Question 1

How do I connect my bank account?

Accepted Answer

Go to Transactions and tap "Connect Bank". Budgetlator uses Plaid to securely link your bank — your banking credentials go directly to Plaid and are never stored by us. We only receive read-only access to your transaction data.

Question 2

Is my financial data secure?

Accepted Answer

Yes. All data is encrypted at rest (AES-256) and in transit (TLS 1.3). Your banking credentials are never stored by Budgetlator — Plaid handles those directly. Row-level security in our database ensures no user can access another's data.

Question 3

How does the AI Coach work?

Accepted Answer

The AI Coach uses Grok (xAI) with full context of your accounts, transactions, and budgets to answer questions and provide personalized advice. Your data is sent to the AI model only when you use AI features, and only if you have enabled AI data sharing in Settings.

Question 4

Can I add cash transactions manually?

Accepted Answer

Yes. In the Transactions screen, tap "+ Add Transaction" and enter the merchant, amount, category, and date. You can also create manual accounts (cash, savings jars, etc.) that don't sync with Plaid.

Question 5

How do I exclude a transaction from my budget?

Accepted Answer

On the Transactions screen, tap the eye icon on any transaction row to exclude it. Excluded transactions don't count toward your spending totals or budget limits. This is useful for transfers between your own accounts or refunds.

Question 6

Why are my transactions not showing up?

Accepted Answer

Transactions sync twice daily (9 AM and 9 PM EST). You can also manually trigger a sync by pulling down on the Transactions screen. New Plaid connections may take up to 24 hours to populate historical transactions. If you're still having issues, contact support.

Question 7

How do I delete my account?

Accepted Answer

Go to Settings > Delete Account. This will permanently delete all your data including transactions, budgets, linked accounts, and chat history. This action cannot be undone.

Question 8

Can I import transactions from a CSV file?

Accepted Answer

Yes. In the Transactions screen, tap "Import CSV". The file should have columns: Date, Merchant, Amount, Category. The date should be in YYYY-MM-DD format and amounts should be positive numbers for expenses.

How can we help?

Contact Support

Frequently Asked Questions

How can we help?

Contact Support

Frequently Asked Questions