Features

With UsableCash.com, you can...

Click each feature below, to learn more

Find your Usable Cash

Find your Usable Cash on a day-to-day basis.

Once all 3 steps are completed (Enter Bills, Enter Income and View Budget) UsableCash.com calculates your personal leftover, available, Usable Cash amount on a day-to-day basis, and the specific date by which the amount is available until. Your personal Usable Cash calculation is located on the My Budget page.
Knowing this amount puts you in control and less likely to overspend between paychecks. The Usable Cash is the maximum available amount, you'll have access to spend up to, which makes it clear if it’s an “eat-in” or an “eat-out” kind of week.
However, it’s a good idea to maintain a cushion of Usable Cash, especially for expenses that have amounts that differ from one bill to the next.
(See: Enter Bills, Required Fields, Amounts, Amounts that Differ)
The Usable Cash amount will update following each 'Until' date.
Make sure to visit your UsableCash.com account often and update the "Reconcile with your Bank" page (upon each login), in order to have an accurate Usable Cash calculation.
(See: Reconcile with your Bank)
UsableCash.com is not designed to earmark every single dollar you plan on spending, keep track of spending habits or your history. It is, however, a tool that allows you to see what's ahead, how to prepare and plan for your future.
It gives you the freedom of knowing exactly what funds are available at all times for your incidental expenses.
(See: Expense Definitions)
The goal is to maintain a positive Usable Cash amount, at all times. To keep your expense funds safe. Never spend more than your Usable Cash amount.

Pay Expenses on-time

UsableCash.com calculates the Average Minimum needed each pay-period or deposit (if self-employed), to cover the entered expenses, over a 5-year rolling period.

Whether the expense is weekly, monthly, yearly, etc. UsableCash.com gives you the tools to find all the money you need, exactly when you need it.
Once you complete the 3 steps, it's recommended to set up as many expenses on automatic payments, as possible, to make sure the expenses are paid on time.

Test a New Bill

Before purchasing or adding a new ongoing expense, for example: a new car or home, etc., click the Test New Bill on the My Budget page and fill out the projected expense information, as best as possible.

Then click View Results.
On the Summary page compare the current Average Minimum, Usable Cash, entered income, Before Test Bill and the New Average Minimum, After Test Bill. This is the UsableCash.com calculations of the difference in income needed to cover the new expense. Also, displayed are the first and largest negative amounts, if changes are not made to the entered income, which makes it clear & easy to decide if you can afford the new expense.
First Adjust Main Income directly on the View Results page, to resolve the negative balance(s), if any. Then:
- To keep the expense:
  - If changes were made to Adjust Main Income,
    - First click Set as Main Income, and be sure to update any transfers for each pay period, if needed.
    - Then click Make this Bill Permanent
- To delete the expense:
  - If changes were made to Adjust Main Income,
    - First click Undo to reset the Main Income
    - Then click Close Summary & Delete Test Bill
- For Example:
  - To test a brand new bill, enter the entire amount, and all projected information, and click view results. However,
  - An existing expense with a higher payment: i.e.: new rent/mortgage
    - If current home = $1000
    - New home = $1200
    - On the Test New Bill page enter ONLY the $200 difference to view the effects of the higher house payment.

Build Reserve Funds

Building Reserve Funds changes the ‘Credit Cards’ to ‘Credit Yourself’.

This feature allows you to save for those rainy-day, inevitable expenses, such as: car repair, doctor bills, etc.
The Reserve Funds accumulates incrementally, building up a pool of cash directly in your checking account, to use for Inevitable Expenses (See: Expense Definitions) as they arise, and eliminates the hassle of transferring from savings to checking.
Decide how much you want to set aside, from each main income’s pay-period or deposit (if self-employed), and enter the amount in the Reserve Funds found on the My Info page, or directly on the My Budget page by clicking the Reserve Funds button.
Then wait and watch, as the available amount builds each and every main income's payday automatically.
The Reserve Funds envelopes, or sets aside, this amount from your Usable Cash, which makes it easier to save.
Before using Reserve Funds:
- First, check for the available amount in the Reserve Funds section on the My Budget page.
- Second, make sure to update any used amount, to ensure the remaining available balance is accurate.
Increase, decrease, change or reset the Reserve Funds, as needed. The amount allotted per main income’s pay-period, continues to increase incrementally, with each and every pay-period, unless you delete the Reserve Fund completely.
To delete a Reserve Fund click Reserve Funds either on the My Info page or on the My Budget page and click the trash can next to the category you wish to delete.
Setting up a Reserve Funds will cause your bank balance to appear inflated. Only rely on the Usable Cash calculation, instead of your actual bank balance, in order to keep funds safe, ready to use, when needed.

