Personal Finance Glossary
Clear, jargon-free definitions of the budgeting and money terms you will meet while managing your finances — and how each one shows up in an app like eTrackly.
Banking
Cash Wallet
A cash wallet represents the physical money you carry, kept separate from bank balances so your records stay complete. Cash is… Read more
Direct Debit
A direct debit is an arrangement that lets a company pull a payment from your bank account, often for varying amounts like utility… Read more
Exchange Rate
An exchange rate is the price of one currency expressed in another, determining how much foreign money you receive when you… Read more
Multi-Currency
Multi-currency support means tracking balances and transactions in more than one currency at once, useful for travellers, expats,… Read more
Budgeting
50/30/20 Rule
A simple budgeting framework that splits your after-tax income into three buckets: 50 percent for needs, 30 percent for wants, and… Read more
Budget
A budget is a plan that allocates your expected income across spending, saving, and debt over a set period, usually a month. It… Read more
Budget Category
A budget category groups related expenses, such as groceries, transport, or entertainment, so you can set a limit and track… Read more
Cash Flow
Cash flow is the movement of money into and out of your accounts over a period. Positive cash flow means more income than… Read more
Envelope Budgeting
Envelope budgeting assigns cash to labelled envelopes, one per spending category, and when an envelope is empty that category is… Read more
Zero-Based Budgeting
Zero-based budgeting gives every unit of income a specific job until nothing is left unassigned, so income minus all allocations… Read more
Debt
APR
Annual Percentage Rate expresses the yearly cost of borrowing, combining the interest rate with certain fees into a single figure.… Read more
Credit Score
A credit score is a number that lenders use to judge how reliably you repay borrowed money, based on your history of payments,… Read more
Debt Avalanche
The debt avalanche method tackles debts by paying minimums on everything while throwing all spare money at the balance with the… Read more
Debt Snowball
The debt snowball method orders your debts from smallest balance to largest, paying minimums on all but attacking the smallest… Read more
Income
Disposable Income
Disposable income is the money left from your earnings after taxes and mandatory deductions, the amount you actually have… Read more
Gross Income
Gross income is your total earnings before any taxes, pension contributions, or other deductions are taken out. It is the headline… Read more
Income
Income is the money you receive from work, benefits, investments, or other sources over a period. It is the fuel for every budget,… Read more
Net Income
Net income, often called take-home pay, is what remains after taxes and deductions are removed from your gross earnings. It is the… Read more
Paycheck-to-Paycheck
Living paycheck-to-paycheck means each pay packet is almost entirely consumed by expenses before the next arrives, leaving little… Read more
Investing
Asset
An asset is anything you own that has monetary value, such as cash, savings, a car, property, or investments. Assets are one half… Read more
Compound Interest
Compound interest is interest earned on both your original balance and the interest already added, so growth accelerates over… Read more
Interest Rate
An interest rate is the percentage charged on borrowed money or paid on savings over a period, usually expressed annually. On debt… Read more
Saving
Emergency Fund
An emergency fund is a cash reserve set aside for unexpected costs like car repairs, medical bills, or sudden loss of income. Most… Read more
Financial Goal
A financial goal is a specific money target with a purpose and ideally a deadline, such as saving for a holiday, a deposit, or… Read more
Pay Yourself First
Pay yourself first is the principle of moving money into savings or investments as soon as you are paid, before spending on… Read more
Savings Rate
Your savings rate is the share of your income you set aside rather than spend, usually shown as a percentage. It is one of the… Read more
Sinking Fund
A sinking fund is money set aside gradually for a known future expense, like an annual insurance bill, holiday, or replacing a… Read more
Spending
Discretionary Spending
Discretionary spending covers non-essential purchases you choose to make, such as dining out, hobbies, travel, and entertainment.… Read more
Expense Tracking
Expense tracking is the habit of recording what you spend, ideally as it happens, so nothing slips through unnoticed. It turns… Read more
Fixed Expense
A fixed expense is a cost that stays roughly the same each period, like rent, loan repayments, or a subscription. Because the… Read more
Recurring Transaction
A recurring transaction is a payment or income that repeats on a regular schedule, such as a salary, rent, or monthly… Read more
Subscription Creep
Subscription creep is the slow accumulation of recurring services, streaming, apps, memberships, that individually seem cheap but… Read more
Variable Expense
A variable expense changes from period to period, such as groceries, fuel, dining out, or utility bills that rise and fall with… Read more
Put these terms into practice
Read our budgeting guides or see how eTrackly's wallets, budgets and goals bring them to life.
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