Budget: Details of Your Status

Financial health is very important - when it's not there, it can be a quick road to money problems. Still, it's not that easy to pin down what it really means. Here's how Erste Bank und Sparkasse define it:

Financial health means you are able to cover your current and ongoing mandatory expenses, feel secure about your financial future and make decisions that allow you to enjoy your life.

This definition, of course, is also the foundation of George FIT.

Find out more information on the topic here. 

Of course, many individual factors also come into play. For example, your age, family life... the list could go on and on. George FIT helps you always keep an eye on the key pillars of your financial health and current fitness: Reserves, Protection (Insurances), Investments, Pension - and of course Budget (incoming money and spending). 

To become - or stay - financially healthy, you should regularly spend less than what's coming in. While it might not always be possible, a good rule of thumb is to keep spending below 90% of money coming in per month. This lets you build up long-term reserves and leaves you with money for investments and your retirement. 

George FIT budget analysis, estimates and tips are mainly based on monthly averages of incoming and outgoing money from chosen accounts and cards (more on choosing accounts here). In both cases, that means the median value for the last 6 complete months - unless if you make manual changes to the values (find out how to do this here). 

It's also good to know what counts toward income and (especially) expenses, and what does not. You'll find a detailed description here. 

1. On average, you are spending less than 90% of your incoming money.

This is the fit "green status". In this case, George tells you that "You're on the safe side".

2. On average, you are spending between 90% and 100% of your incoming money.

With this "yellow status", George gives you some advice: "Please don't lose sight of your budget".

3. On average, you are spending more than your incoming money.

This is a small warning (hence the "red status") saying "You need to reduce your spending".

4. There is not enough available data (transactions).

It can be that George doesn't have enough data on either your incoming money or spending to analyse your budget. He will then ask you for more entries.