Key takeaways
- Today's Allowance is checking minus bills due before payday minus what your pockets still need.
- A red allowance is an early warning, not an overdraft, and a Reshuffle can close the gap.
- Buffer Days is how long checking plus savings would last at your last 30 days of spending.
- Raise Buffer Days with more cash or lower daily spending; aim for 14 before 30.
Two numbers on Aurelo’s Dashboard answer two different questions. Today’s Allowance answers “how much can I spend today without shorting anything?” Buffer Days answers “how long could I keep going on the cash I have?” One is about today; the other is about resilience. This guide explains exactly how each is calculated, with examples, and what to do when either turns red.
Today’s Allowance: what’s safe to spend
Your bank balance tells you what’s in the account. It doesn’t tell you how much of that is already spoken for. Today’s Allowance does the subtraction:
Today’s Allowance = your checking balance − the bills due before your next payday − what your pockets still need.
The site sometimes calls this “safe to spend”. It’s the same number.
A worked example
Suppose (as an example) it’s the 20th and your next payday is the 1st.
| Amount | |
|---|---|
| Checking balance | $2,400 |
| Bills due before payday (rent $1,100, phone $60) | − $1,160 |
| What your pockets still need (groceries, gas and so on) | − $640 |
| Today’s Allowance | $600 |
Your balance says $2,400, but $1,800 of it already has a job before payday. The $600 is what’s genuinely free. A $90 concert ticket fits; a $900 phone doesn’t, at least not without moving money from somewhere else.
When Today’s Allowance is red
If the bills and pocket needs add up to more than your checking balance, Today’s Allowance goes negative and turns red. Change the example: checking is $1,500 instead. $1,500 − $1,160 − $640 = −$300.
A red allowance isn’t an overdraft; it’s an early warning. It says the plan asks for more than the account holds before payday. Aurelo offers a Reshuffle right there. Some ways to close the gap:
- Reshuffle from Wants. Move money from pockets like eating out or shopping to cover the shortfall.
- Lower a Needs pocket for this period if you can realistically spend less, for example by planning meals from what’s already at home.
- Check the bills. Upcoming bills shows what’s due and when; the Money Calendar shows your projected balance for each day, so you can see exactly which day is tight.
In Aurelo: Upcoming bills only include bills Aurelo is confident about from your transactions. It won’t guess. If a bill is missing, give it a pocket so it’s counted.
Buffer Days: how long your cash would last
Buffer Days turns your savings cushion into a number you can feel:
Buffer Days = (checking balance + savings balance) ÷ your average daily spending over the last 30 days.
It’s shown as whole days and capped at 365.
A worked example
Suppose (as an example) you have $3,000 in checking and $1,500 in savings, and you spent $4,500 over the last 30 days, which is $150 a day on average.
$4,500 ÷ $150 = 30 Buffer Days.
If you lost your income tomorrow and kept living exactly as you have been, your cash would last about a month.
The colours
| Buffer Days | Colour |
|---|---|
| Under 14 | Red |
| 14 to 29 | Yellow |
| 30 or more | Green |
Raising Buffer Days
The formula has two levers: more cash, or lower daily spending. Both count.
- Add to savings. Using the example above, an extra $600 in savings adds 4 days (from $4,500 to $5,100, divided by $150 gives 34).
- Spend a little less per day. Bringing average spending from $150 to $130 a day lifts the same $4,500 to 34 days as well.
If you’re in the red, don’t aim for 30 straight away. Aim for 14. The Save tab shows what you can save this month after your pockets and the bills ahead. You move that money yourself in your bank and tap Log it; Aurelo tracks the running total and your monthly streak. For a longer view of the target, see How Big Should Your Emergency Fund Be?.
How the two numbers fit together
They can disagree, and that’s useful.
- Healthy allowance, low Buffer Days: you’re fine this pay period, but there’s little cushion if something goes wrong. Worth building savings steadily.
- Plenty of Buffer Days, red allowance: you have cash overall, but this period’s plan asks for more than checking holds. A Reshuffle, or deciding to draw on savings, fixes it.
- Both red: focus on today first. Get the allowance back to zero or above with a Reshuffle, then start on Buffer Days.
If you’re in that last spot, you’re far from alone, and there’s a clear path out. Living Paycheck to Paycheck? Start With These Numbers walks through it.
How they feed the Aurelo Score
The Aurelo Score is a 0 to 100 score built from three parts: Buffer Days, pocket health (your pockets staying within plan) and savings rate.
- Buffer Days is one of the three parts directly. Raising it raises your score.
- Today’s Allowance isn’t a part of the score itself, but it’s closely linked to pocket health. Using the allowance to decide what you spend today, and reshuffling when a pocket runs over, is how pockets stay within plan.
The Report card on the Dashboard shows the Score together with Today’s Allowance and Buffer Days, so you can see all three at a glance.
In Aurelo: Today’s Allowance, Buffer Days, the Aurelo Score and the Money Calendar are all on the Free plan.
New to the app? Getting Started With Aurelo covers setup from the first tap.
Common questions
How do I know how much I can spend today?
Start from your checking balance, take off the bills due before your next payday, then take off what your budget still needs for the rest of the period. What remains is safe to spend. Aurelo calls this Today's Allowance and works it out for you.
What are Buffer Days?
Buffer Days is how long your cash in checking and savings would last if you kept spending at your average daily rate from the last 30 days. It's a measure of breathing room, shown in days rather than dollars.
How many Buffer Days should I have?
Aurelo shows 30 or more days as green, 14 to 29 as yellow and under 14 as red. If you're in the red, the first goal is simply to get past 14; there's no need to reach a big number all at once.
Why is my Today's Allowance negative?
Your checking balance doesn't currently cover both the bills due before payday and what your pockets still need. Aurelo shows it in red and offers a Reshuffle so you can move money between pockets and bring the plan back into line.
Written by the Aurelo team. We build Aurelo, a budgeting app that reads your accounts read-only and never moves your money. Every claim about the app is checked against the app itself. This is general education, not financial, tax or legal advice.