Find Pockets of Cash (one-times)

Find pockets of cash that you didn’t even know existed!

Test out a One-Time expense, without affecting the Average Minimum, to see if a one-time expense fits into your current budget. Enter a One-Time Payee and the Outgoing amount on the My Budget page, then
Select a current, or future, date in which you want the funds to be available.
Click Add for an unlimited amount of One-Time line items.
Positive Balance: You’re good to go!
- Simply leave the expense in the One-Time section, until the specified date. Once the specified date arises, the funds are now available to use!
- Verify the expense has cleared, or been used, on the Reconcile with your Bank page, or click the trash can to delete it, on the My Budget page.
Negative Balance: Don’t give up just yet.
- Make a few changes to see if the One-time expense will fit into your budget another way:
  - Increase the entered income, on the My Budget page, until the negative balance(s) resolve.
  - Revert to the Test New Bill feature instead, after deleting the expense from the One-Time section first.
  - Or see: Satisfy Negative Balances, click below
One-Time Incoming: For any incoming amount(s), other than the entered income, enter the source in the One-Time Payee/Source, the date the funds will be available in your checking account and the amount in the Incoming field.

One-Time Enabled, on the right:

Checked - The Enabled check mark will automatically populate once you begin to type in the One-Time Payee/Source. This allows you to immediately view the effect the expense has on your balances and Usable Cash.
Unchecked - The entered information remains in the One-Time section, however, with it unchecked, the amount(s) are not calculated, until Enabled is check marked again.
Delete: To delete any One-Time Payee/Source, click the trash can at the left.
If you have multiple One-Time items, you can hide, or show, the items by clicking on the up/down arrow to the right of the One-Time heading.

Place-Hold Checks (One-Times, continued)

If you write a check for anything other than the expenses entered in the Enter Bills section (i.e. accessing your Usable Cash),

Type at least the check number into the One-Time Payee/Source field.
- Then type the amount of the check in the Outgoing field. That’s it.
- You can skip entering the date, as UsableCash.com defaults to the current date (today’s date). This ensures an accurate Usable Cash calculation, because the One-Time expense place-holds the amount of the check immediately, until it clears your bank, and remove it.
  (See: Reconcile with your Bank)
UsableCash.com is ideal for couples. Each can login to the UsableCash account throughout the day, add checks, reconcile, update and view the Usable Cash, which puts both on the same page financially.

Set up Reminders

Set up a reminder for any credit cards, store cards or online accounts which currently have a ZERO balance due, but are used occasionally:

Enter accounts just like any other expense, but with:
- A Starting on Date as ten to fifteen days before the usual due date
- And an Amount due of $0.01 (one cent)
Once the account appears on the Reconcile with your Bank page, verify your balance with the creditor, especially if charges occurred during that month.
Then if:
- No Balance Due: Checkmark the item and click remove, from the Reconcile with your Bank page, or checkmark the item in the View Budget section and click Remove.
- Balance Due: Do not verify the expense on the Reconcile with your Bank page, just yet! Go to the My Budget page, review the available Usable Cash amount, and decide to either:
  - Pay the balance off in full: Edit the expense by clicking on the blue edit pencil link, and update the amount, and click: Update Next Bill Only, or
  - Start making payments: Edit the expense by clicking on the blue edit pencil link, update the amount due from $0.01 to at least the minimum due amount, and click: Update All Bills.
  - Once the account balance is paid in full, if the account remains open, resume the ‘One-Cent Reminders’.

