Credit Card Equaliser
Credit card overspending is a real thing. Tame the horse now!
This feature is an experimental visual guide. Figures can change as we refine our algorithm.
Multiple credit cards, one salary? Easy to overspend; hard to pay the bills.
The Credit Card Equaliser in expenseOS estimates remaining card room this cycle against money you actually have to pay bills. It does not block transactions. It is a visual estimate only.
Where to find it
After you add at least one credit card on Accounts, the equaliser appears on Home above 6-Month Cashflow. Without a credit card account, the dashboard does not show this section. Tap the green ? next to the title for a one-line summary, or read this guide for detail.
Disposable Income pool
This is the money you can realistically use for card spend until the latest statement close among your active cards:
- Balances in funding accounts you select (savings, current, wallet, cash)
- Plus recurring income due before that close on those selected accounts (if not already logged)
- Minus recurring debit expenses (EMI, rent, etc.) in the same window on selected accounts
- Minus unpaid prior card statements still on your balances
Example: ₹40,000 salary in the account, ₹15,000 home EMI and ₹1,200 society maintenance still due, and ₹1,000 already spent from a debit account → pool ₹22,800 before any card spend this cycle.
The headline “₹X short this cycle” is only about selected funding accounts. It is upcoming bills on those accounts, plus card spend the pool cannot cover. Recurring EMI or spend on an unselected account is ignored — that money is still in the other account.
Spent, cap, and “left”
Each card chip shows spent / cap:
- Spent — expenses on that card this statement cycle (plus unposted recurring on that card).
- Cap — spent plus your equal share of whatever pool is still left. If nothing is left (selected accounts are empty, or cards already spent the pool), cap is not the amount you already spent. A ₹0 pool shows a ₹0 cap — existing card spend appears as overshoot. Overshoot is marked OVER on that card’s bars, and the chip says how much it went over.
If ₹800 is left across two credit cards, each gets ₹400 more room.
The footer line “₹X left across cards until …” is the combined remaining pocket — one shared number, not per card.
Funding accounts
Use Funding accounts to pick which debit balances count toward the pool. Only those accounts’ balances and their recurring income/expenses count. Salary sitting in an unselected account does not add room. Household shared pots are excluded. If a card’s payment account is not selected, you will see a footnote — add it if that is where you pay the bill from.
Freelancers
No fixed recurring income? The equaliser uses selected account balances minus upcoming debit expenses and shows a banner suggesting you add salary when you have it.
Quick checklist
- Add credit cards with billing cycle set.
- Select funding accounts that hold money for card bills.
- Keep recurring income and EMIs up to date.
- Have a watch on equaliser as it updates realtime.
💡 Equaliser vs Budgets: CC equaliser limits card spend against the cash you actually have to pay bills. Budgets limit types of spend.
App screenshot
Disclaimer: The Credit Card Equaliser is not a professional, legal, or financial advice on how to use a credit card. It does not approve, recommend, or tell you to spend. Use your own judgement, and speak to a qualified advisor for credit decisions.