Many budgeting tools put everything in one list: the salary, the rent, the savings and the grocery limit. Then a budget looks like money, and savings look like spending.
In short: Volora gives each role of money its own place, and each place answers one question. Wallets: how much is there, and where? Budgets: how much of the plan is left? Projects: what is this plan for? Transactions record what happened, and transfers record money moving between your own wallets.
- Wallets hold the balances
- Projects hold the plans
- Budgets set the limits
- Transactions and transfers record what happens
One payday, traced
Made-up but realistic: the household from the monthly budget. €2,400 arrives on the 10th, €480 goes to savings, and groceries are bought against a €400 budget.
| Recorded as | Wallet balance | Budget | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Salary arrives | income into Current account | Current account +€2,400 | no change |
| €480 to savings | transfer to Savings wallet | Current −€480, Savings +€480 | no change |
| €62 of groceries | expense in Monthly plan, Food, Groceries | Current −€62 | €338 of €400 left |
The transfer touches no budget: saving isn't spending, so it doesn't use up the plan. And the grocery expense changes two numbers at once, the money in the wallet and what's left of the plan, because those are two different questions.
The parts
Wallets: how much is there?
A wallet mirrors an account: a current account, cash, a card, savings, an investment account, or a prepaid balance in an app. Volora doesn't hold money. The wallet shows what's in the real account, and you can give any wallet a low-balance alert.
Projects: what is this plan for?
A project groups the spending for one purpose: a monthly plan, a trip, a renovation, a small business. It answers: did we stay within what we planned? A project holds no money. Money is spent from wallets and counted against the project.
Budgets: how much of the plan is left?
Budgets sit on three levels inside a project: the project total, categories (Food, Housing, Transport) and subcategories (Groceries, Eating out). They restart each cycle and can warn you before a limit. They don't store money, so an underspent budget isn't savings until you move the money (budget mistakes that aren't about overspending).
Transactions and transfers: what actually happened?
Income and expenses are transactions. Moving money between your own wallets is a transfer, and it has no category, because nothing was spent. A recurring transfer waits for you to confirm it, since Volora never moves money in your bank.
Insights: what does it add up to?
Breakdowns, trends, a Financial Health score from 0 to 100 and flags for unusual spending. They show patterns, and the decisions stay yours.
Why keep them apart
- Budget left isn't money left. If the car repair came out of the same account, the grocery budget can show €150 while the account has €90. Seeing both stops the overdraft.
- Savings stay visible. Savings in their own wallet don't quietly fund the month.
- Going over is information. When the plan and the money are separate, a budget overrun shows where the plan was off, not that money vanished.
One thing to do today
Write down your accounts (those would be your wallets) and the one plan you'd start with, usually "Monthly plan". That's the whole structure you need to begin.