By The Income Tracker · Updated 8 September 2026 · 4 min read
The short answer
Once a month, right after payday: export last month's transactions, import them, categorise the few strays, check nothing recurring has crept up, compare the month with the one before, move the surplus somewhere useful, and make one decision. Ten minutes. The tracker can put the reminder in your calendar.
The checklist
Export last month from your bank as a CSV. Your bank's steps are in the CSV guides; most take under a minute.
Import it. Duplicates are skipped, transfers between your accounts are skipped, known merchants land in their categories.
Sort the strays. Usually five to ten rows the app was not sure about. Drag each into a category; it remembers for next time.
Check the recurring list. Anything new? Anything that went up at renewal? Anything you meant to cancel?
Compare with last month. Income, spending, surplus. Which category moved, and why?
Move the surplus. Savings, the emergency fund, an extra debt payment. Money left in the current account gets spent.
Make one decision for next month. One. Cancel a thing, cap a category, or raise the savings transfer. More than one and none of them happen.
Why once a month, and why after payday
Daily tracking is a hobby, not a habit; almost nobody keeps it up. Monthly is often enough to catch problems while they are small, and it lines up with how your bills and pay already arrive. Doing it just after payday means the whole previous month is in the statement and you still have the surplus in hand to move.
Put it in the calendar
Good intentions do not survive a busy week. Inside The Income Tracker, Settings has an Add a monthly reminder button that drops a repeating event into Google Calendar, Apple Calendar or Outlook, with a link back to your bank's export guide. Set it for the day after payday and let the calendar nag you.
The Income TrackerTrack it free. No account, no bank login.
Monthly, just after payday, when the previous month is complete and the surplus is still in your account. Ten minutes is enough if the import is doing the heavy lifting.
What should a monthly budget review include?
Import the month, sort the unknown rows, check recurring bills, compare with last month, move the surplus and pick one change for next month.
Can the app remind me?
Yes. Settings has an Add a monthly reminder button that creates a repeating calendar event with a link to your bank's export guide.