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Runway - Cash Flow Planning

New in Version 1.3

Runway is a cash flow planning tool that helps you answer: "How much do I have to live on until the next paycheck?"

What is Runway?

Runway is a term borrowed from business finance. Just like an airplane needs enough runway to take off and land safely, your finances need enough "runway" to get from one paycheck to the next.

Think of it this way:

  • Your paycheck = The runway where you land
  • Living Money = The fuel in your tank for daily life
  • $/Day = Your burn rate - how fast you're using that fuel
  • Next payday = The runway where you need to land safely

Key Concepts

Periods

A period is a span of time (typically payday-to-payday, ~2 weeks). Each period tracks:

  • Starting Balance - Your actual bank balance at the start of the period
  • Income - Money coming in (paychecks, etc.)
  • Bills - Fixed expenses with due dates (rent, utilities, subscriptions)
  • Budget - Prorated portion of monthly budget categories (groceries, gas, etc.)
  • Reserves - Money set aside for savings or future expenses

Living Money Formula

Living Money = Starting Balance + Income - Expenses - Budget - Done Reserves

This is what's truly available for unexpected expenses and incidentals after all planned spending is accounted for.

How Item Types Affect the Calculation

Item Type Effect When It Counts
Income Added to Living Money When enabled and not skipped
Expense (Bills) Subtracted from Living Money When enabled and not skipped
Budget Subtracted from Living Money When enabled and not skipped
Reserve Subtracted from Living Money Only when status is Done

Note: Bills from your Subscriptions page become "Expense" items in Runway. The term "Bills" and "Expenses" are used interchangeably - both refer to fixed payments with due dates.

Dollars Per Day

$/Day = Living Money ÷ Days Remaining in Period

Your daily cushion for unexpected expenses. Budget categories cover planned spending - this is extra.

Bills vs Budgets (No Double-Counting!)

Type What It Is Examples
Bill Fixed payment with a specific due date Rent, Electric, Netflix, Insurance
Budget Variable spending category (no fixed date) Groceries, Gas, Dining Out, Entertainment
Important: An expense should be EITHER a Bill OR a Budget, never both. If your electric bill is in Bills, don't also have a "Utilities" budget.

How Budgets Work in Runway

Budgets are prorated by period length:

Prorated Amount = Monthly Budget × (Period Days ÷ 30)

Example: $1,000/month grocery budget × (14 days ÷ 30) = $466.67 for a 2-week period

Buttons and Actions

Button What It Does
Auto-Populate Adds income, bills, and budget items from your existing settings
Sync Updates this period's amounts to match current bill/income/budget settings
Sync All Updates ALL periods AND cascades starting balances forward
Generate Periods Creates 1-3 future periods with auto-populated items
Close Period Reconcile projections with reality by entering actual ending balance

Recommended Workflow

  1. Create your first period - Use "To Next Payday" preset or set custom dates
  2. Set Starting Balance - Enter your current bank account balance
  3. Auto-Populate - Click to add income sources, bills, and budget categories
  4. Review and adjust - Toggle items on/off, mark bills as done/skipped
  5. Generate future periods - Plan ahead with projected balances
  6. Sync All - When you change budget amounts or add new bills
  7. Close Period - At period end, enter actual balance to reconcile
  8. Sync All again - Cascade corrected balance to future periods

Item Controls

Each item row has controls on the left and right side:

Control Icon What It Does Effect on Totals
Checkbox (left side) Enables or disables an item. Disabled items are greyed out and excluded from all calculations. Use this to temporarily remove an item without deleting it. Unchecking removes the item from the totals — bills total decreases, living money increases
Checkmark (right side) Marks the item as Done (paid/received). This is a visual tracker — it shows you which bills you've already paid this period so you can see what's still pending. The row gets a strikethrough. No change to totals — a paid bill is still an expense. The money left your account either way.
X button (right side) Marks the item as Skipped — it didn't happen this period. Example: a bill was waived, or you decided not to make a payment. Removes the item from the totals — bills total decreases, living money increases
Pencil (right side) Edit the item's name, amount, due date, or other details Depends on what you change
Key distinction: Done means "this happened" — the money still counts. Skipped means "this didn't happen" — the money is freed up. Use Done to track your progress paying bills through the period. Use Skip when a bill won't be paid this period.

Item Status Summary

Status Meaning Effect on Living Money
Pending Not yet happened Included in calculation
Done Completed/paid — visual tracker for your progress Included in calculation (money still counts)
Skipped Didn't happen this period Excluded from calculation (frees up money)
Reserves are special: They only count against Living Money when marked Done. This prevents counting money you haven't actually moved yet.

Closing/Reconciling Periods

Wait until the end of the period! Close Period is for end-of-period reconciliation, not mid-period check-ins. Mid-period, your bank balance will be higher than Living Money because projected expenses haven't happened yet.

Close Period Workflow:

  1. Wait until the last day of the period
  2. Check your Dashboard balance (actual bank balance)
  3. Click Close Period, enter actual balance
  4. System calculates variance and creates adjustment item if needed
  5. Return to Runway and click Sync All to cascade to future periods

Credit Card Log

The Credit Card Log helps you track credit card balances and whether you're paying off what you charge each period.

Card Management

Create and manage your credit cards from the Manage Cards page (gear icon in CC Log header):

  • Add cards - Create cards with starting balance and optional credit limit
  • Running balance - Each card tracks its current balance across all periods
  • Utilization tracking - See what percentage of your credit limit you're using
  • Quick actions - Add charges or payments directly from the card page

Period Tracking

Each period shows a balance ledger for your cards:

  • Charges = Money you spent on credit this period (increases balance)
  • Payments = Money you paid toward your balance (decreases balance)
  • Period Net = Payments minus charges for this period
  • Net positive = You paid more than you charged (paying down debt!)
  • Net negative = You added to your balance this period

Credit Utilization

If you set a credit limit on a card, you'll see utilization percentage:

Utilization = (Current Balance ÷ Credit Limit) × 100
  • Green (under 30%) - Good for credit health
  • Yellow (30-50%) - Caution zone
  • Red (over 50%) - High utilization

Clear CC Log

The Clear CC Log button removes all credit card entries for the current period. This reverses their effect on card balances (the cards themselves are not deleted).

Note: Credit card entries are separate from your regular transactions. They help you track credit card debt alongside your cash flow planning.

Tips for Success

Do
  • Set up your Income Sources and Bills first
  • Use Auto-Populate to save time
  • Run Sync All after changing budgets or bills
  • Close periods to keep projections accurate
  • Review $/Day to gauge daily flexibility
Don't
  • Don't double-count (bill AND budget for same expense)
  • Don't close periods mid-way through
  • Don't forget to Sync All after reconciliation
  • Don't ignore negative Living Money warnings

Integration with Other Features

Runway pulls data from your existing SenticMoney setup: