How to Know How Much You Have Left to Spend
Your bank balance is not how much you have left to spend. To find your real spendable amount, subtract upcoming fixed bills and your savings target from your balance, then divide what remains by the days left in the period. That number — your gap — is what you can safely spend.
Why your bank balance lies
Your balance includes money already promised to rent, bills, and savings that simply hasn't left your account yet. Spending against it is how people end the month short despite 'having money' mid-month.
What you actually want is your gap: the money that's genuinely free to spend after everything committed is set aside.
How to calculate your gap
- Start with your current available balance.
- Subtract fixed bills still due before your next payday.
- Subtract the savings you plan to keep this month.
- Divide what's left by the number of days remaining to get your daily gap.
A worked example
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Available balance | $1,200 |
| Bills still due | − $500 |
| Savings to keep | − $200 |
| Money left to spend | $500 |
| Days left (÷ 10) | $50/day |
Do it automatically
Recalculating this by hand every day is exactly what makes people give up. Power Gap keeps the number live: it shows how much you have left to spend today, this week, and this month, updating as you go. No bank login, private by design, stored in your own iCloud.