With both budgets built, Alex can now apply them to income transactions. The two existing paychecks that came in with the OFX import have been sitting unallocated. Alex opens the first one, selects Paycheck from the Justified by dropdown, and the allocation table fills in automatically.
One dropdown selection. Thirteen funds. $0.00 remaining. Alex clicks Save and repeats for the second paycheck.
Walking Through the Math
It is worth understanding exactly how FundOS arrived at those numbers, because the same logic applies every time — and it behaves differently depending on how much the paycheck is.
Alex’s paycheck is $2,400.00. Here is what each phase does with it.
Phase 1 — Savings
Percentage phases run all targets simultaneously against the same starting balance. Neither target depletes the other.
Emergency Savings=$2,400.00×10%=$240.00
Financial Freedom=$2,400.00×10%=$240.00
Remainder=$2,400.00−$240.00−$240.00=$1,920.00
Phase 2 — Fixed Expenses
Fixed phases run targets one at a time, top to bottom, each claiming its amount from the running remainder.
$1,920.00−$800.00 (Rent)=$1,120.00
$1,120.00−$250.00 (Food)=$870.00
$870.00−$50.00 (Utilities)=$820.00
$820.00−$70.00 (Internet)=$750.00
$750.00−$40.00 (Phone)=$710.00
$710.00−$10.00 (Netflix)=$700.00
$700.00−$20.00 (Gym)=$680.00
$680.00−$6.00 (Amazon Prime)=$674.00
Phase 3 — Personal Goals
The remaining $674.00 is split across four targets. Again, percentage phases run simultaneously.
Long Term Spending=$674.00×30%=$202.20
Flex=$674.00×30%=$202.20
Dating=$674.00×20%=$134.80
Charity=$674.00×20%=$134.80
The percentages sum to 100%, so nothing flows to the overflow fund. Every dollar is accounted for. Rounding can occasionally cause a one-cent discrepancy — for example, percentages like 33/33/34 may not divide evenly into a whole number of cents. Any remainder that cannot be distributed flows to the overflow fund.
When Funds Are Already Full
Alex gets paid biweekly, which means 26 paychecks per year. Two months out of the year a third paycheck arrives. When Alex applies the budget to that third paycheck, some of the fixed expense funds are already at or near their caps — Rent might be full, Netflix almost certainly is. When a target’s fund is already at its cap, the budget skips it and the remainder flows forward to the next target.
This means the third paycheck produces a slightly different allocation than a normal one — more ends up in phase 3, and more flows to Emergency Savings via overflow. The caps do their job automatically.
A Short Paycheck
On a lean month, Alex might receive a smaller paycheck. Suppose a paycheck comes in at $1,500.00 — perhaps hours were cut or a payment was delayed.
Phase 1
Emergency Savings=$1,500.00×10%=$150.00
Financial Freedom=$1,500.00×10%=$150.00
Remainder=$1,500.00−$150.00−$150.00=$1,200.00
Phase 2
$1,200.00−$800.00 (Rent)=$400.00
$400.00−$250.00 (Food)=$150.00
$150.00−$50.00 (Utilities)=$100.00
$100.00−$70.00 (Internet)=$30.00
$30.00−$40.00 (Phone)=−$10.00
Phone has overdraw enabled, so it claims its full $40.00 even though the remainder only had $30.00. The remainder is now $-10.00.
Netflix, Gym, and Amazon Prime do not have overdraw enabled. A target without overdraw will not claim anything when the remainder is already negative — their funds receive nothing this paycheck.
Phase 3
The remainder entering phase 3 is $-10.00. A percentage phase receiving a negative balance distributes nothing. Long Term Spending, Flex, Dating, and Charity receive nothing this paycheck.
The $-10.00 remainder flows to the overflow fund — Emergency Savings absorbs the shortfall. That is the buffer the emergency fund is there to provide. Alex’s bills are covered; the goals simply pause for one paycheck.
A Substitute Teaching Paycheck
Alex picks up three substitute teaching shifts at $90.00 per day, earning $270.00. Alex opens the transaction and selects Substitute Teaching from the Justified by dropdown.
Phase 1 - Still Savings
Emergency Savings=$270.00×10%=$27.00
Financial Freedom=$270.00×10%=$27.00
Remainder=$270.00−$27.00−$27.00=$216.00
Phase 2 — Dating
Dating=$216.00×20%=$43.20
Remainder=$216.00−$43.20=$172.80
The Dating fund is well below its $500.00 cap, so the full $43.20 is claimed.
Phase 3 - A Bigger Flex
Flex=$172.80×50%=$86.40
Long Term Spending=$172.80×30%=$51.84
Charity=$172.80×20%=$34.56
A $270.00 substitute teaching payment puts $54.00 into savings, funds a date or two, adds to long term goals, and leaves $86.40 for whatever Alex feels like spending it on. The same rules that handle a $2,400.00 paycheck handle a $270.00 one — Alex never has to think about how to split it.
