Name where the money comes from

The Income Labels tab: main labels on the left, their smaller labels to the right, and the choices you see when you label a deposit.

6 min Labels Setup

Your workbook may look different. If there is no brown band of buttons along the top, use the Money Mastery menu in the menu bar above your workbook. The names are a little different there: Categorize is Categorize Transactions, Reports is Clarity AI & Reports, Dashboard is Open Dashboard, and Start Here is Getting Started.

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Welcome back. Today we set up income labels, so you always know where the money came from, not only where it went.

In your workbook, click the Income Labels tab at the bottom..

The main labels run down the left. Each one has its smaller labels, the subcategories, in the cells to the right of it. These are exactly the choices you see when you label a deposit.

Start with how many kinds of income you have. One to five. Three is a good start.

Click the first main label cell and type a plain name, Paycheck, press Enter. The next, Side hustle. The next, Investments.

Now the subcategories to the right. On the Paycheck row, click the first cell to the right and type Salary, press Tab, type Bonus. On Side hustle, Coaching, then Etsy. On Investments, Dividends, then Interest.

Life changes. A commission arrives, so click the next empty cell on the Paycheck row and type Commission. The Etsy shop closes, so click that cell and press Delete.

A fourth kind arrives, gifts. Click the next empty main label cell, type Gifts, and to its right type Birthday money.

Click the Categorize button and label a deposit. Click the label box, open the list, and Gifts is there with Birthday money under it.

Keep it simple. Five strong labels beat twenty confusing ones. A label earns its place by helping you decide something later.

A subcategory is what you label with; the main label is what the charts group by. So Salary and Bonus both show as Paycheck on the Yearly Overview, and separately in the table underneath.

Broad enough to hold a year, clear enough to read in a report. That is your income, named. See you next time.

Welcome back. Today we set up income labels, so you always know where the money came from, not only where it went.

Step by step

In your workbook, click the Income Labels tab at the bottom.
The main labels run down the left

Each one has its smaller labels, the subcategories, in the cells to the right of it. These are exactly the choices you see when you label a deposit.
Start with how many kinds of income you have

One to five. Three is a good start.
Click the first main label cell and type a plain name, Paycheck, press Enter

The next, Side hustle. The next, Investments.
Now the subcategories to the right

On the Paycheck row, click the first cell to the right and type Salary, press Tab, type Bonus. On Side hustle, Coaching, then Etsy. On Investments, Dividends, then Interest.
Life changes

A commission arrives, so click the next empty cell on the Paycheck row and type Commission. The Etsy shop closes, so click that cell and press Delete.
A fourth kind arrives, gifts

Click the next empty main label cell, type Gifts, and to its right type Birthday money.
Click the Categorize button and label a deposit

Click the label box, open the list, and Gifts is there with Birthday money under it.

The idea behind it

Keep it simple. Five strong labels beat twenty confusing ones. A label earns its place by helping you decide something later.

Worth knowing

A subcategory is what you label with; the main label is what the charts group by. So Salary and Bonus both show as Paycheck on the Yearly Overview, and separately in the table underneath.

Remember

Broad enough to hold a year, clear enough to read in a report. That is your income, named. See you next time.

Up next, Chapter 3

Name where the money goes