Automate Bills and Budgets with Monee’s Recurring Transactions

As a freelance designer in Cologne, my income arrives in waves. Some months are generous; others take their time. What keeps things calm is automation: I pay myself first, cap categories, and let buffers do the smoothing. This month‑in‑review is how I use Monee’s recurring transactions to keep the essentials covered and avoid decision fatigue, even when projects shift.

Monee is lightweight—quick entry, no bank aggregation overhead, no ads—and it gives me a clean monthly overview. Recurring transactions are the backbone: rent, insurance, transit, subscriptions, and even expected retainers. Once they’re set, the budget runs on rails, and I only adjust when reality changes.

Month in Review: What I Automated

Set or updated recurring transactions for essentials: rent (€950–€1,050), health insurance (€400–€520), internet (€30–€35), phone (€18–€22), utilities (€70–€90), transit pass (€49), design tools (€25–€45), and a small monthly donation (€10–€20).
Added a sinking fund allocation via a recurring transaction: software renewals (~€180/year → €15/month) and web domain/hosting (~€60/year → €5/month).
Logged an expected retainer as a recurring incoming transaction (range €800–€1,000). If timing shifts or the amount changes, I edit or skip that instance.
Set category caps for the flexible stuff I tend to overshoot: eating out (€150), fun (€120), and gear/learning (€80). Monee’s quick monthly overview warns me when I’m close to those edges.
Used multiple accounts to separate money: Business, Tax Pot, and Personal. This makes it obvious which money is for operating, which is for taxes, and what I can safely spend.

What I Earned (Range, Not Perfection)

This month, I expected €2,600–€3,400 from two project payments and one small retainer. Actual cleared: €2,980. One project payment (~€420) slipped into next month—normal freelance stuff. Because Monee has recurring transactions for expected income, the monthly overview showed the plan and the reality side‑by‑side. That helped me decide what to adjust (not panic).

Pay Yourself First: My Transfers

Salary to Personal: €1,600. I treat it like a non‑negotiable bill on the 1st. It’s a recurring transfer from Business to Personal in Monee, labeled “Owner Pay.”
Taxes: 25% of cleared business income. With €2,980, I moved €745 to the Tax Pot (a separate account in Monee). This is also set as a recurring “tax sweep” timed a couple of days after invoices typically land.
Buffer: €100–€200 to a Business Buffer category. If income is tight, I fund the low end; if it’s a strong month, I top it up. This buffer smooths slow weeks without touching the essentials.

Once those three happen automatically, the stress curve flattens. I can open Monee’s monthly overview and know the essentials are safe.

Base Budget + Flex Pot (Copy‑Friendly)

Here’s the layout I use. It’s simple, range‑based, and resilient to irregular income.

Base Budget (fixed or semi‑fixed, paid first)
- Rent: €950–€1,050 (recurring)
- Health insurance: €400–€520 (recurring)
- Utilities: €70–€90 (recurring)
- Internet: €30–€35 (recurring)
- Phone: €18–€22 (recurring)
- Transit: €49 (recurring)
- Groceries: €220–€260 (cap)
- Software/tools: €25–€45 (recurring)
- Sinking funds: €20–€30 total (recurring allocations)
- Buffer: €100–€200 (funded monthly as available)
Flex Pot (variable, capped categories funded after the Base)
- Eating out: cap €150
- Fun: cap €120
- Gear/learning: cap €80
- Gifts/misc: cap €40–€60

When income is at the lower end of the month’s range, I fund the Base and keep Flex lean, or delay lower‑priority caps. When income is higher, I fill Flex caps first, then add extra to the buffer or a future project pot (e.g., travel or a course).

Category Caps That Helped This Month

Eating out (€150): Stayed at €142 by mid‑month, helped by an alert in the overview; I cooked more the last week.
Fun (€120): Ended at €98 because a planned event moved to next month.
Groceries (€220–€260): Landed at €268. Rather than overspend the total budget, I moved €20 from Fun to Groceries mid‑month. In Monee, I edited the caps and left a note. Trade‑offs over perfection.
Gear/learning (€80): Paused a software purchase because income was slightly below the top of my range. I put it into a wishlist note under the category for next month.

What I Changed for Next Month

Lift Groceries cap by €20 to reflect reality, and drop Fun by €20 to balance it.
Add a recurring €50/month to a “Travel/Family” sinking fund so I’m not scrambling when tickets pop up.
Keep the new “Takeaway Fridays” note as a mini‑rule: if a Friday is busy, takeaway comes from Eating out; if the cap is gone, I delay. Simple and sustainable.

How I Set Recurring Transactions in Monee

The goal is less typing, more clarity. Here’s the practical setup I use:

Add accounts: Business, Tax Pot, Personal. Monee supports unlimited accounts and keeps them tidy in the overview.
Create recurring expenses:
- Rent, insurance, utilities, internet, phone, transit pass.
- Software tools and donations.
- Annual costs converted to monthly sinking amounts (e.g., €180/year → €15/month).
Create recurring income where predictable:
- Retainer estimates (use a range in the note, e.g., “€800–€1,000”). If a retainer skips, I skip that instance.
Set category caps:
- Groceries (€240), Eating out (€150), Fun (€120), Gear/learning (€80), Gifts/misc (€50).
- Review the monthly overview each Sunday and nudge caps if a surprise hits.
Automate transfers:
- Owner pay to Personal on the 1st.
- Tax sweep 2–3 days after typical invoice clearances.
Notes and filters:
- Add “work lunch” vs “social” tags in notes for reflection.
- Filter by category or account to see patterns quickly.

Because Monee is fast to log—amount, category, optional note—I actually capture spend in the moment. That saves time at the point of purchase and keeps the budget real, not theoretical.

Shared or Solo, Keep It Simple

If you share expenses with a partner or housemate, Monee lets multiple people log transactions into the same categories. You can keep personal and shared caps distinct, or create a shared account just for joint bills. I keep business and personal separate by default and only mirror shared items that affect my Base/Flex decisions.

Why This Works With Irregular Income

Pay yourself first: salary, taxes, and buffer become non‑negotiable recurring movements. The rest can flex.
Plan with ranges: caps and recurring notes reflect reality’s wiggle room, removing the shame loop when a number isn’t exact.
Smooth with buffers and caps: buffers absorb timing gaps; caps prevent one “treat” from becoming a budget derail.
Clear monthly overview: I see where money actually goes. If something creeps, I adjust a cap—not my values.

Monee also earns trust by staying out of my data. There are no ads, no trackers, and no forced registration. It syncs across devices, and I can export data anytime if I want to analyze it or make a change.

Try the Setup

Start with two accounts minimum: Business and Personal; add a Tax Pot if taxes aren’t already auto‑withheld.
List your Base Budget as recurring transactions and sinking funds.
Choose three Flex categories you tend to overspend and assign caps.
Create an owner pay transfer and a tax sweep as recurring items.
Let the month run, review your overview weekly, and adjust caps by €10–€20 where reality needs it.

Irregular income doesn’t need perfect forecasts. It needs a system that protects the essentials and gives you room to make sane trade‑offs. Monee’s recurring transactions, category caps, and clear monthly overview do exactly that—quietly, in the background—so you can focus on the work that actually pays.

Monee is available on iOS (App Store) and Android (Google Play). No bank login required, no ads, and your data stays yours.