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Get started and stay unstuck
Guides that match the app as it ships — including what changes if you are coming from another budgeting app.
Start here Coming from another app Contact support
Get started
- Getting started First launch: explore with sample data, or link a bank and run first-month setup.
- Envelope budgeting in 60 seconds Assign money you already have. Spend from Available. Move money when plans change.
- Coming from another budgeting app What you can stop doing, what Polaris does differently, and why the classes matter.
- First-month setup Start month → balances → pay-in-full vs carry → Ready to Assign reveal.
- Ready to Assign One number: cash that exists minus what envelopes already claim.
- Assign money Edit the assigned figure in the row. Ready to Assign updates while you type.
- Credit cards: pay in full vs carry Each card has its own payment envelope. Long-term debt does not crush Ready to Assign.
Accounts & linking
- Link a bank Optional, read-only connections. You can also add accounts by hand.
- Reconnect a bank When a connection needs attention, reconnect that institution — not every account.
- A bank will not connect Check Connection status first. Then report it from the app if it is new.
- Manual accounts and assets Cash you type, plus houses, cars, and other things you want in net worth.
- Duplicate accounts after reconnect Merge from Data Health. History stays; balances are combined.
Budget
- Essentials, discretionary, savings Four classes. Color means class. Class changes what the plan prefers when money is short.
- Overspent vs over-assigned A red category is not the same as claims exceeding cash. The words stay separate on purpose.
- Move money and Balance Every cover names a source. The ladder is ordered by what the choice costs you.
- Closing a month Cover the red, or say out loud that it rolls forward. The choice is recorded.
- Card payment envelopes One envelope per card. The reserve is what you owe, not only the statement.
- Set Aside for next month Spare money stamped with the month it is for. When that month arrives, release it.
- Why a number changed Polaris can decompose a Ready to Assign move into named causes that sum to the change.
Transactions
- Categorize, splits, and receipts Correct a merchant once. Split a Costco run. Scan a receipt on the device.
- Duplicate transactions Suspected duplicates are flagged, not silently deleted.
- Transfers Moves between your own accounts are not spending.
- Tags and claims Tag a split line. Export a claim on the device — nothing is uploaded until you share.
On-device intelligence
Planning & portfolio
- Retirement simulation A thousand market paths. Illustrative, not advice.
- Debt payoff A dated plan attached to the budget, not a separate spreadsheet.
- Housing and college The mortgage can end. Property tax does not. Kids in college are not a retirement-age surprise.
- Holdings and benchmarks Holdings-level portfolio. Benchmarks are illustrations.
Data & privacy
- Where your data lives On this iPhone and in your iCloud. Our server is a relay.
- New phone, reinstall, iCloud The book follows your Apple ID when iCloud Drive is on.
- Backups and restore Settings → Data & iCloud. Prefer a full backup before experiments.
- Delete my data Unlink, delete the app, remove the iCloud folder. We do not host your books.
- Report an Issue from the app A redacted diagnostic. Email is optional. Ticket code is yours.
- Data Health Quiet checks for duplicates, drift, and leftover connection rows.
Troubleshooting
- Numbers do not match the bank Pending vs posted, transfers, and Reconcile when the books actually drifted.
- Transactions delayed or missing The app syncs when you open it. Some banks post slowly.
- The app will not open Restore a backup. Never delete the store to “fix” it.
- Demo mode is still on Sample data is not your money. Turn it off in Settings.
- Connection status Known institution issues, dated, with workarounds.