Keep Above
Blog
Notes on planning ahead with money — and on what Keep Above works out for you.
Free worksheets
Three one-page printables built on the same arithmetic: what’s safe to spend before payday, yearly bills split per pay, and a bill calendar for one pay cycle.
9 September 2026Payday to payday
The gap between one payday and the next is mostly arithmetic: what’s already spoken for before the money lands again. How Keep Above works that out from two inputs, with no spending diary.
24 August 2026Bills that don't come every month
Car registration, insurance, rates — the bills that arrive once a year in one lump. The arithmetic that turns them into a per-payday slice, and how Keep Above keeps track of it.
22 August 2026Common questions
What does it mean to have money already spoken for?
It means the part of the balance that is dated against a bill before the money is spent — rent, power, a phone bill, an annual registration. The amount is known and the day is known, so the arithmetic is settled before the pay cycle begins; what makes it feel like uncertainty is that nobody has done the sum.
How much of my balance is already accounted for?
Whatever the bills and goals you have entered need before their due dates — Keep Above adds that up and calls the resulting level Safe; what sits above it is not allocated to anything. Critical is the lower level, enough to cover only the bills due before your next income arrives.
Do I have to log every purchase to budget this way?
No. Keep Above keeps no spending history and no categorised record of where money went — bills and income go in once, and one number, the balance, is kept current. Day-to-day spending shows up on its own the next time the balance is updated, so there is nothing to catch up on after a quiet week.
How do you plan for a bill that only comes once a year?
A slice of each pay is set aside toward it, so the full amount has accumulated by the date it is due. Keep Above calls these reserved funds and works out the per-payday slice from the amount, the due date and how often you are paid; the funds are what the Safe line is made of.