Know Where
Every Naira Goes

Variable income requires a different budgeting approach: (1) Identify your MINIMUM monthly income from the past 12 months (e.g., lowest was ₦150k). (2) Build your budget on that minimum—cover all fixed expenses (rent, utilities, subscriptions) first. (3) Create percentage-based categories for variable income: Business reinvestment 20%, Tax reserve 15%, Emergency fund 10%, Living expenses 40%, Discretionary 15%. (4) During high-income months (₦500k+), Nalo automatically allocates excess to savings and tax reserves. (5) During low-income months (₦150k), you're covered because fixed expenses are already planned. Nalo's AI tracks your income patterns and recommends your ideal 'safety buffer' amount (usually 3-6 months of expenses) to smooth out the variability.

Yes! Nalo supports unlimited budgets (Premium plan). Common use cases: (1) Personal Budget: Your individual living expenses, savings, entertainment. (2) Household Budget: Shared expenses with spouse/partner—rent, food, utilities. (3) Business Budget: If you're a freelancer or entrepreneur, separate business income and expenses. (4) Project Budget: Saving for specific goals like wedding, vacation, car purchase. (5) Family Budget: Managing expenses for children, elderly parents, extended family. Each budget has its own categories, allocations, and tracking. Switch between them with one tap. View consolidated dashboard showing all budgets together or drill down into individual ones.

Nalo handles overspending with smart alerts and recommendations: (1) Early Warning (80% spent): 'You've used ₦24,000 of ₦30,000 Food budget with 10 days left in month.' (2) Approaching Limit (95% spent): 'Food budget almost depleted. Spend carefully or reallocate from another category.' (3) Overspent: 'You exceeded Food budget by ₦5,000. Options: Reduce next month's allocation OR cut from Entertainment this month.' (4) Reallocation Tool: Drag-and-drop move money between categories. Reduce Entertainment by ₦5,000, add to Food instantly. (5) Learning Mode: Nalo tracks your overspending patterns over 3 months and suggests: 'You consistently overspend Food by 15%. Increase Food budget from ₦30k to ₦35k, reduce Entertainment from ₦20k to ₦15k.' The goal isn't perfection—it's awareness and continuous improvement.

Nalo increases savings through multiple mechanisms: (1) Forced Allocation: In Zero-Sum budgeting, savings is a mandatory category. Can't skip it. (2) Round-Up Savings: Round transactions to nearest ₦100 or ₦1,000, automatically save the difference. (3) Spending Insights: 'You spent ₦45,000 on food last month vs ₦30,000 this month. You saved ₦15,000!' See the impact of changes. (4) Goal Tracking: Set goals (₦500k for rent, ₦2M for car), Nalo calculates: 'Save ₦42k/month for 12 months to reach goal.' (5) AI Recommendations: 'Cancel DSTV (₦8k/month), use free YouTube. Save ₦96k/year.' AI finds cuts you'd never consider. (6) Savings Challenges: '30-day no dining out challenge.' Gamification makes saving fun. Average Nalo users save 23% more within first 3 months compared to before using the platform.

Yes! Budget sharing works two ways: (1) View-Only Sharing: Share budget link with partner. They see your budget, categories, spending, but cannot edit. Good for transparency ('See, I'm not overspending!'). (2) Collaborative Budget (Premium): Both partners have full edit access. Perfect for household budgets where both contribute. Both can log expenses, reallocate funds, and see real-time updates. Typical setup: Create 'Household Budget' for shared expenses (rent, food, utilities, kids). Each partner contributes their share (50/50 or 60/40 based on income). Both track their contributions. Separate 'Personal Budgets' remain private for individual spending. Sharing is encrypted and secure. Revoke access anytime. Perfect for couples, roommates, business partners, or family budgets with adult children.

Life happens! Nalo makes adjustments easy: (1) Income Increase (bonus, side hustle payment): Log new income → Nalo asks 'Allocate ₦50,000 bonus?' → Choose: Add to savings, distribute proportionally across categories, or create new goal. (2) Income Decrease (salary cut, lost client): Reduce income → Nalo warns 'Budget exceeds income by ₦30,000' → Shows recommended cuts: 'Reduce Entertainment ₦10k, Dining ₦10k, Shopping ₦10k.' (3) Unexpected Expense (medical emergency, car repair): Log expense → Overspends category → Nalo suggests: 'Pull ₦20k from Emergency Fund' OR 'Reduce other categories for rest of month.' (4) Recurring Changes: Got promoted? Update base salary once, Nalo recalculates entire budget with new percentages automatically. The budget is a living document, not set in stone. Adjust as often as needed. Nalo tracks all changes in Budget History so you can see evolution over time.

TRACKING = Rearview Mirror. Looking backward. 'I spent ₦50k on food last month.' Useful for awareness, but reactive. BUDGETING = GPS. Looking forward. 'I will spend ₦40k on food this month.' Proactive planning. Key differences: (1) Intent: Tracking records what happened. Budgeting decides what WILL happen before you spend. (2) Control: Tracking observes. Budgeting prevents overspending BEFORE it occurs. (3) Goals: Tracking shows past behavior. Budgeting aligns spending with future goals. Nalo combines both: You budget at start of month (plan), then track expenses throughout (execution), then review at end of month (learn), then adjust next month's budget (improve). It's a continuous cycle that makes you better with money over time. Think of it like: Tracking = weighing yourself. Budgeting = meal planning and exercise schedule.