Setting up your first bucket
Buckets are for the spending that isn’t a bill — groceries, gas, coffee. Start with exactly one. Groceries is the classic choice.
Pick one flexible spend
Choose the thing you buy most often. For most people that’s groceries — frequent, variable, and easy to feel guilty about. One bucket is enough to start.
Give it an amount and a rhythm
Pick the rhythm that matches how you already think about that spending — weekly, per paycheck, monthly, whatever works. For groceries, many people find “$120 a week” easier to steer than “$520 a month.” Pick a number that feels realistic, not aspirational.
Spend from it with one tap
Bought $23 of groceries? Open Monilibrium, tap the bucket, type 23. Done. The bucket shows what’s left of this week at a glance.
Decide what happens to leftovers
Ended the week with $14 unspent? Carry it forward for a bigger shop next week, or let it release. Either way, you chose.
Spending from a bucket never lowers Safe to Spend — that money was set aside the moment the period started.