Getting started in 5 minutes
Sign in, set up your month in four short steps, bring in a few months of history, and read your first Safe to spend.
Exp Planner works best when it knows three things: what comes in, what has to go out, and what you’d like to spend on the rest. Setting that up takes about five minutes.
1. Sign in
Open the web app and choose Continue with Google, or type your email and enter the six-digit code we send you. There’s no password to remember.
While Exp Planner is in early access, new accounts are by invitation: if the app says it’s open to invited testers, write to support@expplanner.com to ask for one. Once you’re invited, the same screen makes your account the first time and signs you in after that.
2. Set up your month
The first time you sign in, four short steps walk you through the basics. Every step can be skipped and changed later in Settings.
- You. Your name, the currency you budget in, and the day your month starts. If you’re paid on the 25th, start your month on the 25th: every screen then follows your pay cycle instead of the calendar.
- Money in and money now. Your usual income and what’s on your main account today.
- Regular bills. Tick the ones you have (rent, phone, subscriptions) and adjust the amounts.
- Everyday spending. A rough limit for groceries, eating out, transport and the like.
Choose Open my month and you land on the Overview with your first Safe to spend.
3. Bring in some history (optional, recommended)
Right after setup, the app offers to import a statement. Download the last three months from your bank as CSV or Excel and drop the file in. A few months of history fill the charts in Insights straight away, and the app spots regular payments you forgot to add. See Import from your bank for the details.
4. Read your Overview
The big number is Safe to spend: the money on your everyday accounts minus the bills still to pay this month, what you’re putting aside, and a small safety buffer. Under it you see roughly how much that is per day. Needs attention lists what wants a tap from you, like a bill that’s due or a category that’s over plan. More in Overview and Safe to spend.
5. Find your way around
- On a phone: four tabs at the bottom (Overview, Budget, Transactions, Bills; the highlight flows to the tab you tap) and the + above them. Everything else (Funds, Taxes, Insights, Import, Settings) is in the menu behind your avatar, top left. Want other tabs? Settings → Appearance → Tab bar, or press and hold a tab. The bar at the top (avatar, search, month) stays in place while the page scrolls under it.
- On a computer: every screen is in the sidebar on the left, and the top row (month, search) stays in place as you scroll. ⌘K (Ctrl+K) finds anything.
- The text follows your phone’s text size, from 85 % to 150 %.
6. Make it a habit
- Add a purchase when you make it: the + button, or N on a keyboard. See Quick add.
- Mark bills paid as they go out, or let the matching transaction from your next import do it.
- Import a statement once a week or so. The app reminds you if an account has been quiet for a week.