Skip to content

Available Margin

The available margin tells you the maximum amount you can spend freely without your account going below a safety threshold.

Definition

Available margin = Lowest future balance − Threshold

Where:

  • Lowest future balance is the minimum projected balance from the selected month onward, based on the forecast (all planned operations and budgets applied)
  • Threshold is a configurable safety net (e.g. 500 EUR) that you want to keep as a minimum balance at all times

How It Works

The forecast projects your balance day by day into the future. On some days the balance dips (rent, bills) and on others it peaks (salary). The margin uses the worst-case point — the day where your balance is lowest — to determine how much room you have.

Balance
  3200 ┤         ╭──╮
  2800 ┤─────────╯  │
  2400 ┤             ╰────╮
  2000 ┤                   ╰──╮
  1740 ┤.......................╰── ← Lowest future balance
       │
   500 ┤- - - - - - - - - - - - - ← Threshold
       └──────────────────────────
        Mar 1    Mar 15   Mar 29

  Available margin = 1,740 − 500 = 1,240 EUR

Concrete Example

A developer with:

  • Salary +3,200 EUR on the 28th
  • Rent -950 EUR on the 5th
  • Groceries budget -450 EUR (spread daily)
  • Savings -500 EUR on the 29th
  • Balance at March 1: 2,800 EUR
  • Threshold: 500 EUR

The balance dips to 1,740 EUR on March 29th (after savings transfer, before next salary). The available margin is 1,240 EUR — that's how much extra spending is safe.

If a 400 EUR washing machine repair is added, the lowest balance drops to 1,340 EUR and the margin shrinks to 840 EUR — still above threshold.

Alert Mode

When the available margin goes negative, it means your balance is projected to fall below the threshold at some point. The margin section turns red and shows a warning:

/!\ The account will go below your 500 € threshold on Mar 29, 2026

This happens when unexpected large expenses push the lowest balance below the safety net.

Configuring the Threshold

The threshold can be changed from the Review tab:

  1. Press E or click the Edit button in the margin section
  2. Enter the new threshold value
  3. The margin recalculates immediately

A threshold of 0 means you only get an alert if the balance goes negative.

Past Months

The margin section is hidden when viewing past months in the Review tab. It only appears for the current month and future months, since the margin is a forward-looking indicator.