I’ve been using PearBudget for a while, but I’d actually like to start over from scratch. How do I do that?

Here’s what you should do if you want to start PearBudget over from scratch.

I’m assuming here that you already have an account (with a subscription) that’s a few months (years?) old, that you want to keep. If you just want to hide a few categories (without deleting them), you can “inactivate” them. Just click on the category’s name to get that category’s pop-up box. Then click on the gray bar at the bottom to get the “advanced controls.” You should see a “make this category inactive” option. But anyway, let’s get back to the question at hand: How to start your budget from scratch.

1. (optional) Print out your latest month’s Review page, just so you have a record of the most-recently-budgeted numbers.
2. Change your e-mail address. The idea here is that, in PearBudget, you can only have a single account per e-mail address. So you’ll want to change your e-mail address from “yourname@whatever.com” (obviously: replace “yourname” and “whatever” and “com” to the appropriate terms for your e-mail address) to “old.yourname@whatever.com”. In truth, it doesn’t have to be “old.” at the beginning of the e-mail … it can be whatever you want. But I recommend sticking an “old.” at the beginning, so it’s easier for me (Charlie) to find it for Step 6.To change your e-mail address, click on your current e-mail address (top-right corner of the PearBudget screen) and you’ll get an account pop-up box. You should see where to change the e-mail address there. Don’t forget to save it!It doesn’t matter that you don’t actually get e-mail at “old.yourname@whatever.com” … we won’t actually be sending an e-mail there.
3. Log out of your account. You’ll now be back at the main PearBudget screen.
4. Run through the wizard again, setting up your categories and values the way you want them.
5. When you get into the application itself, go ahead and save your account, using your regular e-mail address.
6. After you do that, e-mail us (help@pearbudget.com), and Ruth or I will transfer your subscription from your old account to your new account.

I know that maybe looks like a lot of steps, but it doesn’t actually take too long. Apart from the “running through the setup wizard,” it shouldn’t take more than a minute or so.

And, as with everything, if you have any questions about how to do any of this, please don’t hesitate to e-mail us.

Thanks!