How to Use UniWallet

Getting Started

Welcome to UniWallet! This guide will walk you through everything you need to know to start tracking your money. It only takes a few minutes to set up.

UniWallet keeps all your data on your phone. Nothing is sent to the internet. Your money, your data, your privacy.

Step 1: Set Up Your Income

Before you can track spending, UniWallet needs to know how much money you have coming in.

  1. Open the Income tab (the banknote icon at the bottom)
  2. Tap the + button in the top right
  3. Choose your income type:
    • Student Loan Term -- for student loan payments spread over a term
    • Wage -- for regular salary or hourly pay
  4. Fill in the details:
    • Name -- give it a label (e.g. "My Wage 2026" or "Student Loan Year 2")
    • Start and end dates -- when does this income cover?
    • Total budget -- how much money in total for this period?
    • Installments -- how often do you get paid, and how much each time?
  5. Tap Save

You can add more than one income source. UniWallet will combine them automatically.

Step 2: Set Up Your Budget

Now tell UniWallet how you want to divide your money across categories like Food, Transport, and Subscriptions.

  1. Open the Budget tab (the pie chart icon)
  2. You will see a list of categories (Food, Transport, Subscriptions, etc.)
  3. Tap any category to manage its budget
  4. Tap the + button to add a budget item (sub-category)
    • Name -- what is this for? (e.g. "Groceries", "Netflix", "Bus Pass")
    • Amount -- how much do you plan to spend?
    • Cycle -- how often? (Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Yearly)
    • Every -- use the stepper if the cycle repeats (e.g. "Every 2 weeks")
  5. Tap Save

Each category always has a General sub-category. This catches any spending that does not match your named sub-categories. You cannot delete General, but you can set a budget for it.

Step 3: Add an Expense

Every time you spend money, log it in UniWallet. It takes just a few seconds.

  1. Tap the gold + button on the Dashboard (or go to the Expenses tab and tap +)
  2. Enter the amount you spent
  3. Pick a category (e.g. Food)
  4. A list of sub-categories will pop up -- pick the one that fits (e.g. "Groceries")
    • If none fit, pick General
    • If you cancel the list, it defaults to General
  5. Optionally add a comment to remind yourself why (e.g. "Birthday dinner with friends")
  6. Tap Save

If this expense pushes you over your budget, UniWallet will show you a warning with how much you are over. You can still save it -- the warning is just to keep you informed.

If you are adding to your Savings category and you go over your savings goal, you will get a congratulations message instead!

Step 4: Check Your Dashboard

The Dashboard is your home screen. It shows you the big picture at a glance.

  • Income countdown -- shows when your next payment is due and a progress bar
  • Spent card -- how much you have spent this week (or month/year -- you can change this in Settings)
  • Budget card -- how much money you have left for the period; goes red if you have overspent
  • Recent expenses -- your last 5 expenses; tap any to edit, swipe left to delete

Step 5: Understand Your Budget Screen

The Budget screen gives you a detailed breakdown of where your money is going.

At the top you will see:

  • Budget -- your total budget for the term
  • Predicted Spending -- UniWallet estimates how much you will spend by the end of the term, based on your average daily spending so far. It shows whether you are on track to be over or under budget. The more days of data it has, the more accurate this becomes.
  • Progress bar -- shows how much of your budget you have actually spent

Each category shows two progress bars:

  • Top bar -- spending for the current period (this week, this month, etc.)
  • Bottom bar -- spending for the entire term

The bar colours tell you how you are doing:

  • Gold -- you are under 80% of your budget (doing great!)
  • Orange -- you are between 80% and 99% (getting close)
  • Blue -- you have spent exactly your budget
  • Red -- you have gone over budget

Step 6: Drill Into Sub-categories

Want to know exactly where the money went within a category? Tap into it.

  1. On the Budget screen, tap a category (e.g. Food)
  2. You will see all your sub-categories sorted alphabetically, with General at the bottom
  3. Each sub-category shows its own progress bars
  4. Tap any sub-category to see the detail view

The detail view shows:

  • Budget info at the top (amount, frequency, progress)
  • A list of every expense logged to this sub-category
  • Tap any expense to edit it
  • Swipe left on any expense to delete it
  • Tap Edit Budget in the top right to change the budget amount or frequency

Step 7: Split a Bill

Going out with friends? UniWallet can split the bill for you.

  1. Tap the people icon on the Dashboard (next to the + button) or on the Expenses tab
  2. Enter the total bill amount
  3. Use the stepper to set how many people are splitting (2 to 20)
  4. UniWallet shows the per-person share
  5. Tap Log My Share as Expense to save your portion as an expense

Step 8: Check Your Insights

The Insights tab shows you charts and stats about your spending patterns.

  • Donut chart -- which categories you spend the most on
  • Bar chart -- how your spending changes week by week
  • Stats -- your biggest category, average daily spend, and total savings
  • Use the tabs at the top to switch between This Week, This Month, and This Term

Customise Your Settings

You can change how UniWallet looks and works in the Settings tab.

  • Theme -- choose Auto (follows your phone), Light, or Dark
  • Currency -- pick from 20 currencies (GBP, USD, EUR, and more)
  • Budget Display -- show category budgets per day, week, or month
  • Dashboard Spent -- change the time period on the "Spent" card (week/month/year/full term)
  • Dashboard Budget -- change the time period on the "Budget" card
  • Categories -- add your own categories, remove ones you do not need, or drag to reorder

Manage Your Categories

UniWallet comes with 12 built-in categories, but you can make it your own.

  1. Go to Settings > Categories
  2. Tap + to add a new category (pick a name and icon)
  3. Drag categories to reorder them (hold and move up or down)
  4. Swipe left on a category to remove it
  5. Tap Reset to Defaults to go back to the original 12

Tips for Getting the Most Out of UniWallet

  • Log expenses as you go -- the sooner you log them, the less you forget
  • Check your Dashboard daily -- it only takes a few seconds to see how you are doing
  • Set realistic budgets -- it is better to set a budget you can stick to and adjust later
  • Use comments -- add a note when you make an unusual purchase so you remember why later
  • Watch the predicted spending -- it gets more accurate over time and helps you plan ahead
  • Use sub-categories -- "Food" is too broad; breaking it into "Groceries", "Eating Out", and "Coffee" helps you find where money is leaking

Need Help?

If you have questions or run into any issues, visit our Contact page and send us a message. We are happy to help!