in.
The bottom most widget in your Fold’s home-screen is the Cash Flow widget that calculates the movement of money, visualises it and gives general heads up when required.
The 50/30/20 rule
The 50/30/20 finance rule is a budgeting method that encourages you to divide your income into three categories: 50% of your earnings should go towards essential expenses like housing, bills, and groceries (need); 30% should go towards discretionary spending, like entertainment and dining out (want); and 20% should be saved for long-term goals and investments(save). By following this rule, you can ensure that your finances are well balanced and that you're able to save for your future.
With Fold you can add “type_want” to the notes of transactions that you think fall into the want category and similarly “type_need” and “type_save” for need and save categories respectively.
You can then type “need”, “want” or “save” in search to see how much you’ve spent in each category. Moreover, don’t forget to append “this month” or any other time you want to constrain the search to.
50/30/20 is a balanced approach to money management that allows individuals to make the most of their income.