Support

Getting started

How does the app work?

Enter your paycheck amount and the due dates for your bills and debts. Paycheck Debt Planner calculates your required payments, finds whatever extra cash is left after minimums, and tells you exactly where to put it each pay cycle.

As you pay bills, swipe them to mark them done. When your next paycheck arrives, tap Start Next Cycle to roll everything forward automatically.

What's the onboarding flow?

New users see a guided 4-step setup: paycheck amount → pay cycle → first debt or bill → your plan. You can skip any step and fill things in later — nothing is required to see how the app works.

What is a "pay cycle"?

A pay cycle is the period between paychecks. The app supports weekly, biweekly (every two weeks), twice monthly (1st and 15th, or custom days), and monthly pay schedules. Set your cycle when you set up your paycheck and the app will project dates automatically.

What's the difference between Required Expenses and Living Expenses?

Required Expenses are fixed obligations due on specific dates — rent, car payment, minimum credit card payments. The app tells you exactly which ones to pay this paycheck.

Living Expenses are recurring but flexible costs — groceries, gas, subscriptions — that you set a reserve for each cycle. The app holds that amount back from your available cash so it's not accidentally allocated to debt payoff.

App Lock (Face ID / Touch ID)

How do I turn App Lock on or off?

Open Plan Settings (the gear icon on the Plan tab) and toggle the App Lock switch. App Lock is off by default.

I turned on App Lock and now I can't get in

• Confirm Face ID or Touch ID is enabled for Paycheck Debt Planner in your device's Settings app → Face ID & Passcode (or Touch ID & Passcode).
• If biometric authentication isn't available, you can always unlock with your device passcode instead — App Lock uses the same credential your phone uses to wake up.
• If you can unlock your phone at all, you can unlock the app the same way. App Lock relies entirely on your device's own security, not a separate password.

Does App Lock protect my data if someone steals my phone?

App Lock prevents casual access within the app, but it's not a substitute for a device-level passcode. If your device has no passcode at all, App Lock won't stop someone with physical access to your unlocked phone. We recommend always having a device passcode enabled.

See it in action (the guided demo)

What is it?

Tapping See it in action — on the Welcome screen, or from the Premium screen — plays a short guided demonstration on a fully worked example plan. It shows what the app does with a real set of debts, bills and goals, so you can judge it before entering anything of your own.

Does it touch my own plan?

No. The demo runs on its own temporary copy of the data, so nothing it shows or changes is written to your plan. Leaving it discards the example entirely.

How do I leave it?

The way out is on screen the whole time. If you already have a plan, it returns you straight to it; if you were still setting up, it takes you back to where you left off. Nothing of yours is cleared either way.

Backup and restore

How do I back up my data?

Open Plan Settings and scroll down to find the Export Backup button. This creates a JSON file containing all your debts, bills, goals, and settings. Save it to Files, email it to yourself, or store it anywhere you like.

How do I restore from a backup?

In Plan Settings, tap Import Backup and select your backup file. Your current data will be replaced with the backup's contents.

Is my plan backed up automatically?

Only if you ask for it. iCloud Backup (More → iCloud Backup) is off until you turn it on. Once it is on, a copy of your plan is kept in your own iCloud account and refreshed as you use the app, so a new device can pick up where the old one left off. It goes to your Apple account, never to us.

Premium subscriptions

What's included in the free version?

The free version includes unlimited bills, debts, and goals; the full plan calculator; Payday Autopilot (confirm your whole paycheck in one tap); interest saved; timeline view; swipe-to-pay; debt payoff ordering (snowball and avalanche); What-If simulation; the amortization schedule; pay cycle history; milestones and streaks; backup, restore and optional iCloud Backup; the guided demo; and App Lock.

What does Premium add?

Premium unlocks the parts that do the work for you, rather than telling you more:

• Payday Guardian — works out how much to keep back each payday to protect your cushion, and reshapes the plan around it.
• Can I Afford It? — apply any purchase to your plan in one tap, or build a plan to save for it.
• Recovery Plan — a guided catch-up when a cycle comes up short.
• Balances that keep themselves roughly right — projected forward between statements, or re-scanned in seconds, so there is no monthly retyping.

How do I restore a previous purchase?

Open Plan Settings and tap Restore Purchases. Make sure you're signed in with the same Apple ID you used when you originally subscribed. If restoring doesn't work, contact us at debtplanner224@gmail.com.

How do I cancel my subscription?

Subscriptions are managed through the App Store. Go to Settings → [your name] → Subscriptions on your iPhone or iPad and cancel from there. Cancellation takes effect at the end of the current billing period — you keep Premium access until then.

I was charged but the app still shows the free version

Try tapping Restore Purchases in Plan Settings. If that doesn't resolve it within a few minutes, contact us and include your Apple ID email so we can investigate.

Your data and privacy

Where is my data stored?

All your financial information is stored locally on your device's built-in storage. It stays on your device and is never sent to us or any server. (Processing a Premium purchase shares only an anonymous subscription identifier with Apple and our billing provider — never your financial information.)

Is my data backed up to iCloud?

Only if you turn it on. iCloud Backup lives in More → iCloud Backup and is off by default. Switched on, it keeps a copy of your plan in your own iCloud account so a new device can restore it — it never goes to us. Left off, nothing is synced anywhere, and you can still use Export Backup in Plan Settings to make your own file.

What happens to my data if I uninstall the app?

It's deleted permanently. Export a backup before uninstalling if you want to keep your data.

How do I delete all my data?

Open Plan Settings and scroll to the bottom. Tap Delete All Data and confirm. This permanently erases everything — debts, bills, goals, and settings.

See our full Privacy Policy for complete details.

Troubleshooting

The app isn't saving my changes

The app saves automatically after every change. If you're not seeing updates persist after reopening the app, your device may have storage restricted. Check your device's settings and make sure the app has permission to store data locally.

The numbers look wrong

Make sure your pay cycle is set correctly in Plan Settings — biweekly vs. twice-monthly have different effects on how the allocation engine distributes monthly obligations. Also verify that bill and debt due dates fall within the current pay cycle period.

My debt-free date seems too far away

The projection uses your current extra payment allocation each cycle. The more you can put toward the snowball, the earlier the date. Check the Payoff tab for a breakdown of how each debt is being addressed.

Notifications aren't appearing

• Confirm notifications are enabled for Paycheck Debt Planner in Settings → Notifications on your device.
• In the app, open Plan Settings and confirm the Notifications toggle is on.
• Notifications are scheduled locally — they require a current paycheck date to be set. Make sure your next paycheck date is configured.

Something else is wrong

Email us at debtplanner224@gmail.com with a description of what you're seeing and which version of the app you're running (visible in Plan Settings at the bottom). We'll get back to you as quickly as we can.