Avoid Overdrafts

Based on the entered expenses, income and bank balance, if a negative balance results, a warning pops up which displays the minimum amount to deposit, by a specified date, to avoid an overdraft.

The first and largest negative balances appear on the My Budget page.
This alert gives you a "heads-up" so you can act quickly to satisfy the negative balance(s), before they happen.
Note: This warning only displays the very first negative amount. Review your full budget to satisfy any other negative amounts.
Or Click - Satisfy Negative Balances, click below

Reconcile with your bank

Available Checking Account Balance: Each time you login to your UsableCash.com account, you’ll be asked to enter your current available checking account balance. This balance is after pending transactions are deducted.
Verify: Check mark the Outgoing and Incoming items which have cleared from that balance, even if the dates or amounts differ. Simply remember, if the item cleared your bank: Remove it.
Do not check off items which have not cleared this bank balance.
Optional: You can enter your Savings Account Balance, just to keep track. However, no calculations are based on this balance.
Cleared, but NOT on Reconcile Page: If an item has cleared but it is not listed on the Reconcile with your Bank page, for example: received income or paid an expense earlier than the date(s) entered, after accessing the My Budget page, scroll down to View Budget, check mark the item that has cleared and click the Remove button.
Reconcile often to maintain an accurate available Usable Cash amount.
We will not automate: For the most accurate calculations for your financial life, UsableCash.com requires the human factor - you - to engage often, by logging in and reconciling with your bank. Because of this, UsableCash.com will not automate directly with your bank. This keeps you in control.

View upcoming bills

Click View Upcoming Bills, located on the My Budget page, to view all the entered expenses, the very first due dates and the intervals. This is a printable page to verify if all expenses are entered.

Find ways to save

By check marking: Necessity, while entering each expense, UsableCash.com calculates the difference between expenses which are necessary vs. unnecessary.
Click: Expense Definitions, below

Click the Ways to Save button, located on the My Budget page, to view possible savings, by eliminating any unnecessary expenses.
Change an expense to a Necessity, on the Ways to Save page, if not initially marked as a necessity, and should have been.
Before eliminating any expense(s), print, or take a snapshot of, this page, just in case you wish to add the expense back later, and to cancel any contracts and/or stop automatic payments.

Earn Positive Balance Awards

Each Friday, after logging in and reconciling with your bank, if the Usable Cash is positive, a Positive Balance Award medal or trophy pops up on the My Budget page. Collect the awards on your My Account page, and share them on Social Media to earn FREE months.
Click: Earn Free Months, below

Pay off debt

Pay off debts, credit cards, loans, etc, quicker by using the Stacking Method.

First, set up at least one Reserve Fund for unexpected inevitable expenses. (See: Expense Definitions) It’s important to continue to save, even while paying off debt.
Next, enter at least the minimum due amount for each expense, when entering bills.
After entering all expenses, view the Usable Cash, on the My Budget page, determine if there’s any ‘wiggle-room’ to pay any additional amounts towards the debts.
Then, starting with the lowest total balance due, add that ‘wiggle-room’ amount on to the minimum due amount. Click the blue edit pencil link, in the View Budget section on the My Budget page, next to the expense. Update the amount, and select Update All Bills.
Once the first debt is paid off:
- Take that same amount you were paying and add it to the next lowest balance’s minimum due. Then either:
  - Edit the paid off account back to $0.01 as a One Cent Reminder
  - Or delete it altogether, if the account is closed.
- For Example:
  - Debt #1 - $300 balance - minimum due $25 per mo
  - Debt #2 - $1000 balance - minimum due $50 per mo
  - Debt #3 - $2500 balance - minimum due $125 per mo
    - Wiggle Room = $100 per month
    - Total minimums + wiggle room = $300
  - Debt #1 - Edit amount to $125. Once Debt #1 pays off, then
  - Debt #2 - Edit amount to $175. Once Debt #2 pays off, then
  - Debt #3 - Edit amount to $300.
    - For this example it will take a little over one year to get out of debt, give or take, due to interest.
    - Otherwise, if paying only the minimum due, would take much longer.

UsableCash.com

Discover your AVAILABLE spending cash limit: TODAY & over 5-rolling years!

With UsableCash.com, you can...

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