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Friends paid you back? How to count only your share

You paid for a $186 dinner, two friends sent you $62 each on Venmo, and your budget now shows $186 spent and $124 earned. Here's how to make it show the $62 you really spent.

You pick up the check for a $186 dinner, and two friends Venmo you $62 each. Your budget now says you spent $186 at a restaurant and earned $124, when you really spent $62.

The fix is to subtract those reimbursements from the expense. In Spentio, you pick the two payments, the expense drops to $62, and the payments stop counting as income.

The Subtract a transaction screen in Spentio: a dinner expense lowered from $186 to $62, with two Venmo payments under it marked Will be deleted

How it works

  1. Open the expense, tap the three dots and choose Subtract a transaction.
  2. Under Money you received, pick the money you got back. Likely matches come first.
  3. Watch the amount drop with each one.
  4. Confirm. The payments you picked are deleted and the expense stays at the lower amount.

Want more detail? Here's the step-by-step guide.

What you see afterward

Your transactions show $62 for the dinner, and your category totals and budget count $62 instead of $186. Those payments no longer count as income, and the rest of your income stays as it was. The notes on the expense list who paid you back, when and how much.

What you can subtract

Any money you received: Venmo, Zelle, Cash App, PayPal, a bank transfer or a store refund. It doesn't matter whether you typed it in or imported it from your bank statement.

See what you really spent

Picking up the check and getting paid back later no longer throws off your budget. Still comparing apps? Here are the best Mint alternatives.

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Frequently asked questions

How do I stop a Venmo reimbursement from counting as income?
In Spentio, subtract it from the expense. Open the expense, pick what your friends sent on Venmo and confirm. The expense drops to your share and those payments are deleted, so they no longer count as income.
What if only one friend has paid me back so far?
Pick that one payment. The expense drops by that amount, and you can subtract the next one the same way later.
Does this work for a store refund?
Yes. A partial refund lowers the expense to what you ended up paying. A full refund removes both the expense and the refund, since you spent nothing.
Will I still be able to see who paid me back?
Yes. The notes on the expense list each payment you subtracted, with the date, name and amount.