Pick the right onboarding path
Lunch Money's getting-started guide offers four paths when you sign up. It recommends Start fresh for following its quick-start guide, and this plan assumes that path. This is research from Lunch Money's help centre, read on 30 October 2026, not a hands-on test.
| Path | What you get | Use it if |
|---|---|---|
| Start fresh | Basic categories plus date and currency display preferences set during onboarding. | You are setting up your real budget now. |
| Set up demo | A demo budget with pre-filled data. You create a new budget for real data later. | You want to explore first. |
| Import from Mint | Guided import from an existing Mint CSV. | You have an old Mint export. |
| Skip the walkthrough | A blank slate with no categories and default preferences. | You already know exactly how you want it set up. |
Day-by-day checklist
Each row says what to check before you move on.
| Day | Task | Verify |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Finish Start fresh onboarding. Set your primary currency and add any other currencies you use under Supported Currencies in Settings. | Totals show in the currency you think in. |
| 2 | Go to Accounts > Add account > Auto-import from my bank to connect your most-used checking and credit card accounts through Plaid. Set an earliest import date if you do not want old history. | Synced balances match the bank. |
| 3 | Add manually managed accounts for anything Plaid cannot reach, such as cash, assets or unsupported banks. In the US and Canada, connect investment accounts with the "I want to sync an investment account" option. Bulk-load history with the CSV or PDF importer. | Every account you care about appears on the Accounts page. |
| 4 | Check category properties (income, expense and transfer behaviour), then run the Auto-Categorization tool on the Categories page. | Paychecks are in income categories and card payments are not counted as spending. |
| 5 | Categorise and rename payees on the Transactions page. Each category change creates a "match exactly" rule, and each payee rename creates a suggested rule. Review them on the Rules page. | New syncs arrive already categorised. |
| 6 | Add recurring items for rent, subscriptions and paychecks with a cadence and an amount or range. | Each item shows a green check (linked), an orange warning (overdue, unlinked) or a grey clock (not yet due). |
| 7 | Set the budget: period, income method and rollover rules. Then invite a collaborator from Settings if you share money. | The Overview page budget breakdown reflects this month. |
Syncing, CSV or manual: how data gets in
Plaid is Lunch Money's primary provider. It covers the US, Canada and a list of European countries including France, Germany, Spain and Ireland. Balances and transactions are fetched when Plaid sends a webhook. Lunch Money's accounts FAQ adds that updates between your bank and Plaid can take 1 to 3 business days, and that Lunch Money checks with Plaid at least once every 2 days. Some jurisdictions require banks to renew third-party access every 90 or 120 days, so expect occasional relink prompts.
| Method | Covers | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Plaid sync | Most US and Canadian banks and listed EU countries | Automatic transaction import is not supported for investment and loan accounts, though US and Canadian investment accounts can be connected. Banks that need a one-time password at every login are not supported. |
| Third-party apps | Lunch Flow (paid; US, Canada, Brazil, Australia, Asia, 30+ European countries including the UK), Synci (paid; Europe, UK, New Zealand), Lunch Sync (Apple Card and Apple Wallet) | Lunch Money treats these as manually managed accounts. |
| CSV or PDF import | Any bank that lets you download statements | Lunch Money says almost 40% of its users are outside the US and Canada, which is why this route exists. Steps: upload, match columns, review settings, review transactions, import. |
| Manual entry | Cash, assets, gift cards, crypto | The balance updates as you add or edit transactions. |
Your first rules, with an example
A rule has conditions and actions. Conditions can test payee name (contains, starts with or matches exactly), category, notes, amount type and range, day range and account. Lunch Money's own example: payee name contains 'Uber' sets the category to Ridesharing. That catches every differently named Uber charge, whereas an exact-match rule built from a single edit would miss them.
In week one, upgrade the automatic exact-match rules for your top merchants to 'contains' rules. Add amount ranges where one merchant covers two categories. Lunch Money also creates a system rule whenever you create a recurring item, linking matching transactions by cadence, amount and payee. If a recurring item shows an orange warning, check whether the payee name on the bank transaction has changed before you assume the bill was missed.
Budget settings to decide on day 7
From Lunch Money's budgeting setup guide. Settle the period first, because changing it later deletes old budgets.
| Setting | Options | Pick this if |
|---|---|---|
| Budget period | Monthly from the 1st (default), or a custom period anchored to a Starting On date | Use custom anchored to payday if you are paid biweekly. |
| Income | Expected income, actual income received, or the larger of the two | Choose actual income if you want to budget only money already received. |
| General pool rollover | Off by default. When on, left-to-budget or over-budget amounts carry forward | Turn it on if you want surpluses to roll into next period's pool. |
| Expense category rollover | Roll to the same category, roll to the general pool, or nothing (default) | Lunch Money recommends one of the two rollover options so leftover money is not lost. |
| Category group budgeting | Budget a whole group, such as Travel, as one line | Use it if you do not want to budget every subcategory. |
Day-7 checklist
- The primary currency is right and every foreign-currency account shows its own currency.
- Synced balances match the bank. You know which accounts are manual and when you will update them.
- Income, expense and transfer categories are set correctly.
- The rules page holds 'contains' rules for your ten most frequent merchants.
- Every bill and paycheck has a recurring item, and nothing due this month shows an orange warning without a reason.
- The budget period, income method and rollovers are chosen, and the Overview page budget breakdown looks right.
- A collaborator, if you have one, has accepted the invitation from their own login.
Price and the limits of this guide
Lunch Money's getting-started guide describes a 30-day trial. The help pages we read on 30 October 2026 do not list a price, so we have not given one here. Check the current price on Lunch Money's own site before subscribing. Collaborators who later create their own first budget get a 14-day trial, according to the unlimited budget accounts page.
This guide is built from Lunch Money's official help pages. It cannot tell you how reliably Plaid connects to your bank. Use the first week of the trial to test exactly that.
Questions before you decide
What does the primary currency do in Lunch Money?
All totals, summaries and charts are shown in the primary currency. Transactions in other currencies are converted at historical daily exchange rates for over 160 currencies. You can change the primary currency at any time in Settings.
Does changing the budget period lose anything?
Yes. Lunch Money's budget setup guide warns that changing the budgeting period deletes your old budgets, so choose monthly or a custom period such as one anchored to payday before you enter amounts.
Does my partner need their own subscription?
No. Lunch Money charges per budget, not per person. Only the budget admin needs an active subscription, and you can invite any number of collaborators, each with their own login.
Which accounts cannot sync automatically?
The automatic imports guide says automatic transaction import for investment and loan accounts is not currently supported, and banks that require a one-time password at every login are not supported. In the US and Canada you can still connect investment accounts through Plaid by ticking "I want to sync an investment account". Use manually managed accounts or CSV and PDF imports for the rest.
Follow the sources
- Lunch Money Help: Getting Started Checked Oct 30, 2026
- Lunch Money Help: Adding Accounts Checked Oct 30, 2026
- Lunch Money Help: Automatic Imports Checked Oct 30, 2026
- Lunch Money Help: Accounts FAQ Checked Oct 30, 2026
- Lunch Money Help: CSV / PDF Importing Checked Oct 30, 2026
- Lunch Money Help: Multicurrency Checked Oct 30, 2026
- Lunch Money Help: Rules Checked Oct 30, 2026
- Lunch Money Help: The basics of recurring items Checked Oct 30, 2026
- Lunch Money Help: Budgeting step 2, setting up your budget Checked Oct 30, 2026
- Lunch Money Help: Collaborators Checked Oct 30, 2026
- Lunch Money Help: Unlimited Budget Accounts Checked Oct 30, 2026
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