Frequently asked questions

Last updated: August 27, 2026

Ketzie answers one question — how much is safe to spend today? — and this page answers the questions people ask about that. For the formal version of anything privacy-related, see the privacy policy. For how statement import works in detail, see How bill identification works.

The number

What does “safe to spend” mean?

It’s what you can spend right now without coming up short before your next paycheck. Ketzie starts from the cash in your accounts and holds back three things: bills due before payday (in full), a slice of each bill due after payday (see the next question), and your daily flex for the rest of the cycle. What’s left is safe to spend — standing in the store, looking at the price tag.

When it reaches zero, you’re done spending for the day. Tomorrow adds another day’s flex.

Why is it lower than my balance minus my bills?

Because it’s also holding back money for bills that fall after your next paycheck — the way a disciplined envelope system would.

Take rent due on the 1st when you’re paid every two weeks. Two paychecks fund that rent. After the first one lands, half the rent should already be set aside, even though it isn’t due for weeks. Ketzie sets that half aside for you — a slice per paycheck, on each bill’s own schedule — so the last paycheck before the bill doesn’t have to cover all of it. That’s the difference between “balance minus bills” and a number you can trust.

Tap the breakdown under the headline to see each bill’s slice: how much is set aside so far, out of how many paychecks.

What’s the daily flex?

Your everyday spending — coffee, lunch, a bus ride — as a daily amount. Ketzie reserves it for every remaining day in the cycle, so it’s already accounted for: the safe-to-spend number is what you can spend on top of your flex. Spend less than your flex today and the leftover shows up in tomorrow’s number.

What happens on payday?

A new cycle starts. Bills due before the next payday move from “set aside gradually” to “due now, in full,” the daily flex is re-reserved for the new cycle, and the headline recomputes from your fresh balances. If you link your bank, the balances are already there when you open the app.

What does a negative number mean?

You’ve spent into money that was being held back — usually a bill that’s coming up. It isn’t an error; it’s the same signal an underfunded envelope gives. The breakdown shows which reserve is short.

Does Ketzie count my savings?

Not by default. Money you’ve set aside stays set aside — a savings account is tracked but excluded from safe-to-spend. You can include it any time from your accounts list.

What about income I’m expecting — a side job, a reimbursement?

Add it as expected income and check it off when it lands. Whether expected income counts toward the headline is your choice: a toggle on the safe-to-spend screen switches between “plan with money that’s on its way” and “spend only what’s already in my accounts.” Your regular paycheck isn’t expected income — it drives your pay schedule instead.

Setting up

What do I need to enter?

Four things: your accounts and their balances, when you get paid, your recurring bills, and a daily flex amount. Ketzie derives everything else. Most people are set up in a few minutes — faster if you import a statement (below) instead of typing bills by hand.

Which pay schedules work?

Weekly, every two weeks, twice a month, monthly, and less common cadences (quarterly, twice a year, yearly). Bills can repeat on any of the same cadences, or be one-offs.

Which accounts can I add?

Cash, checking, savings, credit cards, investment, and loan accounts. Checking and cash count toward safe-to-spend; credit cards reduce it by what you owe and let you note pending charges that haven’t posted yet; savings, investment, and loan accounts are tracked but not spent from unless you say so.

Can Ketzie read my statements so I don’t have to type my bills?

Yes. Share a statement to Ketzie from your banking app, or upload a PDF, screenshot, spreadsheet, or CSV. Ketzie reads it and proposes recurring bills for you to review — nothing is added until you confirm it. Two or three consecutive statements give the best results, because most bills repeat monthly and one statement alone can’t prove the pattern. Statements are read once and never stored. How bill identification works has the full walkthrough.

Keeping it current

I paid a bill. What do I do?

Check it off. Bills on autopay check themselves off once their due date passes. Ketzie doesn’t move money between accounts, so update the paying account’s balance afterward — or link your bank and let the balance update itself.

Can Ketzie update my balances automatically?

Yes — link a bank or card and its balances refresh each morning and whenever you open Ketzie. Linking is handled by Plaid, the service most banking apps use; you sign in with your bank on Plaid’s screen, and Ketzie never sees your bank password. Ketzie reads balances and recent transactions (to keep balances fresh and match charges to your bills); our servers pass transaction data through and don’t keep it.

You can link up to five banks or cards, and disconnect any of them at any time — the accounts stay in Ketzie and go back to manual updates. Automatic balance updates are Ketzie’s paid feature; current pricing is shown in the app. Linking needs a free account so your connections follow you across devices.

Does linking work with Apple Card?

Not yet — Apple Card doesn’t connect through Plaid. Import your Apple Card statements instead; they work like any other statement.

Banks periodically require a fresh login for connected apps. Ketzie flags the connection as needing attention; tap it and sign in again on Plaid’s screen. Nothing is lost in the meantime — balances just pause updating.

Accounts, sync, and privacy

Do I need an account?

No. Ketzie works fully without one, and everything you enter stays on your device. Signing in is optional; it backs your data up, lets it appear on your other devices, and is required for bank linking (so connections follow you).

With Google, with Apple (on iPhone), with a one-time code emailed to you, or with a passkey. There’s no password to remember. Whatever you entered before signing in is kept — it’s claimed under your account, not replaced.

Does it sync between my phone and my tablet?

Yes, when you’re signed in on both. Edits on either device show up on the other. If you never sign in, nothing is synced and nothing about your finances is stored on our servers.

Can you see my data?

If you use sync, your data is stored encrypted on our servers, and only to provide sync. If you also turn on end-to-end encryption (Settings → End-to-end encryption), it’s encrypted on your device with keys that exist only on your devices — our servers store bytes they cannot read. The trade-off: there is no password reset for encrypted data. You get back in with an enrolled device, your one-time recovery code, or a passkey saved to your password manager, and if you lose all three, the encrypted backup is unrecoverable by design. We will never ask for your recovery code.

What does Ketzie collect about me?

Not your finances, ever — those stay on your device unless you use sync or import a statement, and both are described in the privacy policy. The app sends anonymous, count-level usage events (which features get used, never amounts or names) and scrubbed error reports, tagged with a random identifier that’s never connected to your account. One switch in Settings turns both off. No ads, no tracking across apps, no selling data.

How do I delete my account?

In the app: Settings → Profile → Delete account. It erases your cloud backup, your sign-in identity, your bank connections, and the data on your device, immediately and permanently. Step by step, and what to do if you can’t sign in.

Platforms and support

Where can I get Ketzie?

iPhone and Android. There’s no web version.

I found a bug / I have a question this page doesn’t answer.

Email support@ketzie.com. A screenshot and the build number from Settings → About (tap it to copy) make bugs much faster to fix.