Tip 1
Divide your qubes into 3 groups.
- Absolutes
- Needs
- Wants
This will be built right into the app in the next iteration of Planning Screen. Moreover, you will be able to create your own categories.
Tip 2
Set-up direct deposit to have a reliable way to fund your Qube account.
Tip 3
Have the full amount you need to fully fund your next budgeting period before the first day of the budgeting period. (If your selected budgeting period is 1 month and this seems difficult at first, try reducing your budgeting period from 1 month to 2 weeks or 1 week. Custom budgeting cycles are not available yet and will be coming soon).
Tip 4
Fully fund all your qubes on day 1 of your budgeting period. Qube recommends you turn on auto-allocation for each qube.
Tip 5
All your qubes should be funded every budgeting period even if you spend out of them once a year. e.g. a back-to-school qube that needs $600 at the end of summer should be funded at $50 every month. This ensures that there are no blind spots and each budgeting cycle accounts for all expenses.
Tip 6
It’s ok to not allocate 100% of your income to qubes on the Planning page or if you follow Zero-based budgeting and would prefer to have a fully balanced plan, then the same strategy outlined below can be achieved by using the “Fill To” option in Auto Allocation (coming soon).
We believe one of the keys to success with money is breaking the paycheck-to-paycheck cycle, and holding funds in reserve for month-to-month peace of mind, or even as a safety net if you find yourself with no income or reduced income for a short period of time.
Leave income which is over your budgeted amount during each budgeting period as Unallocated Funds. At Qube we call this, “building your runway.” Let those extra funds build over time, and before you know it your runway will be long enough to fund your budget using funds you saved in Unallocated Funds weeks or even months earlier. We recommend building a minimum of 1 month runway, but make your runway as long as you want!
Tip 7
Setup only one bill per bill qube. This allows the automated date tracking magic of Qube to work as intended, and helps you manage when bills are due.
Tip 8
Open your qube in the car before you go into the store. That way you aren’t scrambling to open a qube at checkout. Added bonus you actually look at how much money you spend before you have too much in your grocery cart.
Better yet, try ordering your groceries and other items online! That way you won’t be surprised at the total amount when you get to checkout, and you won’t be tempted by things you see in the aisle that you weren’t planning for.
Tip 9
Create goal qubes for birthdays, christmas, valentines day and anniversaries and save a little each month so you never have to use a credit card to cover gifts.
Tip 10
Try using budgeting for a miscellaneous spend qube to help cover random, unplanned purchases. This qube can also be used as an overflow (e.g. if you need more groceries this month, you can transfer some from miscellaneous instead of taking away from funds for next month.
Tip 11
Give yourself (and your partner) a “fun money” qube of some kind. This allows you no questions asked free money to spend each month that is still within your planned budget.
Tip 12
Enable Qubeless up to an amount that you feel comfortable with that would allow you to get gas somewhere you don’t have service, etc.
Tip 13
Once you are able to have the full amount ready before your budgeting period starts and you have your emergency fund minimum, the next goal would be to have 2-3 months of runway in your unallocated funds.
Tip 14
Keep long-term savings in a high-yield savings account (coming in 2024 to Qube).